Splendid article. See also Simon Sinek's TED Talk 'Start With Why': http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action. As Sinek says, people will engage with and commit to goals (the Why); whereas they have to be persuaded (and bribed) to do work (the What) – especially when they see it as being imposed on them from above.

Defining and agreeing worthwhile goals is essential. Goals provide the crucial context: they explain the *Why*. They must also be shared with everyone involved: goal alignment ensures genuine buy-in, emotional as well as cognitive.

Clear, well expressed inspirational goals also help to define *What* we need to do to achieve them and *How* we are going to do it. High-level business goals determine the appropriate subgoals in every area and a visual representation makes it easier to agree the priorities and relevant resource allocation. The goal structure forms the foundation for the specific project plans to achieve those goals (with roles and responsibilities, timescales, etc).

For a visual display of goals and priorities, project plans and progress use Goalscape (www.goalscape.com). See also Marcus Baur’s article ‘Why the Visual Overview is Vital’: http://www.goalscape.com/blog/why-visual-overview-vital-success-sport-business-and-life-marcus-baur and double Olympic Gold Medal coach Emmett Lazich’s example from top level sport here: http://www.goalscape.com/blog/high-performance-strategy-definition."