What is a Goal?
 

From Rummy's press conference:

Rumsfeld said that while benchmarks for security, political and economic progress are valuable, "it's difficult. We're looking out into the future. No one can predict the future with absolute certainty."

He said the goals have no specific deadlines or consequences if they are not met by specific dates.

"You're looking for some sort of a guillotine to come falling down if some date isn't met," Rumsfeld told reporters. "That is not what this is about."

~~~~~

So if a "goal" has no specific deadline for doing it, and no consequences if it isn't done, is it a goal?

I often get pay raises or job evaluations at work for meeting certain goals. I wonder if I could convince my boss that my goals should have no deadlines for getting done, and no negative review if they are not done?

Does any one else have a problem with the public officials working for them operating under the terms of the "Rummy Goal Plan"?

Re: What is a Goal?
 

cardcounter,

Obviously you are right. Everyone accepts that there can't be goals with indeterminate time periods for completion or failure. Like "living a happy life" or "peace on earth" and such.

And as a consequence it logically follows that since Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty programs, especially as they apply to Appalachia, still after 40 years haven't succeeded as poverty still exists, and thus that it is a waste of time and resources to make any further efforts to combat poverty.

Wow. You just did away with any justification for welfare state programs as well as health ones since it is obvious that poverty, disease, unemployment and homelessness still exist despite the extraordinary sums and time spent on "success" which has to be defined as their elimination by a date certain.

Nice going. The AC'ers await you with open arms.

Re: What is a Goal?
 

For once you are correct. Like a war on poverty, a "war on terror" is a waste of time and resources and will not succeed no matter how long you "stay the course".

Of course, since you have undefined goals with undefined deadlines and no measurement of completion or failure, it will be impossible to point to a metric that says it is a failure.

Re: What is a Goal?
 

counter,

By your reasoning and timetables you are advocating for other things, researchers should immediately cease research into curing cancer and AIDs as they clearly have had long enough to do so and should be held accountable for their failure.

All I\'m saying
 

All I'm saying is that if any of Bush & Rummy's definitions of Mission, Objectives, Strategy or Tactics ever found its way into the Business Plan of a publicly traded corporation, the executives responsible would have been instantly fired.

No, not instantly fired, check that. They would have their authority suspended and the legal department of the corporation all over their asses, checking for the reasons behind such gross and harmful incompetence.

Can you imagine anything like that in the corporate brochure?? We'd have the shareholders up in arms, asking for explanations.

Mickey Brausch

Re: What is a Goal?
 

[ QUOTE ]
counter,

By your reasoning and timetables you are advocating for other things, researchers should immediately cease research into curing cancer and AIDs as they clearly have had long enough to do so and should be held accountable for their failure.

[/ QUOTE ]

the massive differrence is that a cure for cancer/aids is something that EVERYONE would agree should be pursued endlessly.

Re: What is a Goal?
 

PB,

Still having fun stalking me here in the politics forum?

So I guess few believe that a peaceful stable Iraq is worth pursuing endlessly when you don't live there is that right? Even when an unstable and hostile radical Islamist government there that might usurp the democratically elected one they have now could lead to instability and war in the Middle-east? This is apart from question of the means to accomplish same.

Re: What is a Goal?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
counter,

By your reasoning and timetables you are advocating for other things, researchers should immediately cease research into curing cancer and AIDs as they clearly have had long enough to do so and should be held accountable for their failure.

[/ QUOTE ]

the massive differrence is that a cure for cancer/aids is something that EVERYONE would agree should be pursued endlessly.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think another pretty big difference is the magnitude of resources (both dollars and lives).

Re: What is a Goal?
 

[ QUOTE ]
PB,

Still having fun stalking me here in the politics forum?


[/ QUOTE ]

maybe if your posts weren't so utterly idiotic i'd have nothing to respond to.

Re: What is a Goal?
 

[ QUOTE ]
could lead to instability and war in the Middle-east?

[/ QUOTE ]

could?