Product Manager. It’s the job where you get involved with everything, managing by influence across departments rather than direct authority via direct reports.

This is a job where you really, really need to figure out how to achieve goals. There are too many tasks coming at you from too many directions and priorities pulling you every which way.

A friend of mine who is a management consultant has a method he has practiced for years to make sure that he reaches his goals. He gradually realized that his approach to making something happen was markedly different from the approach most people seem to use. It’s almost the reverse of what the majority of people use, a majority that struggles mightily to reach their goals, and misses the target as often as not.

My friend learned to appreciate the uniqueness of his perspective and taught his approach to others. It’s called Working From the Goal.

Read on for an explanation of how to use a Working From the Goal approach to attain a whole lot more of your goals than you otherwise would.