There are only two rules to success:

1. Never reveal everything you know.

So the joke goes. Successful people might have another trick up their sleeve: not telling others about their personal goals until they have been achieved.

In a short TED talk, entrepreneur Derek Sivers said that announcing your goals could stop you from fully achieving it.

Citing several psychology studies, he explained that doing so gives you that feel-good satisfaction of having accomplished the goal before the hard work gets done.

In a 2009 study by New York University psychologist Peter Gollwitzer, two groups of people were asked to write down a personal goal.

One group announced their goals while the other kept their goals to themselves. Then, everyone was given 45 minutes to do some work that would lead directly towards their goals, and they could stop at any time. The group that declared their goals stopped working sooner than the other group, who all used the full 45 minutes. Yet, the participants in the first group, who worked less, felt like they were closer to achieving their goals.

But how does this square with the conventional wisdom that sharing your goals with others will keep you accountable, and could give you a support system?

The difference lies in the type of goals and how they are phrased. Sivers suggests that goals closely associated with identity, such as weight loss, are better kept to yourself, whereas goals to improve habits, such as drinking more water, can get a boost from having others around you remind you to do it.

And how does this apply to new goals and innovative ideas in organisations, where working alone is seldom ideal, and communication and teamwork are essential?

One trick is to find the right people to be partners and cheerleaders. In large organisations especially, staff have different concerns and priorities – not everyone will agree on what the problems are and which ones need to be solved first. It may take some time to suss out who will support you, and who might discourage your ideas from taking off.

Meanwhile, keep building on your ideas. As many public officers already know, presenting a half-baked idea makes it less likely to get funding or other types of support. Your plans should have enough development and momentum for others to see the potential for its success.

So set yourself up for success: reveal your goals, ideas or plans at the right time and with others who will want to help you bring them to fruition.

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