Finance ✦ Penny’s Take
A Theory of Goal Setting & Task Performance
Edwin A. Locke · 1990
84/100
👍 Worth It
This is the real deal — the landmark 1990 Locke and Latham book built on nearly 500 studies, and it's still the reference point everyone in the field cites decades later. The core finding, that specific, difficult goals beat vague 'do your best' instructions, is genuinely useful and well-earned. It's academic and dense, but if you're serious about goal-setting research, this is where you start.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety95
Substance / usefulness92
Craft & writing78
Originality85
Evidence & accuracy92
Hype vs delivers90
Age-fit55
Human-eye read60
Penny’s verdict84
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