Performance-based goals are commonly used to evaluate an employee, but in certain situations, goals based on performance may not be appropriate. Those situations occur when an employee is faced with new or complex task, and in this case, says the author, it may be better to set goals that are based on an employee's progress in learning a task, than on his or her actual performance in completing it. This article explains why setting short-term goals in conjunction with long-term goals is sometimes the best way to achieve success.