Goals and milestones
Goals are the maturity outcomes you commit to; milestones are the dated checkpoints that prove you are on track.
Last updated June 1, 2026
A goal in Forest is a commitment to raise maturity from where it is now to a defined target. Because targets are set per capability, every goal ties back to a real CAMP score rather than a vague intention to "improve security." That grounding is what lets you report progress in numbers instead of effort.
Milestones are the dated checkpoints between today and a goal's target. They break a multi-quarter climb into stages you can verify, so a goal to move Patch Management from maturity 2 to 4 becomes a sequence of observable steps rather than a single far-off date.
Good goals share a few traits:
They name a target maturity, not just "better." The gap between current and target is what feeds priority.
They respect criticality. A compliance-required capability at criticality 3 earns attention ahead of a nice-to-have, even when the raw gap is smaller.
They have an owner and a date, so a milestone slipping is visible early.
Hitting a milestone should move a real score. Goal alignment is 15 percent of your Forest Score, and execution discipline is another 15 percent, so consistently meeting committed milestones lifts the headline number, not just the domain you worked on.
Set goals at the level you manage. Most teams anchor on domain goals for leadership reporting and break them into capability goals for the people doing the work. Then watch the projected effect in timeline and projections.