Sunday Comix (making SMART goals STUPIDer)
2010-03-19 - 10:06 a.m.
SMART is an acronym used by business professionals to create goal statements for strategic business planning or annual performance reviews. The acronym stand for stands for Specific, Measurable, Agreed to, Realistic, and Time phased. 'Specific' refers to a goal that is both measurable by some achievement and simple enough for everyone to understand. 'Measurable' refers to...well, measurable was already part of the S, but in the business model it can be used to refer to more details regarding the benchmarks established in S, such as exact ROI target figures. Some would argue that M can be used for individuals by breaking down the time frame of the goal into reasonable chunks of smaller timefames containing smaller, more reasonable goals. But we haven't established a timeframe yet. 'Agreed to' establishes the idea that no good goal can be made by a single individual. When making a goal, SMART encourages validating your goals with other people on the board of directors or the project team. Again, this is sort of irrelevant to a single individual making a personal goal, although it seems to be an effective model for business meetings. R is for reasonable, which seems to be a reasonable criteria for a goal, until you consider that most influential persons in science did thing that were not, at the time, realistic. A great deal of our technology came from individuals who dared to dream big, and so we can only come to two possible conclusions: either amazing scientists do great things without setting goals (unlikely), or that goals do not need to be reasonable (also unlikely). Since both conclusions are likely false, the assumption must, logically, be false. The other reason why 'Reasonable' is problematic is that just about anything is possible, given an unlimited timeframe. But we haven't established a timeframe yet. Finally, the T in SMART refers to the timeframe in which the goal is to be completed. now, we can go back and change M and R to make more sense, then come back and update T, until we get an S that is very much A.
From my personal (and uneducated) perspective, this doesn't seem to be a very efficient sort of process. A lot of time is wasted establishing and re-establishing timeframes, until everyone at the meeting gets hungry and decides to "just get it over with" and go out for donuts. the SMART goal creation process focuses on completing a goal. Not following through with that goal, and so this sense of completion is really what it is trying to accomplish.Also, the concept of a required timeframe can be detrimental in many situations, and this is more evident as one gets further away from the business applications of SMART. If an individual sets out to do X, and needs to do Y and Z before he can do A, then the individual sets up an S and T for each Y and Z and then tries to meet the Ts of Y and Z, which are part of the M of X. If the individual gets slightly behind on the T of Z because he didn't establish a good R of Z, he has NO WAY of knowing exactly how that will influence the sum total of the Ms of X. This either leads to a lot of unnecessary stress, or a complete restatement of the T of X. I have also realized that the majority of the time, SMART statements aren't really SMART at all, because they include information that exists outside the realms of S, M, A, R, and T. For this reason I will refer to SMART statements as S*MART statements throughout the remainder of this essay.By now you're probably thinking "if your so much smarter than SMART, why don't you come up with your own acronym?" And that's exactly what I did. I chose the acronym STUPID to describe a similar, yet more productive process of goal creation, which is more tailored towards making personal goals, instead of business goals. You will notice, among other things, that there is no reference to a timeframe. In a practical environment, if an individual has attained 95% of their goal, they should not stop trying to attain it because they didn't meet their pre-established timetable. In a practical setting, goals are meant to be attained and realized, not completed and catalogued, or used as an excuse to get some donuts.Specific & measurable: The goal must be established in terms of quantifiable numbers, certifications, or awards. "to win the game" is not specific enough. "to prevent the Silver Tiger's from scoring more than 0 points in Sunday's game" is specific.Troubles & obstacles: One must then consider the things in the way of that goal, taking into account competing objectives of enemies, the setting or terrain involved, and any other factors which may make the goal harder to attain.Alternatives & exclusions: Yes, i know it doesn't start with U, but if you spell it STAPID, then it will be more politically correct. *insert smiley face here* If the attainment of a goal seems too difficult, you may seek out alternative goals. Instead of trying to compete for the market of 18-24 year olds, maybe the product can be customized to cater to an older or younger population? You should also consider if attaining the goal would exclude or prevent you from attaining some other goal in the future.Prerequisite Goals: Are there any goals which you could complete to make the overall goal easier to attain? If you remove the opponent's rook from the chessboard, it will no longer be a trouble, and will make checkmate (S in this example) easier to attain. Make sure that prerequisite goals don't get in the way of the overall goal. What do you already have that gives you an edge over other people with the same goal?Interference (improvements & contingencies): You should create your goal with the assumption that you intend to attain it. In so doing, you should be able to quickly recover from troubles (from above) as they are encountered. Even if your goal doesn't encounter any resistance, you should consider ways to improve it and plan for more contingencies in case troubles should arise.Dedication & Restatement: This is more of a mental activity to keep your mind in the game. You should periodically review your goal to make sure that its still your goal. Each time you restate your goal to yourself you are committing it to more long-term memory and background thinking processes, until everything that you do takes this goal into consideration. Lifelong or lifechanging goals take a considerable amount more dedication than simple goals, like getting the right flavor donuts for the office.So, you start with S, which may include some research or soul-searching. Once you have a clear S, start running a "what if" analysis on possible Ts. Consider other As in case your primary goal doesn't pan out as you had planned. This will prevent you from going postal when the world doesn't turn according to your S. P is a self-assessment of how far you need to go to get S, the Y and Z that will help you get X. I is your plan if something gets in the way of S but you are not ready to give up and revert to A. Then you do D. And D and D and D, until you can't D no more, or you decide to pursue a new S. Pretty simple right?Here are is an example of vague goal statement, S*MART goal statement, and a STUPID goal statement (credit to Joni Rose for the vague and smart examples: http://www.suite101.com/blog/joni188/examples_of_smart_goal_statements) with the out-of acronym sections underlined."Vague Goal Statement: I want my job to be a good fit.""SMART Goal Statement: By the end of November of [insert year], I will be in a position that fits with my Myers Briggs Type Indicator, utilizes my top ten transferable skills, fits my top five career values, correlates with my top 5 passions, provides for the top five work environment preferences I have. I will join a job search club, research to create a list of 50 companies that fit with my good fit profile and participate in ten or more networking events."STUPID Goal Statement: I want a job at Joe's Pizzaria as a delivery boy next summer. I'm not sure if they will be hiring, and even if they are there may be other people that want the job. Just in case I don't hear back from them, I will apply to work for other businesses that interest me, like Sam's Deli. If I get the job at Joe's, I won't be able to work anywhere else that summer. In order to prepare myself for the upcoming delivery jobs, I should study maps of the area, drive safely, and keep my car running well. If I get a speeding ticket, that probably will not help my job interviews, so I should keep the speed down. In order to keep myself motivated to get the job, I'll take a picture of the motorcycle I want to buy with the extra money, and stick it on my ceiling over my bed. That way when I wake up, it will remind me what I want to do. And if they come out with a different, cooler bike, I stick that one up there too!
