There's More Than One Way To Be SMART

In my last post I spoke about how we could be more supportive of people trying to set goals. One of the reasons many people don’t achieve the goals they set is they are doomed to failure from the start as they try to set SMART goals. To start with lets checkout where the SMART system for achieving goals originated from.

When did we start SMART?

It is generally accepted that the SMART acronym was first written down in November 1981 by George T. Doran. George was a consultant and former Director of Corporate Planning for the Washington Water Power Company. He published a paper titled “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives”

One of the key things here was to note that the paper was about how to write Management goals and objectives not “life” goals

Doran also provided some clarification for readers on applying the SMART acronym in his paper.

‘How do you write meaningful objectives?’- that is, frame a statement of results to be achieved, Managers are confused by all the verbal from seminars, books, magazines, consultants, and so on. Let me suggest therefore, that when it comes to writing effective objectives, corporate officers, managers, and supervisors just have to think of the acronym SMART. Ideally speaking, each corporate, department and section objective should be: (SMART).

George also made the observation that many people believe that effective goals and objectives must incorporate all five elements of SMART. However, it should also be understood that the suggested acronym doesn’t mean that every objective written will have all five criteria. For example, not everything worth achieving is measurable. And a goal you set for yourself does not need to be agreed-upon. These last two points I believe provide a clear distinction between organisational goals and personal goals.

The Definition

Over the years the meaning of the SMART acronym has changed over time as people have added or amended the meaning. They continue to vary somewhat depending on the person using the term.

Doran’s original definition covered the five criteria below:

Specific: target a specific area for improvement.
Measurable: quantify, or at least suggest, an indicator of progress.
Assignable: specify who will do it.
Realistic: state what results can realistically be achieved given available resources.
Time-related: specify when the result can be achieved.

Doran saw that by helping people focus their attention in these five areas, they would improve their chances of success. These five elements aren’t set in stone. Over the years, people have substituted some of the original words with different terms that meet their specific needs.

One point to note is the letter “A” originally stood for Assignable and not attainable. Ive always had an issue with the word attainable in goal setting as what is the point of setting unattainable goals! I also love the word assignable clearly demonstrates that SMART was originally set up for the achievement of team goals. Assignable would mean certain tasks were the responsibility of others to see completed.

What Does All This Mean?

SMART is a great method to manage achievement for team or organisational goals. It provides a framework for all involved to be able to have a clear understanding of whats expected to gain a desired outcome. It is also important to note that SMART was designed for achieving short term organisational objectives not long term life goals.

Does this mean that SMART can be used for personal life goals too? Well, yes and no. We will discuss that next time!

If you enjoyed this blog and would like to know how to get the most from your goal setting then please drop me a line and lets talk.

To your continued success
Dave Verburg
Asentiv