Setting goals or how to be SMART is not always the right goal

Over the years, much has been written on the subject of goal setting and most conventional wisdom leans in favor of the SMART goal setting process.

SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Bound) has been around since the 1960s and is used by organizations to create effective goals for themselves and their staff. In fact, the SMART goal setting process is taught in many management training programs as the correct way to set goals in any situation.

However, there is a slight flaw in the whole idea around SMART goals which, to be fair, is not a problem of the process, but of the larger context in which the goals are set. Too often, organizations set goals for their staff only to find that, in the final analysis, very few have been achieved or even attempted.

So what’s wrong with this approach to goals, and why do they so often fail to capture the imagination of employees? The SMART model is missing two very important elements that will almost always sabotage the achievement of any objective.

WII-FM

Often times when organizations set goals on their staff, the initial question is “What’s in it for me?” and indeed this is a perfectly valid question. A goal or objective, whether at a corporate or personal level, should be something that is a personal goal. It must be initiated, understood and accepted by the individual for whom it is a target.

High-level corporate goals, by their very nature, are impersonal and, as such, there is rarely meaningful participation by employees. Even goals that are tied to personal rewards (like a bonus) don’t have a high buy factor if they’re too impersonal. There needs to be a sense of ‘I can make a difference in this’ on a personal level for the staff to really accept it.

With corporate goals around profitability and growth, it can often be difficult to make them personal, and for good reason. These are high-level corporate goals, and unless an individual is linked to them in some way (as a shareholder, for example), any attempt to cascade them down will fail.

The WII-FM problem is for the most part the biggest motivator for an individual and a truly effective goal setting strategy takes this into account.

Fascinating captain

The other equally important issue missing from the SMART goal setting process is interest. For a goal to be truly effective and achieved, it must be interesting, exciting, and something that the individual can be passionate about.

Too many objectives, especially corporate ones, are lacking in the area of ​​being interesting. For example, a quality goal will only be pursued by someone who believes that quality is of interest, for those who think it is important (but not interesting) they will try to make sure that the quality does not go down but it is unlikely that they will do everything possible to ensure quality improves.

Interest in a topic can be generated through corporate rewards, however this is rare as, like the personal side of goal setting, it is too great in the SMART model.

PRISM: the lighter side of lens setup

The SMART model is good and has served for a long time, however, in today’s modern society, with large sectors of the workforce who are dissatisfied with their lot, a new approach is required for the collective environment of companies.

The PRISM model covers all 5 points of the old SMART process and adds 2 more. PRISM is an acronym for personal, realistic, interesting, specific, and measurable.

Does this mean that the PRISM goals are not achievable or time bound? Not at all, in the PRISM model for a goal to be truly realistic by definition it has to be achievable, if it is not achievable then it is not and could never be truly realistic.

As for the time element of the objective, it is covered by measurable. In a scientific experiment for something to be measurable it needs a beginning and an end, in life the same applies, if an objective is to be measured, it must be measured against time as well as any other measure, so in the PRISM model Measurable means against all criteria and without dividing the time elements.

It’s all me, me, me

The PRISM model is not intended to be the ultimate solution to corporate goal setting problems, however, adding personal and interest characteristics to the process will add a new dimension to the goal setting process and ensure that the goal has a considerably higher acceptance. than those configured with the SMART model.

Corporate goals do not have to be anonymous and forced on the workforce, by making any goal Personal to the individual and of interest (with or without reward), your chances of achieving it will increase dramatically.

So the next time there’s a strategy session and the topic of goals comes up, just ask yourself 2 questions, ‘What does it do for me?’ and ‘How interested am I in this?’, if you can’t answer them, then maybe, just maybe, you need to rethink your goals.

More information on staff performance, the PRISM © goal setting system and additional tools to improve organizational management can be found at http://www.achievinggreatness.co.uk

L Stuart Avery 2005 © Achieving Greatness Ltd. All rights reserved.

—–

PERMISSION TO REPUBLIC: This article may be republished in newsletters and on websites as long as attribution is provided to the author, and is listed with copyright included, resource box, and live website link.