SMARTER Goals - An Interesting Insight That Is Valuable To Anyone Who Wants To Be Legendary

I recently saw a post from a friend, Lidia Chmel, EMBA , about another person's work, Tim Brownson .

Quick thanks to Lidia for posting about this and bringing it to my attention, and Tim for coming up with the idea!

Most of us have heard about SMART goals (which I'll still explain in case you're forgetful like I am!).

However, according to many, SMART goals simply aren't enough.

This is something I would personally agree with - the world needs more!

This is where Tim Brownson has added some interesting aspects to the acronym, saying that we need SMARTER goals.

Let's dive into what these are!

S

The first thing goals need to be is Specific.

You want to do something great - awesome!

But what does that actually mean?

So often the things we want to do in the world are extremely vague.

For instance - I want to increase Revenue.

But what does that really mean?

Are you looking for a 1% increase or a 500% increase?

Will that increase be able to keep up with inflation?

What does this increase actually accomplish for the organization?

This doesn't even take into effect all of the "Causes" we claim we want to help with, but take little to no action toward because we aren't specific in "how" we want to help.

If you don't get specific, then people will get different ideas of what the goals mean.

When people have different interpretations, their energy will get directed in different directions becoming inefficient.

Only in Unity will we achieve Goals.

Unity requires Specificity.

M

Next, we have Measurable.

If you don't have some form of Measurement, then you won't be able to tell how much progress is made.

Pretty much everything can be measured in one way or another.

Even things like "Happiness" are measured.

Of course, different measures will be more important to different organizations.

However, finding the right metric helps your team be aligned.

It allows you to see if you are working hard enough.

It can tell you if you need to move better.

It can also indicate if you may be going too hard, and maybe you and your team need Recovery.

Without any measurement, we become blind to these realities.

A

Then, we have Action-Oriented.

Goals require action.

If there is no action, then you don't have a goal.

What you would have is a wish, and there are no genies here to grant them for you.

You and your organization need to understand what actions are going to allow the goal to be reached.

For instance, you could increase Revenue by increasing sales.

You could also increase Revenue by decreasing costs.

Both are valuable, but what is your organization's focus?

I have seen many organizations that actually needed to reduce their costs because of how high they were.

Even if they increased their sales, it would lead to lower Revenue due to the extreme Costs they had.

So, understanding what actions are needed is incredibly important.

R

Perhaps the most debated part of this acronym is Realistic.

Essentially this means that you and your people have to believe that the goal is within the realm of possibility.

If they don't believe it will happen, it will be difficult to get them to do the work required.

However, there is a lot of research that says we should be aiming for High, Hard Goals.

This is where we are most likely to find Flow States.

So how do you breach the gap between "Impossible" and "Improbable"?

You simply need to create a bridge that allows people to see the potential.

Laying that bridge will make them see that even if it is "Improbable", it could still happen.

If everything else is aligned, this is all that is needed to get a team to work toward those High, Hard Goals.

T

The last "traditional" letter is for Time-Bound.

Every goal needs to occur within a specific time period if people are going to work toward it.

Say you want to increase yearly sales by 500%.

If the goal is to do that in 1-week, it is hard to believe and would require incredible effort.

If the goal is to do that in 10 years, it is likely too simple, and won't encourage people to really improve their efforts.

You need to find a time frame that keeps things High and Hard, but without breaking what people feel is Possible.

Having things Time-Bound also informs your team what will work, and what may not be beneficial.

Sometimes, people have great ideas, but they could require more time than is available.

This will allow people to focus on what can be done.

E

For the first "New" letter we have Ecological.

This means that the goal has to be cohesive with other goals and values.

I would also challenge you to understand this from your employees' perspectives.

What are their goals and values?

How do they align with this goal?

If you have a lot of parents on your team, pushing them to work over 80-hour weeks to achieve an extremely difficult goal may not be in their interests.

They may value their Family in their "ecosystem" more than they value your paycheck.

Misaligning this aspect could have disastrous consequences.

From people leaving (increasing work for everyone else), to Active Disengagement (where people actively work against the goals), it is not a pretty picture.

As a Leader, it is important to consider all of the aspects of the Ecosystem that you are actually a part of.

R

The final letter is Rewarding.

What we are seeing more and more in the research is that people do significantly better when their work is Rewarding.

So what is the Reward for accomplishing this goal?

For most Goals that exist, the answer is Nothing.

If there is Nothing to be gained, then why should people work toward that Goal?

I would say that they shouldn't!

If you don't give people something rewarding in their work, they SHOULD leave and never look back!

Life is too short, and there are too many real problems in the world to do work that is useless and provides nothing of value.

Give people a reason, give them a Reward for accomplishing the High, Hard goals.

Too many people regret not doing anything in their life that was Rewarding.

Too often, on their deathbed, people say, "I wish I would have..."

Don't allow that to occur to you.