We are a society driven by goals. We set goals for most tasks we undertake, we evaluate those goals and establish metrics by which we can judge the success of those goals. We write books, offer classes, and watch videos all focused on how to establish goals. Many folks have no doubt encountered the idea of S.M.A.R.T. goals at this point in their lives, as the concept as permeated most of our educational and economic systems.
The acronym S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, time-related) was first written down in 1981 by George Doran, a consultant and former director of Corporate Planning for Washington Power Company. He published a paper titled "There's a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management's Goal's and objectives." As he put it,
"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)."
This acronym would go on to embed itself in management, leadership, and education circles for the next 40+ years. Rightfully so, there is a great deal of value in thinking about goals through this lens in order to ensure we are being explicit with our desires. The goal was never to ensure that every goal contained all 5 components, however. As Doran himself said, "It should also be understood that the suggested acronym doesn't mean that every objective written will have all five criteria."
Perhaps not surprisingly, however, we often often find ourselves setting S.M.A.R.T. goals and achieving them, and yet feeling no sense of satisfaction or happiness at the end result. The human element matters here, and as much as economists may want to assert our identity as homo economicus, the truth is much messier. Our motivations change, we are invested in self-interest, and we don't always assign value based on extrinsic worth. In other words, how we feel at the end of the process matters as much as the outcome itself.
So, how do we want to feel and how do we want others to feel when things are all said and done? This question allows us to go beyond the rationality of our S.M.A.R.T. goals and recognize when there is work left to be done. When we decide in advance which emotions we are aiming for, we give ourselves an important barometer for deciding when we are done and when we have work left to do.
This, of course, means we need to trust our emotions and value our recognition of them throughout any process we engage in. Once we hone in on our intended emotional outcomes, however, we are much better able to assess the progress we are making and the work left to do. This additional question also has the potential to ensure we don't invest more time than is necessary in a task simply because of our own irrational desires for perfection. So, be S.M.A.R.T. about it, but don't forget to ask yourself in advance how you want to feel and how you want others to feel when the work comes to an end!
