Improved SMART Goal Setting, Now with a FREE Template!

At the time of this writing there are literally more than 600 million Google results for the search “s.m.a.r.t. goal setting.” There is literally nothing new to write on the topic and therefore absolutely no reason to write article 600 million and one.

Other than I refer to the concept a lot and whose article would I rather link to?

Introducing article 600 million and one…

But seriously… I’m going to attempt to do the impossible and leave you with:

1. One improvement over the same ol’ tired SMART definition.
2. Give you a simple template to use to spin your words and craft your goals.

Let’s go.

Why SMART Goals?

The idea behind SMART goal setting is that, when setting goals, your job is to be as clear and unambiguous as possible.

This helps you as the goal setter. It serves as a forcing function to ensure that you’ve set a quality goal. That is, a goal that is complete, has been well thought-through, and that just simply makes sense. When some component of the SMART formula is missing, sometimes but not always it results in a goal that is unworkable.

It also helps those people who are going to be asked to work toward the goal with you. It is critical they correctly understand the goal the same way you do, right? Imagine if you’re expecting the goal to be complete in three weeks and they are thinking three months. The resulting conflict is at least exhilarating if not productive!

SMART goals show up in general goal setting, in OKRs, and specifically in setting Objectives for OKRs, and in a variety of places. So let’s take our pass through the acronym.

The SMART Parts

Let’s dive through the acronym and see if we can improve on it.

Specific

This is, in my opinion as noted above, the majority of the value of SMART goal setting. challenge yourself to get as specific as you possibly can. Then drill deeper. Then drill deeper still. So like the Lean technique of asking “5 Whys,” drill layer after layer to get more specific.

Let’s take an example.

1. Increase sales this quarter by 25%.
   1. Increase sales this quarter by 25% in the Pacific Northwest
      1. Expand sales to existing customers this quarter by 25% in the Pacific Northwest.
         1. Expand sales to existing customers in the Pacific Northwest through adding sales of related products, resulting in an additional 25% of new revenue.

I don’t know about you, but the first one is so unspecific it makes me nervous. And I’ll admit the fourth one is so specific it’s a bit prescriptive. But that can be okay. Regardless, point made. You can drill down and get specific, and that’s a good thing to do.

Measurable

A really like the concept of measurability and emphasize it a lot. Like, a LOT a lot. If you can create a goal that is measurable, it’s always better than one that’s not.

To get specific (ahem), we want to:

1. Avoid descriptive goals, like “high sales” or “low turnover.”
2. When possible, avoid “binary” goals, where things are either achieved or not, true or false. Sometimes it’s not possible to avoid these. For example, we might have a goal to, “Hire a new Director of Operations.” That person really is hired or they aren’t. There’s no, “a little pregnant,” and there’s no, “a little hired.”
3. Use counted or “discrete” data. Like “win five new customers,” or, “find 20 new leads.” Discrete data is just data that is counted in whole numbers where the data can’t be subdivided into smaller bits. (Please, do not divide your customers into bits as much as they may make you want to.)
4. Use continuous data. Continuous data are things that can take any value. These are things like, “time to close a sale (in days),” or, “average customer satisfaction rating.”

Making goals measurable makes it much easier to tell how you’re doing along the way, when you’ve achieved your goal, and if you’ve exceeded it.

Achievable

Ever have one of those projects where half the way through your customer moves the goalposts on you? Yeah, that’s no fun. Everybody wants to succeed. That’s why it’s really important to make sure that any goal you craft is actually something that can be achieved.

By “achievable,” I mean achievable within the laws of the universe, our society, and business generally. I don’t mean that you won’t have to work your butt off for it. And it may well be possible that at the time you craft the goal, the goal may not be achievable by you. But it does mean that you are able to see a plan whereby, adding resources, you are and/or will be able to achieve the goal within the time frame you’re setting out.

Realistic vs. Reach

This is where I kick it up a notch¹ (can’t use that – it’s trademarked) raise the bar² (ditto) make SMART goal setting a bit smarter.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a buyer of “Realistic” goals. We just got done saying that your goals need to be “Achievable.” Aren’t achievable and realistic close enough to the same thing for you? They are for me and I don’t need dictionary definitions to back me.

What I would be a buyer of is actual “goals” as defined by Dictionary.com. Take a look.

Now we’re getting somewhere. Take a look at how “achievement” is defined.

And here we have arrived at the shortcoming most SMART recipes have that we’re going to fix right now.

A goal isn’t a goal unless it causes you to REACH for something you don’t already have, do, know, possess, etc. Unless you’re reaching to improve yourself, your business, your condition, or the condition of whatever it is that you’re setting a goal about, you’re not setting a goal. You’re just setting an ordinary “task.”

So, dear Pivot Habitor, henceforth, SMART goals mean you REACH out in front of you to improve your condition.

¹ Trademark of Bruder Group LLC
² Trademark of Raise the Bar, Inc.

Time-bound

Pick a time, any time. Really – almost any time will do.

There is something about goals where they don’t become “real” until there is a time frame attached to them. Don’t believe me? Get your goal all set up to your liking. Then step back and attach a date to it when it must be accomplished.

One of two things will happen. Either you will feel energized and the time frame will make you feel committed.

Or you will hit the brakes faster than you knew brakes could be hit. It never fails. Goal setting goes great… right up until it’s time to attach deadlines. And then certain goals get parked.

You know what? That’s okay. The first thing I said at the start of this article was that a goal where all of the elements were present was better, more complete, and more thought out than one where any were missing. If attaching a deadline causes you to park the goal, then that was the outcome that is meant to be. For now.

SMART Goal Setting Template

There is an easy way to incorporate all of the above, and it’s to use a super-simple template.

Because I’m a fan of measurable goals, your first step is to pick some measure or metric that will serve as the focus of your goal — something that you want to change through the work of implementing your goal. With that in hand, just complete this template:

My Goal

[ Increase / Decrease ] < choose one

(insert measure or metric)

from ( starting value ) to ( ending value )

by ( deadline )

resulting in ( greatness of impact )

As an example, let’s return to our Pacific Northwest sales goals.

My Goal

Increase Pacific Northwest month-over-month revenue to existing customers

from $100,000 to $125,000 by the end of Q2

resulting in the ability to issue bonuses to the sales team for Q2 efforts.

I’m the first to admit that adhering exactly to this template is stifling. So don’t do that. Use it as an initial guide to get all your parts in order. Then wordsmith and re-arrange to your heart’s content./

Bringing it All Together

Hopefully, article 600 million and one on SMART goal setting has given you a new insight, made you a little smarter, and helped along the way. Reach out and let me know your thoughts.