SMART or CLEAR Goals
It’s that time of the year—new year’s resolutions are abound and I want to give you one to add to the list. Let’s set a goal for goal-setting.
- New Year’s Resolutions
Decide to set resoulutions- Learn about goal setting
- Write goals
- Goal 1 …
Sure, many of us will set some targets to reach; some may be low, others may be stretch, and still others will be unrealistic.
And then what happens? A sense of unfulfilment or disappointment when they are not accomplished or maybe even ambivalence as we forget these goals even existed.
So let’s focus on better goal-setting, for ourselves and our organizations.
SMART Goals
Most of us have heard of SMART goals, but for those who have not, here’s a quick refresher:
- S
- Specific - providing sufficient detail to the focus
- M
- Measurable - giving more detail by putting a number to target
- A
- Achievable/Attainable - making sure that it is realistic and within capacity, albeit requiring a stretch to make it happen
- R
- Relevant - setting out on an effort that will have an impact and provide value that is wanted or needed
- T
- Timely/Timebound - setting the deadline to try and achieve by
I’ve always struggled with some of these and was happy to have found people added to them in the past to make them SMARTER
- E
- Evaluable - making sure that the measurable M can actually be assessed at points leading up to our timely T
- R
- Revisable/Re-adjustable- preparing ourselves for the unknown by giving ourselves permission before we start that the goal can changed under the circumstances rather than dropping it
The last one has always been a struggle to get my peers to understand.
It’s not setting the expectation that you will fail, but it’s allowing forgiveness and second chances when life, outside of your control, prevents a goal from being met. Rather than beating yourself up for failing a goal or being able to toss the goal in the garbage when it can no longer be met, this challenges us to keep working towards it even though we know we will fall short.
💭 I believe the steps to a SMART goal could be classified as qualitative “Left-Brained” goals. They are often logical with a focus on analytics, often linear/sequential, based on facts. They can come off as cold and calculated.
CLEAR Goals
But what about the other side, are there goals for the qualitative “Right-Brained” side?
Let’s take a look at CLEAR goals:
- C
- Collaborative - items which encourage teams and team members to work together or be interdisciplinary
- L
- Limited - keeping the scope and duration in check
- E
- Emotional - connecting to the team members that have to work on them or are impacted by the goal by bringing energy and passion
- A
- Appreciable - no, not the emotional appreciation (that’s covered by
E) but the over-time appreciation meaning they are a part of bigger initiatives/missions or can be broken down further into sub-goals for quicker, easier small wins - R
- Refinable - allowing revisions and modifications for the unexpected
Now, nothing stopping us from adding the same
ER, other than Revisable and Refinable would overlap. However, we can clearly (pun intended) see the only overlap of the originals is Specific and Limited.
What’s fun over here on the “Right-Brained” side of creativity and emotions are the opportunities the different areas opened up to the traditional goal setting. They offer a more warm and inviting approach for the team.
- Collaborative brings with it the added benefit of group accountability and strengthening interconnectedness.
- Emotional brings that internal driver which overtime develops into that Appreciable undertone.
Both/And
Which one should you go with? There’s a time and a place for picking one over the other, but consider BOTH!
Both left- and right-brained, SMART and CLEAR goals can work together to compliment the direction of your life or your organization.
Example
Let’s look at an example: we want to complete a course (a race or a Salesforce certification) to improve ourselves.
- Goal (Race): Complete a 5k in 35 minutes by May 15th with at least one other person (Alex) to better improve my health so that I can be a better family member.
- Goal (Salesforce): Complete a Reporting Fundamentals course with a 80% result before this year’s TDX to better improve my skills so that I can help my team.
| Area | Race | Salesforce |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ Specific | a 5K | a Salesforce certification prep |
| ✅ Measureable | with a certain finish time | with a certain outcome |
| ✅ Attainable | it’s not a marathon when we know we need to get in shape | it’s not an architect focus when we’re just starting out |
| ✅ Relevant | our health needs improvement / we enjoy running | we want to advance our understanding and career potential |
| ✅ Timely | by May 15th | before the TDX conference |
| ✅ Collaborative | find a running buddy | find collegues or Trailblazer to join |
| ✅ Limited | May 15th gives us two 5K options | different courses are available before TDX |
| ✅ Emotional | improving my health and happiness means I’m better in my relationships | advancing my knowledge helps the team or clients excel |
| ✅ Appreciable | it’s a step towards accomplishing a marathon | another notch on the belt toward becoming an architect |
| ✅ Refinable | we can scale up to a 10k or a 2.5k or adjust the deadline | we can change the certification we’re working towards or a different milestone event |
| ✅ Evaluable | I can monitor my performance while training | I can do practice quizzes or examples to make sure I’m retaining the knowledge |
Using a both/and approach means being able to honor the full complicated reality that life presents. We can feel both the need for structure and for compassion, so let’s respect those feelings by stiving to address both. Let’s set goals that we can track with key performance indicators, while also making sure they have a place close to our hearts. And regardless of which goal-setting approach we take, there’s on thing to remember—to give ourselves permission ahead of time to make appropriate and necessary changes in respond to life’s curveballs.