By Allison Rodriguez
SMART Goals Are…
Most of us have created goals using the “SMART” strategy. This means to set goals that are specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and timely. (Not sure what SMART goals are? Learn more here.) Setting SMART goals is often extremely valuable for organizations. After all, traditional research repeatedly finds that using SMART goals is worth the hype.
...Not Always Smart
However, an article in Research-Technology Management warns about using SMART criteria as a way to set goals around innovation. Author Charles Prather states, “Using SMART criteria to set goals for innovation will result in innovations of only the most incremental kind, and certainly not the kind that can be called breakthroughs.”
The inherent rigidness of a SMART goal is often why organizations employ them so often. SMART goals force users to concisely state an action plan and a specific solution to implement them. Unfortunately, innovation does not often thrive in an inflexible and rigid environment. Prather notes that SMART goals work against the culture that most often produces innovation, specifically the need for freedom, risk-taking, and creativity.
Similarly, an article by professor David Clutterbuck in Training Journal echos Prather’s sentiments about over-reliance on SMART goals. Mainly, Clutterbuck maintains that the strength of the SMART strategy is in goals that are “short-term, task-driven and relatively simple.” However, for strategies that are more complex or unknown it’s impossible to use the inflexible and rigid requirements inherent in the SMART strategy.
Now what?
Prather simply urges leaders to promote an environment of innovation that encourages more flexibility than SMART goals will allow. He states that the six facets of an environment with the most innovation include freedom, challenge and involvement, trust and openness, risk-taking, idea time, and idea support. We can easily argue that all six of these facets are nearly impossible if the SMART strategy is the only one organizations use.
Using Prather’s suggestion, an organization would set SMART criteria for goals where “ambiguity is minimal” or for “incremental improvement.” For example, the quality of a specific part of your product has decreased and you need to set a goal to get back to normal operation. SMART criteria is a perfect solution in this case. Do not use SMART criteria, however, to encourage a breakthrough for your organization.
Clutterbuck believes letting genuine goals emerge and steering the process as they develop is more valuable than prematurely setting restrictions in the way SMART goals require. He firmly believes adopting new behaviors throughout the year due to unforeseen circumstances allow for more success.
Are you a leader in your organization? This article from Forbes about developing a culture of innovation closely resembles Prather’s ideas. In the end, a variety of goal-setting techniques—from SMART goals to those Prather outlines—will ensure that your company is on track for both incremental and groundbreaking success.
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Thank you for sharing!