By CJ Powers
The business tool of S.M.A.R.T. Objectives has been around for a long time. When each step is followed, the person that owns the objective focuses their work to accomplish what they set out to do. The key is making sure that the objectives are properly set starting with the “S” that stands for Specific.
I knew a man who had a non-specific objective of traveling overseas. Each year, for a dozen years, he talked about traveling and never left the comfort of America. During this time frame, I visited 26 countries and shared with him the excitement I experienced with the rich cultures, amazing people, and varying nuances of business.
His response, he told me that he was going overseas next year. I knew he wasn’t going. Why? Because he never set specific objectives.
We are not able to get somewhere that we never prepare to go. The only way to accomplish his dream of travel is to set a specific objective that he can work daily, weekly, or monthly. The key to setting something specific is making sure it is simple, sensible, significant, and sustainable.
SIMPLE
The complexity of vision always ends in misery, so it’s important to be able to state your specific objective in a clear and concise sentence. The more convoluted the idea, the harder it will be to bring to life. A simple specific objective for the man might be, “I will travel to Paris, France next August to attend the Toastmasters International Convention at the Hyatt Regency Paris.”
SENSIBLE
Traveling to Paris would only be considered sensible if the planning included logistics. For me the logistics would also include two extra days to visit Disney Paris. I would want to also plan on meeting a couple of my friends who live in the area to meet for dinner at the park or hotel. Listing all of the logistics, timing, and resources will make the trip doable and give a clear picture of what it will take each month to prepare and gather the funds.
SIGNIFICANT
The reason behind a specific objective becomes the fuel needed to power through the obstacles and limitations faced. The “why” we are chasing after the objective empowers us to move forward to obtaining our objective regardless of the issues that confront us in the process. Engaging our reason behind the objective makes it personal and places value on the outcome, so the accomplishment of the objective is a reward within itself. Watching the sunset while sitting at a French café would definitely be a reward.
SUSTAINABLE
Many people might question why an objective would need to be sustainable. After all, sacrifice for six months or a year is nothing compared to the reward, so the objective only needs to last long enough to accomplish it, right? Wrong. Sustainability means that you can maintain a certain level of excellence and pacing throughout the period associated with the deadline.
More importantly, the key to sustainability is the value of the project and how well you are able to defend it. Our ideas are always being challenged by the latest crisis, cool next thing, or our own new ideas. Therefore, the specific objective must be able to withstand all the good things that will come against it.
To make sure our specific objectives are simple, sensible, significant, and sustainable, we can ask ourselves:
- What do I want? (Keep the answer simple)
- Why is this goal important? (It must be significant to you)
- Who is involved? (Teams help sustain projects for the duration)
- Where is it located? (Be sensible about the logistics)
- How resources or limits impact achievement? (The combination of simple, sensible, significant, and sustainable)
By reviewing often, these four elements that feed into a specific objective, we are able to take the steps necessary to achieve the goal. The success of meeting a specific objective is more exciting than sort of meeting a general goal that you’re not sure was actually achieved. It’s time to get specific about setting objectives.
See you in Paris!
Copyright © 2020 by CJ Powers