Mark Murphy argues SMART goals were built for a risk-averse 1950s and rarely produce breakthroughs. A study of 4,000 people showed low rates of extraordinary results. He proposes Hard Goals instead: audacious, emotionally compelling, and difficult targets that CEOs actually use.
Ever since I wrote the book Hard Goals, I, I've gotten a bit of a reputation as the guy who hates SMART goals. I think it's maybe a touch unfair, but let me tell you where it comes from. We did a study involving over 4,000 people and we asked them, everybody who set SMART goals, are your goals this year going to help you achieve great things? About 15% of people said yeah. We asked them, are your goals going to help you maximize your full potential? About 13% of people said yeah. Those aren't good numbers. It's not that I don't like SMART goals, it's that they don't seem to be achieving really, really great results. SMART goals were created in the late '50s. Very kind of militaristic mindset, the don't step out of line, a very 1950s kind of mindset. If you know, General Eisenhower was president, it's we want people to color within the lines, don't step out, don't get too crazy, but you know, sort of keep everybody— it's the era of the man in the gray flannel suit, for those of you that know that sociological study. It's that kind of a time. The goals we need today though are not— yeah, specifics good, measurable good, but achievable, realistic, Eh, the things that make up SMART goals, not so good. We actually need big ideas, big thinking. So when you think about all the great accomplishments you've had in your own life, I don't know, maybe you got that big promotion, sold a company, started a company, finished grad school, finished college, ran a marathon, quit smoking, lost 20 pounds, whatever it is. When you think about all of those great big accomplishments, Ask yourself, were they achievable and realistic, or were they just— they were a little bit crazy. They were outside of your comfort zone, right? Absolutely. Were they easy or were they hard? Oh, they were really hard. Did you know everything when you started, or did you have to learn lots of new skills along the way? Well, no, you had to learn lots of new skills along the way. Were you comfortable that you could accomplish it, or did you feel a little nervousness and maybe even a little anxiety? Yeah, you probably felt a little anxiety. That's the mark of a great goal. It's heartfelt. You have an emotional connection to it. It's animated. You can clearly picture it. It's required in that you have a sense of urgency. You must do this. And it's difficult. It pushes you outside of your comfort zone. It's not that I don't like SMART goals. It's that the way they've been defined, they just don't achieve really great results. Also think of it this way. CEOs don't set SMART goals. CEOs, they set things like hard goals. Oftentimes they call them things like BHAGs, big hairy audacious goals. You don't see a lot of CEOs sitting around going, I know, I know, let's, uh, let's go take on Google or Apple and, uh, but let's make it achievable and realistic. No, it's counter to how CEOs run organizations. They go, let's say it's gotta be audacious and crazy and hairy. Who even knows what that means? Got a hairy goal? We have to have something big and out there. Hard goals is just a way of trying to represent that spirit while formatting it in a little more articulate kind of way. But ultimately, when you think about the goals you give to your employees, really ask yourself, are these goals in sync with what our CEO, what our board would be doing. Because if the CEO wasn't sitting around setting SMART goals and making sure it's achievable and realistic and everything, if they're out there saying, I want to, as the late Steve Jobs said, I want to make a dent in the universe, how good are the employees going to feel about their goals if the goals they set aren't good enough for the CEOs? If the CEOs say, I would never set a SMART goal. I'm going to go make a dent in the universe like the late Steve Jobs did. How good is the employee gonna feel about having a SMART goal?
