Updates are quite common in the 21st century. Software applications are being continually, Internet browsers experience ongoing updates and yet the SMART goal-setting and goal-achievement criteria remain stuck in the 20th century.
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Possibly now is the time to update this powerful results tool.
My sense is Zig Ziglar presumed most people would commit their goals to writing. Yet, this appears not to be the case. We all know what happens when we fail to write important actions down, such as the common everyday grocery list. When we fail to take our written list to the grocery store, we end up:
*Buying more than what we need
*Spending more than what we planned
*Failing to purchase all items on the list left at home or the office
*Wasting more time attempting to remember what was on the list
*Feeling rather dumb for not remembering the list
*Returning to the store to buy what we missed
In 2007, 3M conducted some research and discovered 42 percent of the people surveyed are more likely to complete a task they have handwritten. Many of us know the power of the written word when we take notes and are more likely to remember what was said.
As noted in last week’s column, many times within the goal-setting/goal -achievement process we ignore the ability to understand our own human nature and then leverage that ability to become successful. When we think in terms of action verbs, we are working with our human nature because human beings are creatures of action.
By thinking and writing our goals with action verbs subconsciously works with us to achieve the goal. “ACTION” verbs remove the future such as “I will” and make the present as in “close” more real. For example here are some action verbs:
*Close
*Increase
*Improve
*Secure
*Collect
*Identify
*Build
Finally, another update is to have the goals owned by each individual. The goals must be yours. How many sales goals are set by sales managers and not by the individual salesperson?
When goals are owned by the business owners, the salesperson to even those in other roles instead of being told this is what you must achieve, there is a greater internal desire to achieve the goal.
If you disagree, think back to being a child and being told by your parents what to do. Do you remember some internal resistance to those parental commands? Because human beings are creatures of conditioning, possibly your boss or sales manager subconsciously has replaced one of your parents and now you are internally resisting?
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By adding the WAY (Written, Action, Yours) in front of the SMART criteria is the first step to bringing this proven goal-setting/goal-achievement process into the 21st century. The next two weeks, I will reexamine the SMART criteria with 21st century updates.
Leanne Hoagland-Smith is an author, speaker and executive coach. Her weekly column explores issues that impact the bottom line of firms with fewer than 100 employees. She can be reached at 219-508-2859.