Time to change the SMART goals – Part 3 | Work Series

Continuing my newly developed ELASTIC goals.

Read time: just over a min.

Last week we dived into the first two letters – E and L. Today we will cover A and S.

Let’s go.

A – Aligned
No goals are worth pursuing if it’s not aligned with the broader purpose (personal or organizational). The goals must serve the vision and values it is undertaken for. Amazon’s vision is to be the most convenient provider of products and services. Every effort, therefore, is aligned with making shopping (online and offline) convenient for customers.

S – System
The goals must also define the system or the framework to work within. A lofty goal without means and methods won’t go very far. Establishing a system to modularize the goals will ensure effective management of the goals to its finish line.

We’ll conclude this topic with T, I and C next week. Stay tuned.

Bye for now.

Razak
CommonInterest

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From last week –

E – Exponential
The goals must be future-oriented, non-linear and profound.

It must have the characteristics of stretching the imagination beyond the current state. It must be focused on producing 10(n)X results. Using transportation example, centuries ago, when customers demanded faster horse carriages, the master geniuses like Benz, Daimler and Ford thankfully did not add more horses to make the carriages run faster. Their goals were exponential – forward-looking.

L – Landscape Sensitive
The goals must be viable when implemented.

It should be flexible and sensitive to the changing landscape and not stuck to its original purpose. It should not be too early or too late, requiring the goals to be tested continuously at each milestone to evaluate its viability.

If found to be non-viable, then the goals should be pivoted to a much viable outcome. Imagine if the electric cars were produced without adequate battery life or Segway, the clever transportation device that was very futuristic when launched but implemented too early for successful adoption. Netflix initially focused on DVDs by mail, however as the network landscape grew exponentially, it pivoted to online streaming.