SMART Goals: The Method, Its Limits, and When You Should (Not) Use It

"I want to exercise more this year." Sounds good, never happens.

"I want to jog for 30 minutes three times a week by June 30th." Much better.

The difference? The second goal is SMART. But is SMART always the best method? Spoiler: No. This guide shows you when SMART works, when it doesn't – and what alternatives exist.

What Does SMART Mean?

SMART is an acronym for five criteria a goal should meet:

The History

The SMART method was introduced in 1981 by George T. Doran in his paper "There's a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management's Goals and Objectives." Originally developed for management goals, it became the standard in almost all areas – from corporate management to project management to personal development.

Formulating SMART Goals: Step by Step

S – Specific

Bad: "I want to become a better programmer."

SMART: "I want to master TypeScript well enough to independently develop type-safe APIs."

Questions for specification:

• What exactly do I want to achieve?
• Who is involved?
• Where does it take place?
• What resources do I need?
• Why is this goal important?

M – Measurable

Bad: "Acquire more customers."

SMART: "Acquire 20 new paying customers."

Making things measurable:

Tip: If you can't find an obvious measure, ask: "How would an outsider recognize that I achieved the goal?"

A – Achievable

The "A" is interpreted differently:

Attractive:

• Does this goal motivate me?
• Do I really want to achieve it?
• Does it align with my values?

Achievable:

• Do I have the necessary resources?
• Is it within my sphere of influence?
• Is it technically possible?

Example – Test:

• ❌ "I want to become a billionaire" – Outside sphere of influence
• ✅ "I want to reach €100,000 annual revenue" – Challenging but achievable

R – Relevant

Two interpretations here as well:

Realistic:

• Is the goal achievable under given circumstances?
• Do I have the time, skills, and resources?

Relevant:

• Does this goal contribute to my larger goals?
• Is now the right time?
• Does it align with company strategy?

The Relevance Check:

Company goal: Become market leader in B2B SaaS

Department goal: 50% faster feature development
→ Relevant? Yes, enables faster market adaptation

Department goal: Renovate office
→ Relevant? No, doesn't contribute to main goal

T – Time-bound

Bad: "Launch the app sometime."

SMART: "Publish the app in the App Store by March 15, 2026."

Types of time binding:

SMART Goals Examples by Area

Software Development

Career

Team Leadership

Personal Development

The Criticism of SMART Goals

SMART isn't perfect. Here are the legitimate criticisms:

1. Promotes Risk Avoidance

Because goals should be "achievable" and "realistic," people often set goals too low. The result: mediocrity is rewarded.

Problem:

• Team sets goal: 10% growth
• Team achieves 10% → Success celebrated
• Team might have achieved 30%

2. Short-term Thinking

Time binding often leads to:

• Focus on quick wins instead of sustainable solutions
• "Gaming the metrics" – hitting the number even if that's not the real goal
• Neglecting long-term investments

Example: Sales team focuses on quarterly goals, neglects long-term customer relationships.

3. Not Suitable for Uncertainty

In VUCA environments (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity), rigid goals work poorly:

• Startup world: Goals change constantly
• Innovation: Success isn't plannable
• Complex projects: Unknown unknowns

4. Measurement Obsession

Not everything important is measurable. The focus on measurability leads to:

• Neglecting quality (only quantity is measurable)
• Overemphasis on what gets measured
• Manipulation of metrics

Campbell's Law: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor."

5. Lack of Inspiration

SMART goals are rational but not necessarily inspiring. "20% revenue increase by Q4" motivates less than "We want to revolutionize the way people work."

Alternatives to SMART Goals

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)

Structure:

• Objective: Qualitative, inspiring goal
• Key Results: 3-5 measurable outcomes showing if the goal was achieved

Example:

Objective: Provide the best onboarding experience in the industry

Key Results:
- Time-to-value under 5 minutes
- Onboarding completion rate above 90%
- NPS for new users above 60
- Support tickets in first week under 5%

Advantages over SMART:

• More ambitious (70% achievement counts as success)
• Separation of inspiration (Objective) and measurement (Key Results)
• Better alignment through cascading

When OKRs instead of SMART:

• When you need ambitious goals
• For team and company level
• For quarterly planning

HARD Goals

Acronym:

• Heartfelt – Emotionally meaningful
• Animated – Vividly imaginable
• Required – Necessary (not just "nice to have")
• Difficult – Challenging

Focus: Motivation and emotional connection instead of just measurement obsession.

WOOP

Method by Gabriele Oettingen:

• Wish – What do I wish for?
• Outcome – What would be the best result?
• Obstacle – What's stopping me?
• Plan – If [obstacle], then [reaction]

Especially good for: Personal goals and habit formation.

North Star Metric

Concept: A single metric that captures the core of company value.

Examples:

• Spotify: Time users spend listening to music
• Airbnb: Nights booked
• Slack: Daily active users

Advantage: Extreme focus and alignment.

When to Use SMART?

SMART works best for:

When to Avoid SMART?

Using SMART Goals in Teams

Best Practices

1. Formulate together

• Don't dictate goals top-down
• Involve team in goal definition
• Increase ownership through participation

2. Review regularly

• Weekly check-in: On track?
• Monthly review: Adjustment needed?
• Quarterly retrospective: What did we learn?

3. Make public

• Transparency creates commitment
• Team board with all goals
• Progress visible to everyone

4. Celebrate and learn

• Celebrate achieved goals
• Analyze missed goals (don't punish)
• Document lessons learned

Avoiding Common Mistakes

SMART Goals Template

For Individuals

GOAL: ________________________________

S – Specific:
What exactly? ________________________________
Who is involved? ________________________________
Where? ________________________________
Why important? ________________________________

M – Measurable:
Success indicator: ________________________________
Current state: ________________________________
Target value: ________________________________

A – Achievable:
Motivation (1-10): ____
What excites me about it? ________________________________

R – Relevant:
Resources available? □ Yes □ No
Obstacles: ________________________________
Solutions: ________________________________

T – Time-bound:
Deadline: ________________________________
Milestones:
- __________ by __________
- __________ by __________
- __________ by __________

For Teams

TEAM GOAL Q_/202_

OBJECTIVE (inspiring):
________________________________

SMART KEY RESULTS:

KR1: ________________________________
- Metric: __________
- Current: __________
- Target: __________
- Deadline: __________
- Owner: __________

KR2: ________________________________
[same structure]

KR3: ________________________________
[same structure]

DEPENDENCIES:
- We need from Team X: ________________________________
- We deliver to Team Y: ________________________________

RISKS:
- ________________________________
- ________________________________

CHECK-IN RHYTHM: □ Weekly □ Bi-weekly □ Monthly

Conclusion: SMART as a Tool, Not a Dogma

SMART goals are a useful tool – but just a tool. They work excellently for:

• Concrete, operational goals
• Personal development goals
• Projects with clear scope

They work less well for:

• Ambitious stretch goals
• Innovation and experiments
• Long-term visions

My recommendation:

1. For personal goals: SMART or WOOP
2. For team goals: OKRs with SMART Key Results
3. For company goals: North Star + OKRs

The most important thing isn't the perfect method, but setting goals at all, writing them down, and reviewing them regularly. An imperfectly formulated goal that you pursue beats a perfect SMART goal sitting in a drawer.

Leading a team and wondering how to communicate goals motivationally? Our guide on Servant Leadership shows how you achieve better results through support rather than control.