SMART goals – Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely – are all the rage, but are they smart? A smart goal is one that will be achieved. And if you want your goals to be achieved, these five SMART factors have several fatal flaws. First, the SMART factors don’t do much to ensure goals are important to the organization. “Relevant” is a weak statement of importance. Any goal worth defining and tracking should make a significant impact on the success of the organization. Second, the SMART factors say nothing about the individual who needs to achieve the goal. You can’t tell me a particular goal is equally smart for any number of different individuals. People are not interchangeable and therefore the goals assigned to them can’t be either.
The cause of impatience is a lack of progress. Here are three tips for improving your patience before you drive yourself and the other person crazy! Remind yourself that the other person is not you and most of what you think you know about that person is an assumption. Skill, knowledge, and attitude are invisible, so any conclusions you draw about those are suspect. Pay attention only to observable behavior and its consequences. Focus on the other person’s needs. What don’t they know or understand? Where are the obstacles? Work with him to remove the barriers. Break desired outcomes into intermediate outcomes – concrete next steps. Both of you will feel better when you can see real progress.
A friend recently asked me about the source of arrogance. While I suspect many of the arrogant are simply the insecure hiding behind a facade to protect themselves, I have met others who actually do believe they know everything that matters. They are the smartest, best educated, most talented, most logical, or most practical, at least that is what they think. They have a corner on that market and they just won’t listen to anyone else. I told my friend that she was asking the wrong person because I have never met anyone who couldn’t benefit from listening to more people, hearing more perspectives, and developing new insights. I can’t imagine denying the value others have to offer.
PRESS RELEASE January 31, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ann Latham 603-784-5727 Uncommon Clarity®, Inc. EASTHAMPTON, MA – “The CEO Refresher” honors Latham as a Thought Leader “The CEO Refresher” has designated Ann Latham, president of Uncommon Clarity, Inc., as a Thought Leader. She is now featured on their website along with several articles that she has written.
There are a million ways to improve our businesses and our lives. The ideas float in the window, arrive via email, pop into conversation, pile up in droves when we read, appear as “suggestions” from the boss, and are promoted by colleagues, friends, customers, suppliers, and more. But we can’t do them all! If you run with every exciting new idea, you will drive yourself crazy and get nowhere of significance. The answer is not to block out new ideas and information. Listening, learning, imagining, evolving, and, occasionally leaping, are important.
Every time I see an XFINITY commercial I wonder if I have it. I probably do; I have several Comcast services. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the word on their bills. Of course those could just be more ads. But I have no idea what XFINITY is. And I have even less interest in finding out. It is just this word that comes hurtling after me when the TV is on. How sad. Think of the enormous quantities of money Comcast is spending in marketing something so confusing and so meaningless. Or maybe it’s just me. Does anyone think XFINITY is cool? Something you’ve just got to have?
If you aren’t careful, your inbox, and thus your To Do list, can grow out of control. However, if you pay attention, you will notice that many items landing in your inbox create work for you that need not be yours. Take a look at who is filling your inbox and why. For example, think about those times when a colleague sends you a proposal, report, or something else for you to review. Why you? What value can you add? Are they ducking responsibility or afraid to pull the trigger? Does the item really need to be better? Or perhaps you get emails addressed to 10 people. Why and why you? Do you need to mark your calendar, check something off your list, make note of a decision, or take a specific action? If not, you were likely copied for the wrong reasons. However, if you aren’t paying attention, you may find yourself sucked into or instigating several exchanges of little value to anyone. Watch what is landing in your inbox and take measures to deflect it before it lands.
One situation that could benefit from a little clarity – clarity of purpose, priorities, and plans – is Afghanistan. But here is a fabulous example of how not to create clarity: Daily Mail. Do you create complexity or clarity? If you create anything even sort of like this, you are creating complexity. There is a huge chasm between data and analysis on one side and useful information followed by sound decisions on the other. If your strategic thinking and planning processes get bogged down in data and analysis, give me a call.
It takes a company, if not a village, to successfully and profitably provide value to your customers. Honor your employees, suppliers, shareholders, customers, and community for the role they play by showing respect and appreciation and by sharing the rewards you have reaped.
If you work with or for someone who is indecisive, it can be frustrating. Even worse, it can be extremely wasteful if you routinely start down a path only to have a decision flipped and your progress erased. What can you do to clear the fog and keep things moving forward? Practice asking these six helpful questions and you will reduce the back-tracking while simultaneously improving the decisions and developing clear thinking skills for all involved: What specifically are we trying to accomplish? What criteria and priorities are most important in making this decision? Are there other alternatives that we should be considering? Why is this alternative the best given the criteria and priorities we discussed? What might go wrong if we choose this alternative? How serious and likely are these potential problems?