If SMART Goals Don’t Work for You, Try FAST Goals Instead.
You are probably familiar with the concept of a SMART goal: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. A goal like this can produce results, but it may not be the best way to get you where you want to go.
In this case, you can start setting FAST targets instead.
Management experts Donald Sull and Charles Sully define and explain the goals of FAST in the MIT Sloan Management Review :
We have found that four basic principles underpin effective goal systems, and we summarize these elements using the acronym FAST. […] Objectives should be included in frequent discussions; ambitious in size; measured by specific metrics and milestones; and transparent to everyone in the organization.
Astute readers will notice that SMART and FAST goals have one attribute in common: specificity . Before you start working on achieving your goal, be clear about what you want to achieve and how you will know when you have achieved it.
This is how these two types of goals differ. If you set a goal FAST, make it ambitious, not realistic. As Sull and Sull remind us:
The temptation to play it safe when setting goals is understandable, but often misguided. Recall that employees with ambitious goals outperform colleagues with less complex tasks.
In other words – and I can’t believe I’m typing this – aim for the Moon, and even if you miss, you will land among the stars.
After you’ve set an ambitious goal for yourself, whether it’s for yourself, your workplace, or your family, come back to it often. Here’s Sull and Sull again:
Even the most elaborate goals don’t make much of an impact when stored for 363 days a year. To ensure that the strategy is implemented, the goals must serve as the basis for key decisions and actions throughout the year.
This is due to what I recently read in Nir Eyal’s new book Unwavering: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life . Eyal suggests that after you set a goal, you should evaluate each subsequent decision as to whether it brings you closer to the goal or further away from it.
Of course, this is not always 100% realistic, but since we are already filming for the moon, why not give it a try?
It takes care of the frequent , ambitious and specific . The last word in transparent is self-explanatory. Make your goals and the reason you are working towards those goals understandable to anyone interested in helping you achieve them.
Some of you may argue with transparency. I’m not saying you need to share every detail of your new creative project, exercise regimen, or whatever. In fact, there are studies that show that you are more likely to achieve a personal goal if you keep it to yourself.
But if you’re working on a goal that includes other people’s involvement, such as reducing the number of take-out orders your family orders instead of preparing meals at home, it might be a good idea to be transparent about the goal itself (“order food at takeaway only once a week ”), why you set a goal (“ save money ”) and how you will know if you have reached your goal (“ have we limited takeout once a week or not ”).
It’s also a good idea to be transparent about how the people involved can help you achieve your goal – or help the whole group achieve a common goal. This way, they will know if their actions and decisions are helping everyone get closer to their goal.
For example, if you want to go jogging every morning for an hour of free time, let other people in your family know how they can support you. If you want to give your family a goal of ordering takeaway only once a week, be clear about how each should take on and / or share new responsibilities in terms of meal planning, meal preparation and cleaning.
And remember, FAST goals are ambitious as opposed to SMART goals. If there are weeks when you order takeout twice, it’s still better than ordering it every day. The same goes for any other FAST goal you set – so you can start setting them as quickly as possible and see how far they can take you.