Strategy Gap Finder: SMART Goals
See which SMART letter your goal is missing, and when it should become a key result instead.
Draft: this page is a work in progress, and its questions, numbers, and wording may change.
Why I Built This: The Goal That Resets Every Year
SMART goals are the most common planning format I see, and they are useful. A goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound is clear enough that a team can act on it. The trouble starts when a SMART goal is asked to do an objective's job. In On Measures, Metrics, KPIs, and OKRs I wrote that an objective which changes every year is a SMART goal in disguise. "Climb 29,032 feet within the next 3 years" is a good goal. "Achieve the highest peak possible in my lifetime" is the objective it serves. This page checks your goal against the five letters and tells you when it belongs underneath a lasting objective instead.
How It Works
Type your goal, or pick one of the examples. The page reads the sentence and suggests answers for Specific, Measurable, and Time-bound, because a sentence can show whether it names a result, a number, and a date. It never suggests Achievable or Relevant. Whether your team can do it, and why it matters, are things only you know.
A sixth question asks whether the goal is meant to last. If it is, and it also carries a number and a date, the page warns that it is a SMART goal rather than an objective. It then offers a link to the measures path, where the goal opens as a key result so you can check it under a lasting objective. Nothing moves until you choose to follow that link.
The Letters
- Specific: What needs to be accomplished, who is responsible for it, and what steps it takes.
- Measurable: A number you can track, so you know when you have reached the finish line.
- Achievable: Something your team can reasonably accomplish with what it has.
- Relevant: A reason for setting the goal, tied to a bigger outcome.
- Time-bound: A time horizon, so everyone agrees when the goal has been reached.
Where the Rules Come From
The five letters follow Atlassian's guide to writing SMART goals, which my article cites. The warning about goals that reset every year, and the difference between an objective and the key results under it, come from On Measures, Metrics, KPIs, and OKRs.