You are probably familiar with the famous acronym SMART, which summarises how management’s goals and objectives should be written. The “T” in SMART stands for “time-related,” meaning goals should specify when results can be achieved. With all due respect to George Doran, who proposed SMART, I strongly disagree with this idea. To explain why, let me revisit the story of Ignaz Semmelweis , the renowned Hungarian physician later called the “saviour of mothers”.

Ignaz Semmelweis discovered how to prevent childbed fever, a deadly disease affecting women after childbirth or miscarriage. With the introduction of pathological anatomy in maternity hospitals, maternal mortality due to childbed fever soared. Semmelweis linked the higher rates of childbed fever in public hospitals to poor hygiene among doctors and staff. He worked tirelessly to introduce hygiene rules. His 1847/48 study is now recognised as the first practical case of evidence-based medicine in Austria and a prime example of scientifically testing hypotheses.

Despite his efforts, most of Semmelweis’s colleagues rejected his statistical evidence, test results, and proposed solutions during his lifetime. This may seem absurd today, but at the time, people knew nothing about bacteria or viruses as causes of infections. Without a theoretical explanation, Semmelweis could not convince his peers. He died in 1865 without seeing his goal achieved. Only a few years later, the discoveries of Louis Pasteur (germ theory) and Joseph Lister (antiseptic surgery) proved him right.

Based on the work of Ignaz Semmelweis, a modern strategy professional might formulate this:

• Strategic Goal: Medical staff manipulate women with clean, near-sterile hands.
• Effective Action: Medical staff wash and disinfect their hands before any individual treatment.

Semmelweis could not predict how long it would take to replace outdated theories, accept his findings, and change the medical culture. Nevertheless, his strategic foresight was correct. He mastered effectiveness by “doing the right things”.

The Problem with Time-Bound Strategic Goals

Some argue that time-bound goals create a sense of urgency and emphasise importance. While urgency may be helpful for driving change , adding time limits to strategic goals is risky. What if the deadline is missed? Rescheduling might lead to disappointment, loss of trust, cynicism, or the belief that the goal is unrealistic. A genuine strategic goal can inspire and call for action without adding time pressure.

As Semmelweis’s story shows, relevant strategic objectives remain important regardless of time. Genuine strategic goals are timeless. It’s a mistake to consider a goal unrealistic simply because it takes longer than expected. Time elapsed since starting implementation is not a reliable measure of achievability. We should not change direction just because progress is slower than hoped.

Adding a time limit shifts the focus from effectiveness to efficiency. Instead of asking, “How much progress have we made toward this goal?” we focus on, “Are we meeting the deadline?” These are different questions and should not be confused.

Are Strategic Goals Always Long-Term?

There is a widespread opinion that strategic goals are inherently long-term goals. Yet, strategic goals do not always require many years to be realised. For example, acquiring new skills, hiring people with these skills, and integrating strategically relevant competencies into an organisation can often be achieved within a year.

Practical Tips for Strategic Planning

• Distinguish Goals from Activities: If you feel the need to include dates in defining your strategic objectives, first check whether you are confusing objectives with activities. Deadlines are better suited for tasks or project milestones, which can be tracked in the strategy execution plan. In your strategic performance management system, highlight the alignment of time-bound activities and projects with the strategic goal.
• Avoid Time-Labeled Strategies: Stop naming your strategic document “Strategy [year]”. Setting the same deadline for all strategic goals is even less appropriate than assigning a proper deadline to each one.
• Use Lead Indicators: To monitor how fast you deliver the strategy, design and implement lead indicators measuring soft outputs or soft outcomes. These metrics help assess movement in the right direction without imposing artificial deadlines. (Stay tuned for another article on this topic!)
• Consider Time in Target Setting: As Peter Ndaa says: “Time-bound is applicable to targets for the measures for our goals. They are the performance levels we aim to reach for our measures.”

Bottom line

Not having time-bound strategic goals is not a weakness—it’s a strength. Leaders and strategy professionals do not need to predict the future. Their role is to set the right direction, not to prove their ability to foresee exact timelines.

References