Analyzing Goals
I had to decide whether to use SMART or START NOW to analyze one of my goals while working on the second part of my learning plan. The goal I set (in generic terms here) was to be an effective organization leader. Because such a goal (even in the specificity I used in the paper) is not a single, concrete activity, I ruled out SMART. On the other hand, I do not feel START NOW is effective for anything more specific or concrete than developing a habit. After doing a START NOW analysis, however, I feel like I have a better awareness of what I need to do and how I need to act in order to achieve my goal. If nothing else, START NOW has provided me assurance I am moving in the right direction to meet my goal.
Comments
Posted by:
Posted on: November 27, 2006 02:03 PM
What were some of the things that you didn't like about the two different plans? I agree that both the SMART and the START NOW plans were not sufficient to meet my goal needs, but I was curious to see why you didn't like them.
Posted by:
Posted on: November 27, 2006 02:03 PM
What were some of the things that you didn't like about the two different plans? I agree that both the SMART and the START NOW plans were not sufficient to meet my goal needs, but I was curious to see why you didn't like them.
Posted by: John Hill
Posted on: November 27, 2006 02:28 PM
I actually used the SMART plan effectively for my learning goal of becoming a CPA. By depending on concrete activities, I think the SMART plan is much easier to apply to a goal involving an ordinal set of actions. On the other hand, START NOW considers abstract activities leading up to meeting a goal. For example, START NOW does not quantify the efficacy of the support a person might think he or she has. It seems to me that START NOW is just a checklist to assess whether you act with temerity and are taking time to reflect, for example.