Instead of setting SMART goals, why not make a PACT?
Summary
Former Google executive Anne-Laure Le Cunff offers tools to fight toxic productivity and procrastination
If you are a professional, it’s likely that you have recently completed a goal-setting exercise as part of your annual performance appraisal. Irrespective of the template followed for this activity by the HR department of your organisation, the fundamental principle behind such an exercise is similar for most enterprises: to help employees become more productive, accountable, and focused on meeting their targets in the new financial year.
One of the most common tools used in the corporate world to keep professionals on track is a goal-setting framework that goes by the acronym S.M.A.R.T. Management consultant George T. Doran first mentioned it in an article for Management Review in 1981. According to this model, the most effective goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable (originally Doran used Assignable), Realistic and Time-bound. “I will run three times per week for 30 minutes each session to prepare for a 5K race in 8 weeks" is an example of a S.M.A.R.T goal.
A tried and tested tool for close to half a century, S.M.A.R.T goals not only strongly correlate with the outcomes desired of an individual, but also leave no room for ambiguity. Even to carry out daily tasks, it can prove beneficial, both for managers and their reportees. Instead of going down the slippery slope of vague promises, such as, “I’ll send over the presentation by E.O.D.," an individual working within the S.M.A.R.T framework will have to make a more precise commitment, such as, “I will send over the presentation by 5pm."
There is, however, a flip side to this model. S.M.A.R.T goals tend to be overly focused on outcomes and the metrics attached to them. With no wiggle room for recalibration, these goals either leave you feeling triumphant or like a loser. Especially if the goal in question is personal, such as reaching a certain designation in a specific period of time, this framework may lead to burnout if not met.
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Further, the continuous pressure of being always on track may lead to toxic work habits—such as pulling off the proverbial 70-hour-week, either in all honesty or to keep up the appearances. Come rain, shine, war or economic meltdown, S.M.A.R.T goals keep you on your toes, not accounting for the Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world we live and work in.
Let's make a PACT
The S.M.A.R.T framework may have worked for Boomers, Gen X and older millennials when the world of work was relatively insulated from the shocks and tremors of global upheavals in tech, AI and financial meltdowns. But for Gen Zs and Gen Alphas joining, or about to join, the workforce, the current reality calls for a different approach to productivity.
In her recent book Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World, former Google executive, neuroscientist, and founder of the mindful productivity platform Ness Labs Anne-Laure Le Cunff proposes an alternative to the S.M.A.R.T model—an approach that takes into account all the ups and downs we face in our VUCA world.
Instead of being tied to outcome-oriented linear goals, this French Algerian writer suggests that we shift towards setting non-linear goals and make a P.A.C.T. that is focused on the process and the output. Her acronym—Purposeful, Actionable, Continuous and Trackable—is an antidote to empirical metrics of productivity.
For example, “I’ll learn coding in the next six months" may be a worthwhile goal, but for it to work as a P.A.C.T., it will have to be re-framed as something along the lines of, “I will code every day for one hour for the next six months."
Building motivation in individuals to achieve their goals almost always involves a carrot or stick approach. A pact, in contrast, offers a reprieve from the push and pull method. It relies on the momentum of the process to build skill and confidence through repeated action. Le Cunff calls these exercises to reframe our working style “tiny experiments."
Mindful productivity
While it is difficult to imagine tiny experiments working at an organisational level, Le Cunff’s ideas can prove transformative for personal productivity. And so, going beyond the theories of the fixed and growth mindsets proposed by psychologist Carol Dweck in her 2006 book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she proposes a third model: the experimental mindset. To explain what such a mindset may look like in practice, she invokes the concept of “metacognition," or heightened self-awareness achieved through repeatedly questioning the triggers behind our actions. If you are a serial procrastinator, for instance, your experimental mindset can help you see what’s stopping you from getting on with your tasks. Is it your rational brain that sees no value in the work itself? Do your emotions feel that there are better things awaiting your attention? Or, perhaps, there are practical impediments for you to do the task?
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Based on your answers, Le Cunff suggests a “persist, pause and pivot" model to get out of the rut. Her provocations may or may not work every time for everyone, but at least such tiny experiments—and there are several more in her book—will put you in touch with some of the default blockages in your mind.
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