For decades, leaders have been told that success begins with setting SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. The idea is simple: if you define success clearly and deadline it, performance will improve. And to be fair, SMART goals are useful. They convert vague intentions into something measurable. They help teams focus. They create accountability.
But here’s the problem: SMART goals alone do not create strategy.
And without strategy, SMART goals can drive wasteful effort, short-term thinking, and even destructive behavior. Just because a goal is well-written doesn’t mean it’s well-designed.
The Big Mistake: Confusing Goals with Strategy
Many organizations assume that once they’ve set SMART goals, they’ve created a strategy. But strategy is much more than a list of objectives and due dates.
A real strategy answers three things:
- What problem are we trying to solve (Diagnosis)?
Every good strategic goal begins with an insight about a situation. If you are pushing SMART goals without sharing the insights they are based on, you are missing out on a key part of the process.
- What is our chosen approach (Guiding Policy)?
Any goal worth pursuing is going to face a challenge. How well does your strategy help your organization know which choice to make in pursuit of the goal. Ask yourself: What should we do more of vs. What should we do less of to help figure out if you really have a policy or just a statement of intent.
- What coordinated actions will we take (Coherent Actions)?
Without these elements, goals are just pressure statements, not paths to success. In organizations a goal without a plan is a wish. A goal with a plan, usually looks like a Project. Project are the building blocks of strategic outcomes.
The Hidden Danger of SMART Goals Without Strategy
When all you do is push goals down the org chart, people try to hit the number at all costs—even if it means doing the wrong things.
Real-world examples:
When a single number becomes the goal, everything else becomes secondary—including quality, safety, people, and long-term outcomes.
| SMART Goal | Without Strategy (The Problem) | Bad Outcome (The Result) |
|---|---|---|
| Increase sales 25% by Q4 | Sales team pushes generic products aggressively without identifying target segments or training on high-margin items. | Low-quality sales are achieved through heavy discounting, leading to reduced overall profit margins and customer churn. |
| Reduce patient wait time 15% | Staff rushes appointments and limits necessary time with patients, focusing only on speed. | Medical errors increase, patient satisfaction drops due to rushed care, and appointment no-shows rise. |
| Produce 10% more units | Production speeds up without checking equipment calibration or managing raw material inventory. | Product quality decreases dramatically, leading to higher rates of scrap material, product returns, and costly rework. |
| Answer support emails in 4 hours | Support agents use canned, unhelpful, or brief responses just to close tickets quickly. | First-contact resolution rate plummets, customers are frustrated, and they have to contact support multiple times, increasing the total workload. |
The Metrics Problem: What You Measure Shapes Behavior
Organizations love to measure one thing:
• Revenue
• Output
• Cost reduction
• Cycle time
• Utilization
But when one metric dominates, people game the system. Goals without balanced metrics (Safety-Quality-Delivery-Cost-People) become toxic.
Tell me how I’m measured and I’ll show you how I behave.
Tell me how I’m measured poorly, and I’ll show you how I behave badly.
Why Strategy Matters
SMART goals tell you what. Strategy tells you how and why.
• SMART goals describe the destination.
• Strategy defines the path.
• Tactics are the steps you take along that path.
A goal without a strategy is like telling a team to climb Mount Everest by Friday—without training, equipment, route planning, or weather awareness. People will try hard. But they will fail hard.
“Try Harder” sounds like good advice and might be motivating, but it rarely is sufficient for sustained improvements over time.
So What Should Leaders Do Instead?
✔ Combine goals with strategy
Identify problems, choose an approach, align actions and resources.
✔ Use a balanced scorecard
Measure safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people—not just one number.
✔ Involve the team
Strategy is a process of learning, adapting, experimenting, and improving.
✔ Review progress frequently
Don’t write a goal in January and hope for magic in December.
The New Rule
SMART goals don’t create strategy. Strategy creates the conditions for SMART goals to succeed. When goals are connected to strategy and supported by balanced metrics, people don’t just chase numbers—they improve systems. And that’s how winning organizations operate.
Closing Thought
SMART goals were never the problem. The problem is believing that goal-setting alone is leadership. Leaders don’t just set goals—they build strategy, align teams, and create purpose.
Now that’s a lot smarter!
Your Turn
- Where in your organization are SMART goals being used without strategy?
- What behaviors is that creating?
