1.17.2012

SMART goals and philosophy

In Why Businessmen Need Philosophy, Dr. Harry Binswanger identifies the ultimate CEO in your life is your philosophy.  What does that mean in practice?  Take goal-setting.  Based on what I understand about philosophy, I would suspect that an ideal approach to goal-setting would be based on your values - clearly identified, objectively defined, and do not contradict reality.  How does Objectivism relate industry best standards for goal-setting - to create SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound)?  Below, I discuss specific quotes from Rand that relate to these best practices...

Read the updated version on Reason for Success.

3 comments:

  1. That's the acronymn used in the aforementioned district teacher assessment method. They stole that from Rand??? :O

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  2. An insightful essay, thank you. You're probably already aware of this, but one of if not the most influential pioneer of goal setting theory is Edwin Locke, an Objectivist who has written and lectured for ARI. I don't know if the SMART criteria are his, but he certainly has done a lot of valuable research in the realm of leadership, motivation, and management. His book Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works is in my queue.

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  3. Thanks Kelleyn. Yes, I am very familiar with Locke's work.

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