SMARTER Goals tool
SMARTER Goals: Academy Reference
A concise, source-aware reference to the history, language and responsible use of SMARTER goals in permaculture design.
Historical foundation and current terms
George T. Doran’s 1981 paper introduced SMART as a management mnemonic. His original wording was Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related. Later practice changed several terms and added further letters. There is no single verified lineage for every SMARTER formulation.
In Mark D’Cruz’s Diploma work and Academy teaching, the working form is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, Evaluated and Reviewed. This page names that adaptation clearly rather than attributing the whole later formulation to Doran.
The Academy SMARTER questions
- Specific
- What change is intended, for whom or for what living system?
- Measurable
- What quantitative and qualitative evidence, including a baseline, will support judgement?
- Achievable
- Can people and systems carry the work with available skills, time, labour, finance, materials and permission?
- Relevant
- Does the goal serve the purpose, ethics and wider design?
- Time-bound
- When will action begin, and what seasonal or intermediate reviews are needed?
- Evaluated
- What changed in the system, the design process and the designer, and what remains uncertain?
- Reviewed
- Should the work continue, expand, be redesigned, be deferred or stop? What are the effects on other goals, people, living systems and resources?
Purpose, Vision and Goals
Purpose is the originating reason, need or responsibility. Vision describes the desired direction and qualities of a future condition. Goals express Purpose as commitments that can be reviewed. They are complementary, and testing a goal may reveal that Purpose itself needs refinement.
SMARTER within GoSADIMET
SADIMET is the inherited acronym for Survey, Analyse, Design, Implement, Maintain, Evaluate and Tweak. GoSADIMET makes Goals an explicit opening stage. Goals sits outside the inherited acronym but inside the name and process of GoSADIMET. Feedback from later stages can return the designer to Goals.
Format note: This HTML page is the complete accessible reference. The downloadable PDF retains tagged structure and selectable text for offline use.
Sources and provenance
- George T. Doran, “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives”, 1981.
- Mark D’Cruz, Design 3 Annexure 2, updated through the reviewed Academy Guide 6 teaching decisions.