Make Your Job Descriptions as SMART as Winston Churchill’s
Churchill the Manager
Churchill drank a bottle of champagne at lunchtime and substantially more as the day progressed. I’m not advocating that of course, although it seemed to do Churchill no lasting harm either personally or professionally. But Churchill does have a lot to teach us about management when it comes to clarity and purposefulness.
I frequently wonder whether I have been clear enough about responsibilities and expectations when assigning work or delegating projects. Do the 14 bullet points in the job description I’ve just written really convey with clarity of purpose and with a clearly defined allocation of responsibility, the essence of the job. Does the job description actually get across exactly what I’ve hired the person for? And critically, when we review performance in six months time, did the job description give an unambiguous definition of success?
In August 1942 Churchill sent a telegram to General Alexander, his Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East. The telegram laid out the General’s job description without any room for misunderstanding:
Your prime and main duty is to take and destroy at the earliest opportunity the German-Italian army commanded by Field Marshall Rommel together with all its supplies and establishments in Egypt and Libya.
Setting SMART goals
Had Churchill been a student of modern management theory he would have recognised these as SMART goals.
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
So how SMART was Alexander’s job description?
Specific – ‘Your prime and main duty’. Obviously General Alexander had a great deal of responsibilities across the spectrum of military management. However, Churchill makes clear that those, indeed any other factors, are secondary to the primary objective.
Measurable – ‘take and destroy’. Not much room for misunderstanding. If they’re not captured or destroyed then you haven’t finished the job.
Attainable – Churchill sets the direction of the strategy but does not detail the tactics required to make this attainable. It is implicit in his job title that General Alexander has at his disposal a military machine capable of planning and carrying out operations.
Realistic – the job description is challenging, but not unrealistic. The force under General Alexander’s command was realistically a match for the competition provided he could deliver effective leadership.
Timely – ‘at the earliest opportunity’. Don’t rush the job, but don’t linger. Wait long enough to ensure success; but don’t squander success through inaction.
What I really like about Churchill’s telegrammed job description is that it’s short. But in that one sentence is an incredibly powerful and accountable direction. I think we can all benefit from applying some powerful and accountable language to job descriptions in our business’.