Goal Setting

I’ve been kinda busy filling out these graduate application forms. Yep I did it (just the one to be honest), but I’m figuring out things and I aim to apply to a lot more! So anyways, during my quest to write the perfect SOP for an application, I ended up strangely on the website of DARPA.

While reading the SOP of Nelson Liu on his blog, I came across this document by Noah Smith that describes tells about something called the Heilmeyer Catechism that he uses to plan his research projects. I was quite interested in knowing more. Thus, I went to the site and read about it.

George H. Heilmeier, a former DARPA director (1975-1977), crafted a set of questions known as the “Heilmeier Catechism” to help Agency officials think through and evaluate proposed research programs.

• What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
• How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
• What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
• Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?
• What are the risks?
• How much will it cost?
• How long will it take?
• What are the mid-term and final “exams” to check for success?

So, what the above questions accomplish is they make you really think things through. In the first question, you articulate your objective with precision. This gives you a clear sense of what you are trying to accomplish and it thinking about it makes you realize when you are deviating or going in the wrong path. it gives you a sense of direction.

The three next questions deal with the importance of the work. What will you get if you achieve your objective? and What better/different approach are you taking? The next three questions talk mostly about the risks and other problems associated with the task at hand. It gives you time to articulate things and also try to come up with ways to deal with potential issues (risks and time management).

The final question deals with tracking progress. It is important to be able to track your progress from time to time to check whether you are stalling or if your approach is not working as intended.

In some ways I found it very similar to the SMART method of goal setting that I’ve been trying out since sometime now. I found out about it mostly from the myIDPScienceCareers website.

The SMART approach of goal setting dictates one to set goals that are

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

Again, the specific and measurable aspects make you choose a goal/project that is well defined and where progress can be measured in some way. Thinking about the achievable aspect will help you lay a path to progress/methodology that you can follow depending on whether you think it will be successful. The time-bound clause makes your project time bound and it helps you prioritise your projects based on the timelines that you create for them.

The Relevant aspect of the whole process is a substitute for the importance of the goals. You can say some project is relevant to you if that project benefits a large number of people or if it satisfies your curiosity or takes you further towards your other life goals. In order to make sure that goals stay relevant to you, you also need to make sure that the goals are important to you.

Here’s a link where you can learn more about the SMART goal setting approach. Hope this helps you in your future endeavours.

PRO tip: Make yourself accountable by discussing the broad goals/ideas of your project with someone and committing that you will accomplish X amount of work for the goal in Y time. It helps if you have someone to report to at the end of the day even if all they do is just listen to what you have to say.