SMART Goals Made Me Dumber

Why I Learned More at McDonald's Than Big 4 Accounting

When I was working in Big 4 accounting, one of the first things we had to do was set goals for performance reviews. This seemed reasonable, but as I sat down to work through my goals, something felt off. I’d barely any work experience. I couldn’t say what I wanted out of the job. In my past workplaces, I improved naturally over time as I got used to how things were done and what was required of my role.

What’s the real point of these frameworks then, but to give us more busywork? I don’t think there’s any malicious intent behind it. SMART goals sound smart on the surface. They blend well with a corporate environment focused on optimizing its workforce. I wouldn’t be surprised if people benefited from SMART goalsetting, but it likely comes from a pre-existing hunger, not the framework itself. Think about it — if someone knows exactly what they want out of their firm, whether it’s becoming partner or setting up their own practice, knowing which industry they’re interested in — they’ll have a much easier time going through the goal setting process. Their main goal, to become a proficient tax expert, will naturally fill out the questions. But what if you’re not attached to that outcome? If you’re still trying it out, the framework only becomes more busy work. It gets in the way of discovering your true intent. It’s a one-size-fits-all solution that satisfies the fraction of people it’s tailored to but becomes redundant to those it’s not. If you’re just a beginner, the rigidity becomes a hassle, not a benefit. There’s no point trying to hit a target if you don’t know how to hold the bow.

I learned this the hard way when transitioning from a kitchen to an office. A kitchen is a more hands-on, learn as you go environment. Feedback is instant. The ceiling is low. You show up, do the work, and progress happens.

Office work is a different beast. There are practical components, yes. But often, the tasks are more complex, and the learning curve is much higher. Not to mention, early on, there are long gaps where you’re not working on anything. Most of my colleagues would read books during downtime, accepting it as a normal part of the role. My response was frustration; I couldn’t handle sitting still for long periods without learning anything.

Even when I finally got a tax return to work on, feedback took well over a week to land in my inbox. For someone who spent most of his adult life behind a deep fryer, the snail’s pace of bureaucracy stifled me.

That makes setting goals on something you’re not sure about that much harder. When there’s nothing about your work that immediately lights you up, setting goals around it feels like pointless busywork. I’m not setting goals with any real weight behind them, I’m just filling out the sheet for the sake of it. It’s all performative — a what-if scenario that doesn’t become true.

This is where the first crack showed in my career dissonance (although there were many before, this was the first visible one). I found the whole process of setting goals confusing and kinda pointless, yet I treated it as part of the process because everyone else went through it, so I guess I had to too. Why question what’s worked for this company for over 100 years?

But that whole process of performative goal setting clashed with my trial and error instincts.

Back in my McDonald’s days, I had no idea what SMART goals were — I just did what the manager told me to do. To make a hamburger, the goal was obvious. Next, the Big Mac. Then the Angus. Then the Double Quarter pounder. The progression was clear. The challenge was engaging. My speed naturally increased as my muscle memory compounded.

As low-skilled as that job was, I felt smarter by the time I left. I went from never working a day in my life to learning the entire menu in a matter of months. I was engaged in a way I rarely achieved in my big-boy salary job.

Is it unrealistic to expect that same engagement at an accounting firm? Sure, the degree was the main distinguisher, but the fundamental principles of work were the same. Manager gives you task, you do task, you submit task, you get feedback. You improve through this loop over time, gathering data along the way.

Setting a goal can help you narrow your focus when you’ve got enough data points to work with, but when you’re just starting out, it overcomplicates things. For my more hands-on learning style, it’s hard to infer what I want out of a specific role. My honest answer when asked “what do you want out of this position” is “I’ll get back to you in a few months.” SMART goals sound smart on the surface, but they make us dumber when we don’t know what we want.