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| Criterion |  Product Strategy SMART Goals |  Product Strategy Counter Metrics |  Business Strategy VMGS |  Engineering Goal Question Metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When goals are formulated too generally, it brings measurability, direction, and timing into shape. It prevents intentions from staying without clear verification. | When a headline metric could mask side effects, it adds guardrail signals against unwanted outcomes. It connects customer value, product logic, and decision priorities. The result is captured as a counter-metric list and guardrail definitions. | VMGS arranges vision, mission, goals, and strategies into a clear guiding logic. Direction, purpose, and priorities are connected so teams can decide more coherently. | Helps clarify technical problems, hypotheses, and next steps in concrete terms. It breaks a technical problem into testable parts. The result is captured as a GQM table and metric briefs. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 30-60 min | 2-4 h | 90-180 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-8 | 2-6 | 3-12 | 3-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | SMART Goal, Measurement Note, Deadline | Counter Metric List, Guardrail Definitions | Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Goals, Strategies | GQM Table, Metric Profiles |
Tagsno overlap | GoalsPlanningMeasurementAlignment | MetricsMeasurementStrategyExperiments | VisionGoalsStrategy | MetricsMeasurementEngineeringAlignment |