In Praise of the “Stretch” Goal
Return in a week with 20 ideas to solve the problem - twenty! I panicked – Was he crazy? I’d never come up with more than 3 ideas to attack any previous problem; where would I get 20?
Establishing “stretch” goals is one component of setting high overall expectations. Such goals have to be balanced just on the verge of achievability, and there must be a culture of trust in place – there must not be negative consequences for failing to reach a stretch goal.
As a rookie design engineer, at least once per week I would be in my manager’s office discussing the details of my assignments. This one particularly thorny design problem had me vexed. After a bit of informal discussion and brainstorming, my manager asked me to return in a week with 20 ideas to solve the problem - twenty! I panicked – I’d never come up with more than 3 ideas to attack any previous problem; where would I get 20?
A week later, I was back in the office with 12 ideas to discuss. I never quite reached the requested 20, but the ambitious goal drove me to generate at least 9 more ideas than I would have otherwise conceived. When my manager asked for 20, I attempted it, trusting that coming up a bit short would not be cause for chastisement. That said, had my manager asked for 1000 ideas, I would probably have ignored the comment as hyperbole and returned with my usual 2 or 3.
Most people love a challenge. However, they won’t take up the challenge if they think they’ll be punished for failing. Further, they will quickly shut down if the challenge seems too overwhelming. Setting effective stretch goals for your team requires that they (a) agree the goal is difficult but might be achievable, and (b) understand that falling short will not incur any negative repercussions. Work with your team to establish such goals – their buy-in is key.
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