Leaders and teams with stretch goals typically outperform those without them.
Larger goals trigger more search and experimentation.
When viewed as a challenge and not as unreasonable, stretch goals encourage leaders, performers, and teams to think creatively and out-of-the-box about how to perform at a higher level.
But not all stretch goals are created equal.
Some produce anxiety. Others are seen as a threat. Smartly crafted ones energize the team and performance.
Designing stretch goals that motivate is as much an art as a science. Despite the wide variance about their benefits, the idea of “stretch” has a universal value for all leaders and teams.
The best leaders take full advantage of pushing the limits by asking the team to think differently about the current goal set.
One exercise that stretches and promotes new thinking is called Adding a Zero. Take any goal that feels responsible, reasonable, and attainable and multiply it by ten.
Leaders do this not to fantasize but to destabilize the team’s thinking.
A $10 million plan and a $100 million plan are not cousins. They are a different species. The smaller goal invites optimization. The larger goal demands reinvention.
Adding a zero (or the appropriate multiplier) is a blunt provocation. It exposes the limits of the current thinking and creates a strategic mind shift.
It forces leaders and teams to rethink their assumptions and strategy. The bigger goal requires much different thinking than does incremental growth.
After adding a zero, leaders ask the obvious question: What would we need to do to make this happen?
The answers often reveal new partners, business models, or leverage points leaders and teams normally wouldn’t consider.
The question acts as a lever to shift from incremental changes to structural change. Leaders and teams stop asking how to squeeze more from the existing engine and start asking if the team needs a new engine.
This stretch goal exercise can be applied to any business, team, or personal goal. From weight loss to sales revenue, adding a zero will change the way people look at the issue.
By thinking through the implications of adding a zero, leaders elevate ambition and force a fresh look at the current state and goal set.
In many cases, it makes sense to adopt a good number of the ideas generated by the wildly expanded goal.
On rare occasions, leaders and teams actually take on the audacious new goal.
In those instances, adding a zero is not about ego or dream-making. It’s about new architecture.
