Success feels wonderful, even the vicarious success we feel as watchers of the Olympics. Winning 14 gold medals has dampen criticism of Canada's "Own the Podium" goal. The management lesson derived from the past two weeks is that a stretch goal can yield real results.
It is difficult to assess the difference between a stretch goal and an impossible goal. Stretching implies that skills and talents do exist, and they need to be stimulated. As noted by the athletes, enough funding needs to be dedicated to achieving the stretch goal. Also, the goal must be expressed in a succinct, inspirational phrase. "Win more medals than other countries" is too wordy to be inspirational.
An impossible goal cannot be achieved. Failure is predictable and people are scared of the goal, not inspired by it. If the lone Ghanaian Olympic skier had set a goal of winning a medal, he would have trained with a feeling of hopelessness. Instead, in an interview he expressed his goal as "beating someone". At least he did achieve his first goal - to earn enough points on the international circuit to even participate in the Olympics.
Achieving stretch goals often implies working through set-backs. As managers, we understand that achieving even a percentage of our goal is better than drifting through our work with mild, boring objectives.
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