The CEO announced bold revenue targets—triple growth in eighteen months. The team nodded enthusiastically. Six months later, morale was crushed, and key people had quit.
Sound familiar?
This is not unique to organizations, and is even more prevalent in our individual lives—fitness, health, New Year’s resolutions, savings plans, and on and on.
Harvard Business School’s research on goal setting reveals something counterintuitive. Teams that set “stretch goals” without building fundamental capabilities first fail 70% more often than those that focus on incremental progress.
But we love the big swing. It feels more important. More worthy of our time.
The Overreach Trap
Your brain craves the dopamine hit of announcing something spectacular. It mistakes the planning high for actual progress. Meanwhile, the gap between your current reality and your ambitious target becomes a daily reminder of inadequacy.
Jim Collins calls this “the big, hairy, audacious goal syndrome.” It sounds inspiring in the boardroom. It’s devastating on the ground floor.
Start Stupidly Small
What if your morning routine began with making your bed instead of a two-hour workout? What if your sales process focused on one perfect interaction instead of revolutionizing the entire customer journey?
The compound effect doesn’t care about your ego. It cares about consistency.
The Real Competition
You’re not competing with your industry’s top performer. You’re competing with yesterday’s version of yourself. That’s the only comparison that builds momentum instead of destroying it.
Your competitors are probably overreaching, too. While they’re burning out chasing impossible timelines, you’re building unshakeable foundations.
The race isn’t won by who starts fastest. It’s won by who’s still moving when everyone else has stopped.
And that applies to you, too.
