It's that time of the year again. End of year reviews are complete and it's time to turn the focus from the revision mirror to the front windscreen. It has only been a hot minute since achievements have been celebrated but in a fast-paced business world, there is no time to waste when looking to hit ‘refresh’ on a new year’s performance goals.
We are living in a world where innovation needs to always be front of mind. Leaders are challenging themselves and their teams with questions such as, “How can we do better than last year?” and “How can we set ourselves apart from our competitors?”.
Each year employees know they need to achieve more than the year before, or they have no hope of achieving ‘Exceeds expectations’ when it comes time to rate performance. Perhaps Larry Page, Google’s cofounder said it best when he said, “I live by the gospel of 10x. A 10% improvement means that you’re doing the same thing as everybody else. You probably won’t fail spectacularly, but you are guaranteed not to succeed wildly.”
Page explains this statement by highlighting that a 1000% improvement requires a completely different approach towards problems, where the limits of what is technically possible are truly explored and employees have fun along the way. Enter moonshot goals.
More than 60 years ago, in 1962, US President John F Kennedy captured the world’s imagination and attention. He proclaimed that “This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth".
Like all profound statements in history, this one was no different. It fundamentally challenged the way that goals were approached and the term ‘moonshot’ entered our vocabulary to represent “a difficult or expensive task, the outcome of which is expected to have great significance”.
The corporate world adopted ‘moonshot goals’ a long time ago, and arguably this type of thinking has resulted in such extraordinary innovation as the driverless car. A concept that only those that dared to dream big enough could have achieved.
Entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) are no strangers to moonshot goals and they have trailblazed the way for other organisations to follow. Elon Musk has taken Kennedy’s original dream further by daring to set a goal through SpaceX that enables people to live on another planet. Ambitious? Absolutely. Appealing to talented, driven employees? No question.
The bottom line is that talented, high-performing employees don’t want to slightly shift the dial on innovation and performance, they want results that require a new dial altogether.
According to Harvard Business Review, a good Moonshot goal has three core ingredients:
Sounds simple, but a moonshot goal must capture the heart and spirit of its recipient. There needs to be a passion, motivator and a desire to do all possible to make the goal happen. If the goal barely captures the imagination of the workgroup, there is very little chance of amazing things happening.
Perhaps if President Kennedy had stated that he wanted to send a man to the moon and return him safely by the end of the year, he probably would not have had the same level of effort or support as the goal would have not been seen to be credible. Furthermore, Kennedy had his Vice-President do a detailed technical assessment prior to ensure that the goal was achievable.
What we are achieving today will become commonplace for the generations that follow. A moonshot goal must break away from existing practice and push the boundaries to places we have never seen or been. There was a time when the driverless car was an absolute moonshot goal, but today the question is what’s next?
It would be difficult to find an organisation that does not place innovation high on the agenda. Every business wants to be better than they were last year, attract more customers and essentially make more money. But will that happen by doing the same thing? Probably not.
COVID-19 taught organisations to challenge themselves and pivot like never before. Employers had no other choice but to think outside of the square and invite all their workers to join them in generating creative solutions that solved complex problems. The trouble is, as the COVID-19 storm passed, it seems so did our urgency for innovation.
Organisations that have workers prepared to set audacious goals that push the boundaries of what is currently achievable are likely to be the ones that reap the financial rewards. For example, the technology that we enjoy today is ultimately the result of moonshot thinking and goal setting where what was once a far-fetched idea has evolved into reality.
To truly thrive in an ever-changing world, we must use moonshot strategies and goal setting at the employee level where workers are encouraged to think outside of the box, question the norm and never be happy with the status quo.
Maybe you are thinking moonshot goals sound great, but you are not sure how to start. Here are 5 tips to start the ball rolling.
If an employee comes up with an incredible moonshot goal but the organisation is risk-adverse, it is likely to fail. Organisations are encouraged from the top down to share their moonshot goals to ignite a culture where there is an appetite to reach for the stars. Furthermore, once the goal is locked in – leaders should be working to mobilise the goal so that the whole business is behind it.
Innovation and achieving incredible things rarely comes from playing it safe, but it is important to keep reality in check. The greatest idea even with the technology will not happen if there is not the resources or budget to make it happen.
At the core, employees want to do what makes their employer happy. When a worker has the courage and conviction to think in a way that no one else has and to bring a diversity of thought that results in the business progressing, others want to follow. Work to create a culture whereby innovation is commonplace and learning from failure is celebrated.
Do you still write reports in the same format as you did five years ago? Is the business simply creating variations of the core products? The old adage of “If it isn’t broken; don’t fix it” is not really going to create a culture where the impossible becomes possible. Embrace a culture where commonplace is challenged.
Some employees go into a spin at goal setting time because they are overloaded with goals about goals. There are pages of data points to meet and KPIs on almost every task. Moonshot goals do need metrics and milestones, but they focus on the progress as well as the destination. Ensure that employees are measured on the fact that they had the courage to start moving the wheels in a different direction, even if they have not yet arrived at the desired destination.
If the focus and measure of success is purely on goal achievement, then you will continue to have a culture where employees dare to dream but are too afraid to take the first step.
President Kennedy added to his speech by saying, “We choose this goal not because (it is) easy but because it is hard. Because this goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills”.
So perhaps before this year’s goals are locked down, it is time to ask if you are ready to transform your business with moonshot goals. If the answer is yes, you may be surprised at who is standing next to you ready to take the leap.
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Georgina is Senior HR Content Editor – Publications at Ai Group. She is an accomplished Human Resource professional with over 25 years of generalist and leadership experience in a broad range of industries including financial services, tourism, travel, government and agriculture. She has successfully advised and partnered with senior leaders to implement people and performance initiatives that align to business strategy. Georgina is committed to utilising her experience to create resources that educate and engage and is passionate about supporting members to optimise an inclusive workforce culture that drives performance.
