Ryan Brinkhurst is the founder and CEO of Beautifi.
When was the last time your business set a genuinely audacious goal? Not just last year’s numbers with an extra 20% thrown on top, but something truly inspiring, maybe even a little intimidating?
Incremental goals—those safe, predictable targets—might feel comfortable, but they could be quietly draining your organization’s innovation, drive and long-term growth potential. In reality, these “soft goals” can hold your team back from achieving real breakthroughs. It’s the ambitious, even exciting “moon shots” that fuel lasting growth and employee engagement and drive your competitive advantage.
The Trouble With Incremental Goals
In a recent article, Robin Camarote highlighted the peril of incremental goals, pointing out how they stifle creativity and ambition. Incremental targets breed incremental thinking, making teams risk-averse and focused more on avoiding failure than achieving greatness. Employees quickly lose interest because the goals aren’t challenging or inspiring. This complacency is deadly, affecting motivation, creativity and performance. Ambitious go-getters churn in search of organizations that match their desire for growth, and you’re locked in a cycle of low returns.
If the team struggles, don’t immediately dial back the ambition. Sometimes, the goal isn’t the problem; sometimes, you need to recalibrate your team or your strategy to rise to the challenge. It’s important to make sure your team is truly connected to the goals and the “why” behind them.
Moon Shots: The Upside
Moon shots aren’t just big, splashy dreams, they’re strategic tools deployed by the most ambitious organizations. Google famously encourages its teams to set audacious goals, not to set them up to fail but to encourage groundbreaking solutions. These high-reaching objectives are catalysts for “recombinant innovation,” creatively rearranging existing technologies and resources to tackle seemingly insurmountable problems. At my company, recombinant innovation has consistently been our key to success. We have found ways to yield the biggest impact by creatively leveraging existing technologies instead of sinking years of our team’s productivity (and countless dollars) in building something bespoke.
Setting ambitious OKRs (objectives and key results) aligns with this philosophy, pushing your team beyond their comfort zone. Ambitious goals compel the team to think differently, encouraging boldness, innovation and smarter risk-taking.
Managing The Moon Shot Mindset
Of course, there’s a downside if you’re not careful: the ever-present threat of burnout. Moon shots require balance—striving for excellence without ignoring the essential milestones that motivate teams. Celebrate smaller victories to stoke your team’s energy, motivation and sense of achievement along the journey.
Admittedly, this is something I personally struggle with, and I’m sure other leaders do, too. My brain is always focused on what we’re not doing, what we could be doing better and what’s coming down the line.
Scaling Ambition: Adjusting Goals And Teams
While my company pursues ambitious goals, we’re careful to integrate disciplined routines and clear communication. Maintaining an in-office culture helps foster accountability, keeps employees focused and builds team camaraderie. Teams are motivated by proximity to peers who are equally committed and inspired.
As we grow from a startup to a scale-up, the challenges evolve. The rapid pace at scale means I can no longer personally oversee every project or initiative. Decentralization becomes necessary, and strategic management is crucial. Leaders in similar positions should remember that scaling ambition doesn’t mean losing oversight—it’s about developing robust internal processes and data systems that empower your managers and teams to maintain high performance.
My solution has been strategic hiring and investment in robust data and analytics. With reliable insights and empowered leaders, you can support with high-level oversight, stepping in strategically rather than constantly. This approach ensures the ambitious goals we’ve set remain inspiring and achievable, even as complexity grows.
A ‘Boring’ Approach To Big Ambitions
My approach to achieving these ambitious goals could objectively be seen as “boring” at first glance. I’m less interested in splashy brands or disruptive technologies for their own sake. Instead, focus on solving existing problems better than anyone else, combining existing solutions in new and inventive ways.
Based on my firsthand experiences with this steady, methodical approach, it can consistently propel you and your teams forward when paired with truly ambitious goal setting. It’s not about chasing headlines; it’s about systematically driving meaningful innovation and improvements in the market.
The Real Power Of Moon Shots
In the end, ambitious goals energize teams, unlock innovation and drive growth in ways incremental targets never can. They set the stage for exceptional achievement. To be clear: Moon shots matter because they push teams to reach higher, innovate faster and collaborate more creatively.
If you find your business stagnating despite meeting your incremental goals, it might be time to reconsider your goal-setting philosophy. Perhaps it’s not about lowering the bar but about rethinking the way you approach challenges. Ambitious, clear-eyed moon shots combined with strategic leadership and disciplined execution will position your business to achieve far beyond the incremental into truly transformative territory.
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