Stretch Goals as a Method for Leveraging Opportunities Created by Uncertainty

Abstract We currently face serious societal problems that involve high levels of uncertainty, ranging from apocalyptic famine to environmental degradation, the spread of previously unimaginable pandemic illness, and extremely risky financial practices. At the same time, there are significant opportunities involving similar levels of uncertainty, such as revolutionary medical advances and space exploration. Organizations of all types have struggled to address crucial large-scale, uncertain societal issues, and in many instances have given up or at least lowered their sights and scope. Some organizational leaders simply do not know what questions to ask or how to ask them in order to “stretch” and dedicate themselves every day to aspirations that are seemingly impossible. In this chapter, the authors consider how organizations might successfully utilize stretch goals to address seemingly impossible challenges. The authors assert that stretch goals can be a tool to manage and leverage external uncertainty that demands exploration and bold new directions, as well as generate productive uncertainty from inside the organization. The authors discuss the inertial tendencies of the organizations that are best positioned to pursue stretch goals, and how to overcome those tendencies. Integrating recent theoretical and empirical work in the areas of stretch goals and workplace courage, the authors assert that the courage of organizational leaders and decision makers is a potentially critical factor that alters stretch goal pursuit, despite courage being overlooked or left implicit in existing research on organization-level stretch goals.