“Shoot for the moon, even if you miss it you’ll land amongst the stars”
I have to admit when I first heard of the Canadian Olympic Foundation’s goal of “Owning the Podium” at the 2010 Olympics I was a bit taken back, it just didn’t seem very “Canadian” to me. And even though I don’t believe the Canadians will own the podium (I don’t think it’s feasibly possible right now) they will definitely have more golds than the last two Winter Olympic games (I want to say ever but am too lazy to do the research).
This got me thinking about “failure”, I think “failure” shouldn’t have such a negative connotation. Stay with me, failure when you’re trying to achieve something basic that sucks. Failure when you’re trying to achieve something extraordinary and special that’s not something people should look down on. Whether in sports or in business, setting ambitious aims and then doing everything possible to achieve them should be seen as courageous and honourable.
This reminded me of Don Dodge’s post about goal setting at Google. Setting goals that seem impossible and then working your butt off to make something happen is not only fun, but it means your going to take more risks and be innovative in your approach to things. Unfortunately a lot of large organisations focus on “measurable and achievable” results that don’t really have much impact and then hurdling the low bar. Not enough organisations set out objectives that are out to change the world.
So while Canada won’t “Own the podium” it did have the right idea and should be heralded for trying to achieve something so ambitious. Are you working on something that ambitious?
