When you have a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) to accomplish, it is easier to divide it up into sub-goals.
This enables progress monitoring, while making goal attainment more manageable and plausible.
At NASA in the 1960’s, there were many employees who were far removed from the famous goal of landing a man on the moon. After all, there were 400,000 employees and only one John Glenn. However, these employees still reported feeling an incredible connection to the ultimate goal.
The NASA leaders were able to articulate a compelling vision of what the organization was going to accomplish, as well as create employee understanding regarding how each would contribute to this BHAG of putting a man on the moon. Note: there was no lofty rhetoric without alignment, as that would have caused cynicism and pessimism within the employees.
At NASA, their commitments determined their reality (instead of their perspective of reality determining their commitments). Each employee needed to be conscious of their habits and work, so that they could change to accomplish their BHAG!
Do your employees connect with your organization BHAG, or are they demotivated because it seems like “corporate talk?”
