Elon Musk. CREDIT: Getty Images
Seems like mega-entrepreneur Elon Musk is everywhere these days. I keep waiting to see him on Dancing With the Stars or show up in a role on Game of Thrones.
Here’s the latest. The New York Times has reported that the state of South Australia announced Friday that it had powered up the world’s biggest battery–the size of an American football field–ahead of an already ludicrously fast 100-day schedule by the battery’s creator, Tesla. This timing is notable because Musk, the head of Tesla (an organization recently announced as an Inc. finalist for Company of the Year), usually doesn’t hit deadlines–even if he always seems to deliver in the end.
The battery will store enough energy from nearby wind and solar power turbines to power 30,000 homes.
This matters because Australia has long been facing an energy crisis, with supply falling far short of demand and blackouts all too common. As a result, the cost of electricity has been spiraling out of control. South Australia has the highest energy prices in the world, producing jaw-dropping electric bills for the state’s 1.7 million residents. For perspective, Australians pay 50 to 100 percent more for power than Americans.
The ginormous battery (being hailed by some as “one of this century’s first great engineering marvels”) will provide a reserve of energy to help manage the surge demand times and create an overall more efficient power grid.
While debate rages between proponents of fossil fuels and renewable energy (the former cite the mega-battery as a publicity stunt, the latter as “the future”), one thing can’t be denied. Musk delivered on one big, hairy, audacious goal. A goal (and a bet) he made in a two-sentence tweet in March 2017.
Musk chirped that he could and would build a battery that would solve South Australia’s energy problems. Fellow billionaire and Australian Mike Cannon-Brookes called him out, tweeting, “how serious are you” and stating he could deliver the money and politics end of the equation if Musk could do his part. Musk responded with the tweet below:
Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 10, 2017
And in two sentences, Musk had set another audacious goal for the world to see.
When I learned of this, it got me thinking about the power of setting seriously stretch goals. Neuroscience has long touted that the human brain is most creative, receptive, and effective when it’s given a near-impossible goal and forced to innovate to achieve it.
While Musk’s tweet was a huge PR play, it also illustrates the importance of not just dreaming big dreams but putting specific goals behind those dreams. Musk is a master at this, but he’s not alone.
In 1974, the founder of Subway restaurants, Fred DeLuca, set an impossibly bold goal for the world (and his employees) to see. At a time before mass franchising was everywhere, DeLuca, with only 200 stores in tow, set a goal of getting to 5,000, then 10,000 stores–something his employees couldn’t fathom (this proclamation was covered in an Inc. story in 1994).
He didn’t have Twitter to proclaim his goal. So he turned to what he had to cement his commitment–the restaurant napkins, upon which he emblazoned the brash goal.
DeLuca set this goal to stimulate creativity among his employees, creativity that would never have been kicked into gear without the goal.
No doubt when Musk committed via Twitter to his goal, his employees were forced to up their game too.
So whether it’s big batteries or lots of five-dollar footlongs, it doesn’t matter. Set a big goal and you’ll power up and energize more than just a battery–you’ll stimulate serious creativity and innovation.
Pundits of moonshot goals would say, however, beware the crash of not actually hitting the goals or the risk of not getting employees behind them. There are several ways you can ensure employees are on board with big goals. Most important, ensure the employees have had an opportunity to weigh in on the creation of the goals and that the stretch goals are consistent with the purpose and mission of the company and its employees. That way, even if the goals seem nearly impossible, they are at least in line with what employees are used to (and hopefully motivated by).
While this article has offered a peek into the future, let’s end it with a glimpse at the past–a quote from Michelangelo: “The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and miss it, but that we aim too low and reach it.”
Looking for inspiration at work? Instead of asking how to find it, ask yourself how you lost it in the first place! We’re so excited for you to Find the Fire with us today!
This article by Scott Mautz also appeared on Inc.com. To read more Inc. articles by Scott Mautz, click here.
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