Challenging yet reasonable

We’ve found that almost all employees like to achieve goals, and we are highly in favor of truly challenging goals. We love to see companies achieve goals that they hadn’t even imagined.

But the challenge needs to be within reason. If the goals are too easy, employees will be insulted, and they’ll believe that we’re patronizing them, or treating them as children. Conversely, if the goals are impossible, employees may give up before beginning. They’ll be demoralized by a goal that only a delusional manager could embrace.