Long term goals · Long-range ambition · Component
The ambition statement
One sentence naming the destination and the year — specific enough to recognise on arrival, distant enough that the route is not yet designed.
The deliverable
What it is
An ambition is a finish line placed far enough out that no current plan reaches it. That distance is the point: it justifies work that would never survive a quarterly review.
Keeping it to one matters. Two long-range ambitions compete for the same conviction, and neither gets it.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The destination
The stated position, size or condition the organisation is heading for.
3 attributes: Statement · Target year · Applies to
LearnThe gap
The distance between where the organisation is now and the destination.
3 attributes: Current position · Required position · Distance
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One ambition. Two compete for the same conviction, and the organisation ends up committed to neither.
The other components in long-range ambition
The arrival test
What would have to be observably true for the ambition to count as reached — written now, so it cannot be redefined later.
LearnThe confidence note
A recorded sense of how likely the ambition is, so that later optimism or despair can be compared against the starting view.
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