Stretch Goals Aren’t About the Work — They’re About the Team
How intentional challenges help design teams grow, sharpen focus, and deliver greater impact.
I used to think the point of a stretch goal was simple: push harder, go farther, hit a target that seemed just out of reach. If I made it — great. If I didn’t — I likely got further than I would have playing it safe.
That mindset is fine when you’re chasing numbers. But when you’re leading a team you need to look at the bigger picture. Over time, I’ve realized the greatest value of stretch goals isn’t project progress — it’s team progress.
When you set a goal that’s ambitious — but not reckless — it changes how people approach the work. It sharpens focus, sparks creativity, and often reveals who’s ready to take the next step in their growth. Stretch goals shift the mindset from let’s get this done to how do we rise to this challenge together?
That’s where the real development happens. Not just in hitting milestones, but in becoming more capable along the way.
The Right Kind of Pressure
There’s a sweet spot when it comes to stretch goals. Too easy, and no one changes how they work. Too hard, and people burn out, spin their wheels, or disengage because it feels impossible. But just enough pressure? That’s where things get interesting.
A well-structured stretch goal isn’t just a target — it’s a shared experiment in progress.
It forces prioritization. It demands collaboration and perseverance, skills I wrote more about in Core Skills for a Successful Design Career. It pulls people out of the habit of “how we’ve always done it” and into “how do we solve this?” And often, the constraints of a tough goal force a team to get real about what actually matters.
When you have limited time and energy to meet a challenge, you stop polishing the edges of things that don’t move the needle. You stop chasing perfect. You start chasing impact.
That doesn’t mean sacrificing quality — it means being ruthless about where quality counts the most. It’s not about cutting corners. It’s about cutting distractions.
Growth Through Constraints
Here’s what I love most about stretch goals when they’re used well: they reveal growth opportunities you can’t fake.
When the team hits friction, that’s when someone steps up to problem-solve. When things feel uncertain, someone finds clarity and communicates it. When progress stalls, someone finds a workaround or gets creative.
Those moments? That’s where leaders start to emerge. Where collaboration deepens. Where people surprise you — and sometimes themselves.
And that growth doesn’t go away when the project ends. It sticks with the team because they’ve built new muscles. They’ve stretched — and now they can do more than they could before.
What Success Looks Like (It’s Not Just Hitting the Goal)
Let’s be honest — sometimes you set a stretch goal and don’t hit it. That’s part of the deal. But if the team levels up in the process, that’s not failure. I’ve seen teams miss the original mark but gain speed, alignment, and confidence that made the next goal more achievable.
Progress is never linear. But stretch goals create momentum — they shake teams out of autopilot and invite them into a growth moment. That’s success, even if the outcome wasn’t exactly what you sketched out at the start.
The Leadership Role
It’s easy to set a stretch goal and walk away. But the real work for leaders starts once the goal is in play.
You have to be tuned into the team’s energy, watch for burnout, and make sure the challenge is still sparking growth — not grinding them down. That might mean recalibrating priorities mid-way, coaching someone through a tough patch, or simply reinforcing that you’re aiming for growth, not perfection.
Leaders also need to model clarity. If a stretch goal is set but no one knows why it matters or what’s critical to success, it becomes noise. Tying the goal to purpose and impact helps the team stay focused when things get tough.
Structuring a Stretch Goal with Your Team
The best stretch goals aren’t handed down — they’re built together. When the team has a say in shaping the goal, it doesn’t just feel like a challenge — it feels like their challenge. That sense of ownership increases buy-in, motivation, and resilience when things get tough.
Start by anchoring the goal in purpose and impact. Why does it matter? What will change if it’s achieved? Then collaboratively explore:
What does “ambitious but possible” look like here?
Where can we take a smart risk?
What’s critical vs. nice-to-have?
Together, map out what success looks like — not just in deliverables, but in team growth. Define what will stretch your capabilities, but also what support is needed. A well-structured stretch goal isn’t just a target — it’s a shared experiment in progress, where the team pushes together, not from pressure, but from possibility.
Where Stretch Goals Aren’t a Good Fit
Not every challenge is a stretch goal. Sometimes, raising the bar puts others at risk — and that’s where leaders need to pause.
A common misstep? Promoting someone into people management “to see if they’re ready.” That stretch might help them grow, but it puts their direct reports in the middle of a learning curve they didn’t sign up for. That’s not a challenge — that’s a gamble with real impact on someone else’s experience and development. Yes, every manager has a Day 1, but that should come after some mentoring and/or project management experience and deep assessment of skill alignment.
Another red flag? Stretch goals that involve external clients or stakeholders who expect consistency and clarity. Pushing a team to deliver a new service or tool under high pressure, without proper support, can damage trust and relationships — sometimes permanently.
The line is simple: if your stretch goal risks others’ stability, trust, or experience — internally or externally — it’s not a stretch. It’s a liability. Stretch goals should grow your team, not test them at someone else’s expense.
Stretch Goals Aren’t Always the Move — But When They Are, They Matter
Not every project needs to be a stretch. Some just need to be done well. Overusing stretch goals turns them into stress goals — and that’s a recipe for burnout.
But used intentionally? They’re powerful. Not because they push for output, but because they invite transformation.
You get tighter focus. You get more trust between team members. You get clearer about what matters. And most of all — you give people a chance to grow into something bigger than they were before.
Take a First Step
You don’t need a major project or a full team to experiment with a stretch goal. Start small. Look at your current work and ask: What’s one area where I can push myself just beyond what feels comfortable — not to do more, but to learn more?
It could be taking the lead on a cross-functional presentation, trying a new tool or workflow under a tight timeline, or setting a personal challenge to solve a design problem in fewer-than-usual steps.
The goal isn’t perfection — it’s growth through constraint.
When you see the impact of one well-placed stretch, you’ll start to recognize where else it could help you or your team rise.
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I write weekly articles for designers and design leaders who want to grow their impact, lead with clarity, and build careers that actually feel sustainable.