stretch goal

Definition

An ambitious target unlikely to be achieved, set by managers who won't face consequences for the inevitable failure but will claim credit if it somehow succeeds.

Example Usage

Our stretch goal is to triple revenue with half the budget, which is less a goal than a mathematical impossibility.

Origin

Goal-setting and performance management terminology from the 1980s-90s

Fun Fact

Research shows stretch goals motivate high performers and demoralize everyone else, but companies set them indiscriminately anyway.

Source: Performance management and goal-setting terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

catalyst

In business speak, the fancy term for whatever sparked change after months of inertia—usually a crisis, a competitor's success, or a new executive's pet project. Chemistry borrowed this word to describe substances that speed up reactions without getting consumed; corporate America borrowed it to describe consultants. The thing everyone credits in hindsight for making something happen that should've happened anyway.

💼 Corporate / Business

Advanced

triangulation

Corporate jargon for a mysteriously undefined requirement that conveniently prevents you from getting promoted. It's the business world's version of 'you need experience to get experience'—a catch-22 wrapped in a buzzword.

💼 Corporate / Business

Intermediate

Half the hot dog

Corporate and academic slang for submitting incomplete work or doing a half-hearted job on something that clearly needed your full effort. It's the professional equivalent of turning in a book report after only reading the first three chapters. The phrase perfectly captures that "I tried but not really" energy.

💼 Corporate / Business

Beginner

Hard Stop

An immovable end time for a meeting, usually announced by the most senior person in the room as a power move. Having a hard stop is the corporate equivalent of Batman's smoke bomb -- deploy it and vanish.

💼 Corporate / Business

Intermediate

reframe

The therapeutic and business buzzword for describing the exact same situation from a different, usually more positive angle—because sometimes the problem isn't the problem, it's your perspective. Consultants love to reframe challenges as 'opportunities,' while therapists use it to help you see your catastrophic thinking for what it is. It's essentially putting new spin on old news, but with intention.

💼 Corporate / Business

Beginner

heads down time

Uninterrupted periods for focused work without meetings, messages, or random shoulder taps—a mythical concept in most open office environments. What employees desperately need and rarely receive.

💼 Corporate / Business

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