The Moonshot. A misunderstood history of setting a Big Goal

The idea of a Moonshot project or goal is often understood to be something so outrageously difficult that the chances are it won’t be achieved. This is true up to a point.

Often missed out is that before announcing the original Moonshot then President Kennedy spent a lot of time questioning the experts at NASA and elsewhere. The message to him was clear, the USA was behind the Soviet Union in this new space race. The experts thought it would take 6 years at least to catch up to the Soviets.

The key question then was: How and where do we win? How can we win?

This strategic question is all to often missed out in setting a so called Moonshot goal. Where and how are you looking to win?

The engineers figured they could catch up with the Soviets in 6 years or so and that a moon landing was going to be hard, expensive, achievable and importantly, the USA could do it first. The believe was that they could win and do so in 6-10 years. Kennedy put the pressure on. Politically “end of the decade” sounded good.

The result was a wonderfully clear formulation of the Big Goal. Land a man on the moon, return him home safely and do so before the end of the decade. That's it.

To create your own Moonshot goal first think long and hard about what you are going to be the best in. A good place to start is “Playing to Win” by A.G. Lafley (former CEO of P&G) and Roger Martin. You have to make an informed decision on where and how you are going to win.