The Ultimate Dream, as abstract as that sounds, simply describes a brand’s vision of success if the company could perfectly control its offerings and markets. It is a timeless understanding of the brand’s enduring contribution. Ultimate dreams are about anticipating the unknown and imagining ahead. To do this, company leaders must embrace exploring uncertainty. Examples of Ultimate Dreams abound, including President Kennedy’s famous 1961 moon speech. From the corporate world, Harris Corporation, a large global communications and IT company was seeking new ways to grow its business, so they embarked on an aggressive brainstorming and planning process. At the outset the only rule was no rules. Every idea was cataloged. No idea was judged. As the brainstorming process continued, the very best ideas were identified, irrespective of the company’s capability at that time to deliver. They simply wanted path breaking ideas. From that point forward, they laid out a strategy and implementation plan for those ideas they considered ‘game changers’ and pursued them relentlessly. The end result: a $425 million sales increase over their target. What was the secret? They realized that previously they were incrementally adjusting plans using known customers and business development people, which limited their flexibility. As a consequence, management decided to ‘imagine’ a different future for the division and how it could contribute to society, not just a limited set of core customers. The results speak for themselves.
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