Having an ambitious vision is essential. It provides direction, inspiration, and a sense of purpose. But realizing that dream requires more than just lofty goals. The key is to translate your big dream into a tangible path made up of realistic, limited steps that are achievable and valuable, in their own right.
And this is especially true in a digital transformation. Break down the vision into actionable steps and think of your digital trajectory as a sequence of focused, incremental projects. Each of these projects should:
- Be clearly defined and limited in scope, making it easier to plan, execute, and evaluate.
- Deliver value independently. Every project should offer benefits to users or stakeholders without requiring the entire dream to be fully fulfilled at once.
- Build credibility and momentum. Early success generates buy-in and encourages continued investment in the journey.
Without tangible value at every stage, adoption will likely stall. People need to see progress, experience improvement, and understand the purpose behind each effort.
This isn’t easy, however. The hardest part is often deconstructing a complex, ambitious long-term aspiration into a chain of manageable and meaningful initiatives. Each initiative must not only align with the overarching vision, but also have its own clear justification, its own “why.” This ensures that every project is grounded in relevance and has the potential to stand on its own, even as part of a larger picture.
Pillar 2: Define the Moonshot, and the First Step
The journey must follow a coherent logic, linking each step back to the overarching vision. But two elements are absolutely critical: a clear & bold moonshot (ambitious goals aiming for 10x improvement, rather than 10% gains), and a well-defined first draft of the project.
The path itself will evolve over time, shaped by changing business contexts, emerging technologies, and insights gained through action and learning. What matters most is starting with clarity and intent.
To support this, we use the concept of the “Ambition Line.” This is then our second template (see Article 1 for the first one).
It is the trajectory that connects intermediate projects to the long-term dream, like a metro line linking to a series of stations.
The ambition line of a trajectory towards the dream of building the online central marketplace in an industrial niche market
At this stage, ask yourself:
- What is our dream, and what is the first step toward it?
- What is our ambition line, the sequence of projects that gets us there?
- For each step/project:
- Is it relevant?
- Is it feasible?
- Does it create value on its own?
- Give each project a clear and meaningful name.
Once both the moonshot and the first concrete project are clearly defined, you can move forward using the approach from the previous article, “Begin with the why, not the how”: scope the project through a set of clear ambitions and concrete jobs-to-be-done.
At this point, you have already made significant progress. What was once a vague promise of digital transformation is now a concrete first milestone, supported by alignment and shared understanding.
Before diving into the execution of the defined project, however, one final step remains: validating whether the project is truly worth the effort and investment. We’ll explore that in the next article.
If you’re interested in diving deeper into the details, you can order the book on Bol.com (Dutch) or on Amazon (French).
If you would like a more personal and tailored guidance for your business, you can request a meeting with the authors through the following link
Dream Big, Start Concrete: The First Steps towards your Ambitious Digital Goals