Daniel Markovitz has a great article on the Harvard Business Review blog about stretch goals. In my many different work experiences, stretch goals have rarely ever worked. Most of the time, the carrot ends up being just too far ahead and is never reached. Translation: Why bother.
But what happens when the so-called stretch goals morph into expectations? You get stressed out employees and morale takes a permanent vacation. I won't even mention employee loyalty and commitment because that is living in fantasy land. Welcome to 2012 (sadly).
Stretch goals have been set as expectations in many ways. Common ones include aggressive quotas, compressed timelines, and consolidating functions. Focusing on overly-ambitious quantitative goals with little acknowlegement to the qualitative aspect is a slippery slope. Markovitz mentions some unethical outcomes of implementing stretch goals. Even if the ethical line isn't crossed, at best, employers end up just burning out their employees with crazy expectations.
Progress and learning without fear of failure are much better ways to teach and motivate workers and get the best (not necessarily the most) from employees over the long run. Plan it and do high quality work and can the "ready, fire, aim" approach.
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