It is important to dream big, according to David Novak, Chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands which operates highly successful fastfood restaurants such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s.
In his book “The Education of an Accidental CEO,” he described a future strategy meeting he had with about a hundred people from his company where they set what they called their “bold goals.” They came up with goals like “to become one of the top ten companies in the world” and “to become the top restaurant company in the world. He wrote:
The goals we talked about that day were so bold, they seemed unattainable to some of the people in the room. I believe in thinking big, but your goals have to based in reality. Otherwise, they’re not goals at all but fantasies.
On the other hand, if you don’t dream big, then what’s the point of dreaming at all? Like I said, you never know what you’re capable of ….
As for the future, I want to continue to dream big, even if from time to time people tell me I’m overreaching. If we set bold goals, then we at least have a shot at achieving them. If we don’t, what’s the point of showing up tomorrow?