Ambition is a double-edged sword, yet without ambition digital strategy becomes purposeless. No heroine or hero of legend ever set out on their quest against a neat checklist, making sure to keep each point SMART. As the line between heroic bravery and foolish recklessness is fine, as is the measure of ambition....

1. Digital strategy ambition, aims, and goal
setting
last update: 11 June 2020
Ambition is a double-edged sword, yet without ambition digital
strategy becomes purposeless. No heroine or hero of legend ever
set out on their quest against a neat checklist, making sure to keep
each point SMART. As the line between heroic bravery and foolish
recklessness is fine, as is the measure of ambition.
A journey without a destination gets nowhere fast, the same is true
of a digital strategy without ambition, aims and goals. The nature of
these is not solely in duration as long-term action can apply equally
to each, rather it is a measure of vision and thought that allows each
to co-operate with the other to deliver the digital strategy.
big words, big thoughts
Ambition is a word that for its grandiose nature is perhaps
underused in a discipline that is not known for its understatement.
If a project is complex enough to require a digital strategy, then
ambition should be the expression and vision that shapes its
success. Ambition is not without its pitfalls and dangers, or its glory:
“Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however
high we reach we are never satisfied.” – Nicolo Machiavelli

2. “Ambition is a fine thing” – Plato
The edge of ambition is tempered by the anchors of aims and the
weight of expected goals. The objective is balanced by the
subjective, and neither aims nor goals should constrain ambition.
Underpinned by the Aristotelian viewpoint of the healthy versus the
unhealthy, the transposition into “healthy” ambition within digital
strategy is not an easy line to draw.
ambition in isolation
Ambition in digital strategy cannot live in a digital wilderness but
must connect with the ongoing ambition of the company, brand,
and/or group. To many that digital strategy, and the ambitions
thereof, should be connected, is seemingly obvious. Too often
however, lack of understanding generates a disconnect and digital
is seen as a separate entity rather than where it operates at its best
connecting all parts together.
rating ambition
Digital Strategy must make a difference, and that difference must
be measured and rated. It does not follow the simple delineation of
“healthy” or “unhealthy”, such definitions are impossible to apply
over the varied nature of projects. Ambition for a digital strategy can
be rated against the background and nature of a project through
the following hierarchy:
• Apparent: is the ambition focused on the project
• Considered: is the ambition apparent and reflective of
wider opportunities within the domain

3. • Visionary: is the ambition considered and enables the
growth of the domain and the opportunities available
• Obsessive: is the ambition visionary to the point of
exclusion of probability if not possibility
The ambition of any digital strategy must be Apparent, less than
apparent and failure is set from the beginning. For most
ambition Considered is the likely outcome, which is far from poor;
not all projects have to be world changing, and to perform well
within the given domain is a good outcome. Visionary ambition
does not guarantee visionary results, attempting a visionary
ambition without appropriate resources is unlikely to succeed. In
the realms of fairy tales and madness is ambition that is Obsessive,
outside of any probable possibility of attainment, failure is
guaranteed.
okay Goldilocks?
Setting an ambition that is neither too ‘hot’ nor too ‘cold’ requires
context of the project and the domain in which the project is to
either reside or align. It is again in stories that the suitability of our
ambition against these is best related to:
• is our protagonist (project), challenged?
• where does our protagonist fit into their world (domain)?
• why does our story, protagonist, and world demand
change?
• how does our protagonist change the world?
Against the above all must be questioned: “Does this feel right?”,
and for extra credit is this just ‘hot’ enough to be challenging. For a
structured approach ambition alone is not enough, it must be
tempered by aims and goals.

4. what does ambition look like?
The ambition of a digital strategy needs to be constantly referred
to; it must be:
• clear
• concise
• aspirational
It is not a mantra; it is not an exercise in buzzword bingo; it is the
summary of the story of the ambition. Written down it is not too far
from the dreaded mission statement and if unsure should be
referred to ensure that the strategy is on track.
ambition into aims
“The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!”
– Brain
Two cartoon mice are an unlikely place in which to find the
inspiration behind ambition, let alone taking over the world. The
idea that any worthwhile ambition could be achieved in one step is
a concept not too far removed from the fantasy of comics. Ambition
must be broken down into manageable tranches of aims, which
later can be subdivided into goals.
aiming true
Aims should be generic rather than specific during planning, so as
not to overload with detail. The finer points behind the aims of a
digital strategy will be defined by the goals and refined by the
process until a level of granularity is reached that brooks no
misunderstanding. Concentrating on specific aims from the outset
runs the risk of missing potential opportunities and approaches of

5. a digital strategy. Initial limitations generally consist of conflict of
interest with existing business practices and / or outlets,
background, and budget. Far from limitation being negative it can
provide additional focus for later iterations of digital strategy:
• if not now, when?
• if not us, who?
• if not this, what?
Working with these aims and their limitations, digital consultants
can start to build clear strategies and answer the ambition.
outlining aims
To fully understand and outline aims against an ambition for a
digital strategy they must be classified, positioned, and modelled.
Classification adheres to the constructs of digital strategy:
• what does digital do differently to achieve the ambition?
• what should digital disrupt to achieve the ambition?
Consider the four main groups of digital marketing strategy:
• consumer awareness and demand creation
• direct consumer drive to retail and purchase
• education and incentive within the retail space
• process improvement through streamlined
communications
In classification it is not enough to build aims into ambition with no
consideration for the digital domain in which these will be
executed. To do so will create disconnected strata in the approach
that whilst they may be parallel in alignment, they are not
contiguous. Aims must be positioned with full awareness of the
nature and ethos of current technology and open to the
opportunities of future technology, they must make a difference,
they must be prepared to disrupt.

6. For aims to effectively answer ambition they must be positioned.
An all at once approach may be desirable for those without
patience, but it is rarely successful, and is certainly not efficient. The
positioning of aims breaks down into the following:
• Focus: Is the aim broad and may it be achieved in many
ways, or direct with a narrow scope?
The broader the focus the greater the potential freedom
in execution, but also the harder to pin down.
• Complexity: Is the aim multi-stepped and multi-faceted,
how much processing is required to complete?
Complexity must not be confined to the aim looking
outward, it needs to take into account third parties and
their engagement with the aim.
• Duration: Is the aim short-term or long-term, how does it
compare with the other aims?
Duration cannot be smaller than the likely feasible time
to execute but must strive to not exceed the time
allotted to achieve the ambition.
Modelling aims combines their classification and position, it
enables the detection of overlapping aims, outlying aims and false
aims. To model aims the following must be considered:
• Abstraction: Are the essential elements of the aim clear
in how they build to ambition, different to other aims and
open to adoption through multiple routes?
• Encapsulation: Is the aim clear enough to capture all
sub-elements required to achieve completion?

7. • Grouping: How does the aim work with other aims, can it
be grouped with other aims to reduce areas of focus?
• Relation: How does the aim co-operate with other aims
to build to ambition, are there dependencies, are there
time constraints?
• Size: Is an aim so large in focus, complexity, or duration as
to warrant being an ambition all by itself, or is it so small
by the same criteria to become a goal of another aim?
• Lifespan: Does this aim die or persist with differing levels
of focus?
The result of modelling is a clear approach to the aims, where they
are most important, when they are most import and how they are
most important. Like building blocks aims should fit together to
deliver on the ambition and answer the question: “Will this achieve
my ambition?”
what do aims look like?
There are two distinct views required to appreciate aims in their
overview: their positioning and their modelling. Each is designed to
give an overview of what is trying to be achieved, the positioning
delivers a management/client perspective, the modelling delivers a
procedural perspective. Visualisation is not an exercise in breaking
monotony, the same as stories, it briefly can highlight potential
issues before they become problematic.
data
To create the overviews is in easiest to compile the salient points of
each aim into a single collection.
Reference Aim Focus Complexity Duration Grouping Dependency
A Aim one Narrow Difficult Short B, E
B Aim two Broad Moderate Long A, E
C Aim three Narrow Difficult Long D
D Aim four Broad Easy Short C
E Aim five Balanced Easy Medium A, B A
F Aim six Broad Moderate Short A

8. The underlying data is as follows:
• Reference: To save typing in later
• Aim: A concise one sentence description
• Focus: The confidence in the possible ways to achieve the
aim
• Complexity: The level and difficulty of engagement
required to complete the aim
• Duration: Within and without the cycle the expected
term
positioning
The management/client perspective provided by the positioning
view is a snapshot that encompasses all the aims and enables quick
interpretation.
Complexity/Duration Short Term Medium Term Long Term
Easy • aim four
Moderate • aim six • aim five • aim two
Difficult • aim one • aim three
Reading the aims in this format should be straightforward with the
X and Y axis being obvious and the areas of focus that are broad
highlighted for consideration to see if they can be further defined
and narrowed. Immediately the above table shows:
• little is easy, but with effort 50% of the aims can be
reached within a short time frame
• after the initial 50% of aims the aims move into a longer
term and will require continual monitoring if not effort to
attain these
• half of the stated aims are broad and may require further
direction to either narrow the aims or ensure that further
research dictates the best possible route
• one third of the aims are long term, these may take
multiple cycles and potentially changes in direction of
the digital strategy

9. modelling
The procedural model view is primarily internal and could look
something like the following:
Within this view the size of the aim is representative of effort which
in turn is comprised of the complexity and duration. The
dependencies are apparent as is the modularity of groups.
Immediately the diagram shows:
• the launch group requires by far the most effort
• aim A is not only one of the largest to achieve in terms of
effort, it also is a dependency for other aims and requires
the greatest focus
• aims grouped under advocacy are aside from the others
and depending on how they form in the strategy may be
able to split into their own area of focus
• launch being the largest group is a potential blocker for
movement on the sign-up group, is there any
mitigation?
jumping to goals
Procedurally goal setting comes much later, after all how can a goal
be set if:
• there is no starting point for the goal
• the possibilities of success are not analysed
• the routes to attain the goal are not defined

10. To address ambition and aims without reviewing goals would be to
discuss everything about a game apart from how it can be won.
Goals drive focus across the execution of a digital strategy. They are
the most granular planned and reported element to measure
success. This can lead to undue attention in planning and beyond.
Hitting goals does not always lead to hitting aims, they look good,
they should certainly build into aims and therefore ambition, but
alone they can become simple vanity. The attractiveness of goals is
because of their granularity they can be one of the easiest elements
to control.
being S.M.A.R.T
One of the more straightforward techniques for goal creation was
defined in 1981 by George T. Doran in his paper called: “There's a
S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives”, these
have been adapted many times and they are again below:
• Specific: Have very clear objectives, what they mean,
what they encompass, and what aims is the goal trying
to achieve.
• Measurable: There must be a quantifiable indicator of
progress that drives towards the aims.
• Achievable: They must not exceed the set-out aims.
• Relevant: They must work towards the aims.
• Time-bound: There must be a clear cut-off to ascertain
whether the goal has been achieved or not and how that
has helped deliver the aim.
The focus of goals as discrete building blocks into aims and
ambition completes the granularity required to work within
manageable pieces of work.
what do (outline) goals look like?
At this thematic juncture it only makes sense to define the outline
of what a goal should look like. Since these are discrete, they are the
easiest to define when their digital route is defined (channels are
immediately suggestive of the KPIs that can be run through them).

11. cards anyone?
The idea of playing cards to determine the goals behind a digital
strategy may horrify some. Goal setting through simple cards is a
useful technique to:
• create a simple flow of goals
• maintain realism
• draw out any potential issues amongst planning and
execution teams
• highlight missing opportunities
• transfer and build the knowledgebase from planning to
execution teams
The following is a simple goal card:
Goal Title of Goal
Detail
Description of the goal including:
• Aim this goal addresses
• Brief purpose if not apparent from aim
• Target to be achieved
• Intermediary targets / warning signs
Ownership Target deadline
In pulling these together:
• no one should remain silent, silence is implicit ignorance
• everyone must understand the goals and how they fit
into the aims
• everyone must understand their role in achieving these
goals
The cards are “goal setting lite”, and the rules of any internal game
in creating these against the aims in a strategy are unset. As a tool
to aid communication of ambition and aims however the approach
is sound.

12. analyse this!
Detailed goal setting requires the appropriate analysis. The nature
of goals extends themselves to that analysis including by not
exclusively:
• background and previous attainment
• aims transposed to audiences and opportunities
• delivery of message, service and/or product
• seeking better
These however are thoughts for another day.