Aim for Ten-Fold Change Rather Than Ten-Percent Gains
When Sundar Pichai joined the early Google team, he and his colleagues knew they wanted something more than a slightly faster browser. They wanted a 10x product: something radically better, not marginally improved. That was how Chrome was born.
The team set an aspirational goal: "Achieve 1 billion weekly active users." At the time, Google Search had a few hundred million users; a browser was unproven. Most ideas focused on incremental improvements to existing browsers. Sundar threw those out and pressed the group to rethink every layer, from architecture to user interface, treating speed and simplicity as top-value features.
They reimagined JavaScript performance with a new virtual machine (V8), optimized multi-process architecture for safety, and designed a clean user interface that hid complexity. Early prototypes showed 10x improvements in script performance.
By setting that audacious 1 billion target, the team cleared away half-baked ideas and forced themselves to prioritize only world-shifting innovations. Incremental ideas—small UI tweaks or new menu items—never made the cut. When Chrome launched in 2008, it wasn’t just another browser; it rewrote what a browser could do. Within five years, Chrome was the world’s most popular browser, vindicating the power of 10x OKRs.
This case underscores a key principle from innovation studies: true breakthroughs often require rethinking the prevailing architecture, not just tweaking existing designs. It’s a lesson in ambitious goal setting and disciplined execution.
First, draft your 10x ambition—what would your field look like if you achieved ten-fold improvement? Then gather your team for an unfiltered brainstorming session: no idea is too bold. Finally, convert the strongest ideas into rapid, focused experiments, tracking metrics closely. When you find the concepts that yield unexpected leaps, double down. Start framing your next big stretch goal today.
What You'll Achieve
You’ll expand your ambition horizon, shifting your mindset from incremental fixes to bold reconceptions. You’ll discover new leverage points that spark exponential growth instead of linear progress.
Craft a 10x Ambition Statement
Define a transformative goal
Ask: "What would 10x improvement look like in our context?" Write it down without worrying if it seems impossible—e.g., "Increase customer base from 1,000 to 10,000 in one year."
Identify counterintuitive strategies
Brainstorm ideas that break from incremental thinking, such as leveraging new platforms, pivoting your offer, or partnering with unexpected allies. No idea is too bold at this stage.
Test radical bets in sprints
Pick two or three promising 10x ideas and run quick, time-boxed experiments. Track results and double down on the approaches that show disproportionate impact.
Reflection Questions
- What would 10x success look like in your role or project?
- Which existing constraints can you challenge or reframe?
- What small experiments can you run this week to test radical ideas?
Personalization Tips
- For personal health, rather than losing 10 pounds in six months, aim to halve your body fat through dietary overhaul and high-intensity training.
- In creative work, instead of writing 500 words daily, challenge yourself to finish your novel in three months by batching writing sprints and eliminating writer’s block triggers.
Measure What Matters
Ready to Take Action?
Get the Mentorist app and turn insights like these into daily habits.