DECIDE UPON YOUR TRUE DREAMS AND GOALS Go For The Outrageous.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)

Byline: Robin Grugal

2 Ambitious corporate goals that border on outrageous are often the best kind. They force us to consider alternative processes and technologies, often improving a business in ways never intended.

Bill Davidson, author of "Breakthrough!," asks us to consider the case of Progressive Corp. It's enjoyed a string of goal-originated breakthroughs that are amazing.

Up until the late 1980s, Progressive was the No. 1 player in the niche for high-risk auto insurance. With its underwriting profit running 800 basis points higher than the average for auto insurers, Allstate took notice and decided it, too, would start a high-risk unit in 1988. No longer would it send the cream of its rejects to Progressive. Within just one year, Allstate had displaced Progressive as the niche leader.

Striking Back

Progressive decided to take aim at Allstate's weak spot -- claims service. Its new goal: to provide the fastest and friendliest claims settlement service in the industry.

A curious thing happened on the way to achieving this goal. The company found that faster was also cheaper, Davidson says.