I raised a real-life question about ambition in earlier posts (see The Ambition Factor and Ambition Factor Part 2). If you are level 1 business-IT maturity, where should your ambition be in driving a transformation? There are arguments (in fact, my client has decided) for a level 2 ambition - “get the trains running on time” as the critical, realizable ambition. There are important contextual reason why they’ve made this choice. There are other arguments for a level 3 ambition - shoot higher, but acknowledge that you have to stabilize and simplify first (go through level 2). I think the real answer might be of the “both, and…” variety. You need a level 2 and level 3 vision, with level 2as a critical step along the way, and as akey milestone on the journey. Then, as you go through the journey you celebrate your level 2 “wins” and flesh out your level 3 ambition and change program.