In companies, there’s sometimes a mention of the “north star”. A north star metric, for instance, or a group of designers talking about a guiding principle. However, come to think of it, I’ve only ever seen it used slightly, well, wrong. Off, probably. As a metaphor, the word refers to the practice of wayfinding. The north star is always north, so navigators can use it to orient themselves. The phrase I heard, in those ominous meetings, was “something you move towards yet you’ll never reach”. A stretch goal, really, or an ideal, or perhaps a vision. That’s not a north star. If you actually follow a north star, in the practice of wayfinding, it gets really cold. Why would you always m ove north? You just want to know where north is, to find out where you’re going or where you are.