BHAG
A
BHAG (pronounced Bee-HAG) is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal – a strategic business
statement which is created to focus an organisation on a single medium-long
term organisational-wide goal which is audacious, likely to be externally
questionable, but not regarded as impossible. A true BHAG is clear and
compelling, and serves as a point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst for
team spirit. It’s a clear finish line so the organisation can know when it has
achieved the goal. People like to shoot for the finish lines instead of
meandering along.
Everyone
knows that @NASA
achieved their vision of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to
Earth.” @Google has a
mission to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible
and useful. Closer to home, @CityBin
here in Galway, have a vision to have their bin service in one million Irish homes
by 2020.
How do you decide what your BHAG is?
I got a copy
of the book “Built to Last” (Jerry Porras and Jim Collins) where they introduce
the concept of BHAGs. They didn’t define exactly what it is. President Kennedy
simply said “man on the moon.” It’s along the lines of you throwing a hat over
a wall and then you figure out the best way to get it back. A BHAG has four
characteristics:
1.
They're very, very big.
2.
They will take several years to achieve.
3.
You won't yet know the details of how to accomplish
the goal when you set it.
4.
The goal is specific enough that everyone will know
if you achieve it.
Think
about the following when setting a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. According
to Jim Collins, that involves answering three important questions in no
particular order:
·
What can you be the best in the world at?
·
What are you passionate about?
·
What will drive your economic engine (where does
the money come from)?
I have been
wondering what my BHAG is. I’ve given some thought to the questions above. Recently
(while in launch mode) I’ve been so busy learning, making, healing (a
dislocated thumb, and a few cuts and scratches, not forgetting the chuck key
which hit me in the unmentionables), business building, meeting people, going
to seminars, giving demonstrations, giving away free stuff, that I think I’ve
lost some of my focus. Apart from the love of #woodturning, why do I do what I
do? Will I ever make money? Am I in it for the money? What am I learning? What
do I want out of this? So I need to think about my ultimate Big Hairy Audacious
Gaol. After a lot of soul searching and thinking I think I’ve got it.
BHAG: to be able to enjoy the #woodturning journey all the time
Well I know
that won’t happen until I hit retirement age, and I’m not sure at the moment
how I’m going to do it, but I think it’s a good goal to start to focus on. I
like the sound of it, and I haven’t got a clue right now how I’m going to
achieve it but I’ll go ahead anyways and throw my hat over the wall. In the
meantime I can focus on a much simpler goal – simply to get my business into a
position where it is self-sufficient. However, I’ll still keep my BHAG in mind.
I’ll have to do something unique, or do something uniquely well. I’m still very
fond of the saying that if you do something you love, you’ll never work a day
in your life again. Food for thought.
What’s your
BHAG?
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