What’s Possible? – The BIG HAIRY. So while this is nothing new to business the way to extract the best out of those setting the Big Hairy Audatious Goal (BHAG) has a few elements to it.
For starters understanding the BHAG is important. Simply defined “A Big Hairy Audacious Goal” is a strategic business statement similar to a vision statement which is created to focus an organization on a single medium-long term organization-wide goal which is audacious, likely to be externally questionable, but not internally regarded as impossible.” The great Steve Jobs simplified goal setting “The best way to create the future is to invent it.” And in a sense that’s what is happening when you invent new approaches for your team. Conversely Rudy Giuliani was the first to use the phrase “hope is not a strategy. Specifically, his convention speech included these words: “Because ‘change’ is not a destination, just as ‘hope’ is not a strategy. And simply hoping that your culture will overhaul itself is wishful thinking.
So with this in mind here’s an outline of how to go about the process of framing up your BHAG.
- How many people and what roles will they play?
- How many clients will the business have/qty of units sold p.a?
- What does the office look like?
- What products/services will we be selling?
- What business relationships exist?
- What else do you see?
Collate the pictures and summarise on a big board. Display it in the office.
Continually refer back to the BHAG board and discuss the progress.
Use this board of goals to reverse engineer every element of the business. Start with the end in mind.
