As a student and university teacher of entrepreneurship, I follow the conventional wisdom of strategy and talk about BHAGs – or Big Hairy Audacious Goals. I can point to time tested examples – Henry Ford (although he did not call it a BHAG), Walt Disney, Sony.
I must admit that while I am inspired by them, I also find myself intimidated by them when I think about what my business’ BHAG is. Simply stated, we strive to show up in the best way we can to create a relationship of trust with our clients so that we can work together collaboratively to develop better leaders and more vibrant and sustainable organizations. This seems to pale in comparison to most BHAG’s. Is it BIG enough, HAIRY enough, AUDACIOUS enough? It seems like my answer is always a big fat “No”.
As I counsel others who also need to develop a vision and we talk about BHAGs – I often see the same dynamic. The energy drains, the doubt sets in. Their brain frantically scrambles for the perfectly inspired statement of purpose that will inspire and lift others for generations. I’ve seen several instances where action was delayed or deferred until the perfect vision was crafted.
So I propose that we reframe the quest for BHAGs. There are many companies that have them and do wonderful things, and there are also many companies that don’t and that also do wonderful things. I would note that one just might have to grow into a BHAG – and that, even if your vision might be more of a “stretch” than a BHAG, that is OK. I would point out that smaller, clean-shaven steps repeatedly taken with passion toward a worthwhile goal will also serve you well. Most importantly, I would affirm that BHAGs might scare you – but they don’t need to stop you from pursuing your dream.
