BHAG is mostly seen in business books, magazines, and articles, but here I would generalize it to cover persons from all fields.
Definition
BHAG stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal, an idea conceptualized in the book, “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” by James Collins and Jerry Porras. According to Collins and Porras, a BHAG is a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business's existence.
In my own general definition, BHAG is a huge motivation goal that defines your vision for the future. Everyone says to have a vision for the future some already planned out while some are still trying to making theirs clear.
Most times people think that BHAG is a vision statement, but it's not. A vision statement is a drive that keeps you or your company/business from the start of it, till when your company/business is out of existence. A vision statement is a continuous process for an individual or a company. eg Amazon. Their vision is “To be the world's most customer-centric company.”
For BHAG, It's quantifiable and time ban, a BHAG should be engaging, when you talk to someone about it, it should make people wow and want to know more. eg(as a company/business) XYZ. Their BHAG is "To cover 7 Africa companies in the next 5 years." (As an individual). Your BHAG is to start a career in Tech and land a job in one (1) year.
Unlike your vision statement that you have already stated how you would workaround to achieve it, BHAG is just like an assumption, you don't know how you would achieve it, but you know you want to do it between a said time.
Features of a BHAG
- It should focus on one thing, which means it should be a single defining goal or idea.
- It should be short time goal, not more than 3-10years.
- It should be engaging and be able to take you off your comfort zone.
- It's should be emotional, i.e it should be something that catches your emotions so can compel you to do more.
How to create your own BHAG.
There are three(3) ways to create your BHAG, and here it is:
Set: Here you have to define all you want to achieve in that said time. what are those things you want to do and when do you want to do them.
Check: Here to make sure your BHAG meets or is in line there are five things you need to bear in mind: i. It should be a time ban. ii. It should be aspirational. iii. It should make you leave your comfort zone. iv. It should be measurable and realistic. v. It should be emotional
Comit: Here is where you start working on it, focusing your time to meet your BHAG.
If you take note and work with these three steps, you would create a BHAG and met them. Also to work on it and get to meet your goal, it's encouraged that you tell friends and family members about it, it will help keep you in check and help you met your said time and keep you in check. Doing this makes you have an accountability partner that keeps you on your toes.
After you are done creating your BHAG, the next step is to break these goals down into sections so you can have milestones you can celebrate and also keeps emotionally happy as you try to meet or reach your BHAG.
In summary, Your BHAG is a single measurable objective that should communicate real energy keep you and your team in check, and be focused on reaching a goal in the future.(for business).
Want to learn more about BHAG? Here is a link to my YouTube channel where I explained it in more detail: youtu.be/XNf9IBw_1SU.
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