BHAG-Big Hairy Audacious Goal

• A BHAG should be so clear and compelling that it requires little or no explanation. Remember, a BHAG is a goal – like climbing a mountain or going to moon – not a “statement.” If it doesn’t get people’s juices going, then it’s just not a BHAG.

• A BHAG should fall well outside the comfort zone. People in the organization should have reason to believe they can pull it off, yet it should require heroic effort and perhaps even a little luck – as with the IBM 360 and Boeing 707.

• A BHAG should be so bold and exciting in its own right that it would continue to stimulate progress even if the organization’s leader disappeared before it had been completed – as happened at Citibank and Wal-Mart.

• A BHAG has an inherent danger that, once achieved, an organization can stall and drift in the “we’ve arrived” syndrome, as happened at Ford in the 1920s. A company should be prepared to prevent this by having follow-on BHAGs. Its should also complement BHAGs with the other methods of stimulating progress.

Finally, and most important of all, a BHAG should be consistent with a company’s core ideology.