Last week I wrote about forgetting resolutions and embrace Goals. And I even mentioned BHAGs and that seems to have generated some buzz.
BHAGs are BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS.
It is the kind of goal that is multi-year, multi-discipline, all inclusive, visionary, and a dream all wrapped up in one. Usually, a company or organization handles only one BHAG at a time.
BHAGs can be scary and for good reason. You are trying to make something of the future that you have a super strong belief in but not necessarily have the experience or track record.
Big change only happens with big dreams.
So, you are saying to yourself, "Frank, sounds great but I don't know of anyone that had BHAGs and succeeded." But you do, and you may not realize it.
Elon Musk - take him or leave him - he had and delivered on BHAGs.
Tesla was a BHAG and had so many different roadblocks beyond just making the car. Charging stations, selling direct without a dealer network, over the air updates, and so much more. And SpaceX was another BHAG. And no one can be perfect 100% of the time, and Twitter seems to be a weird situation, but let's evaluate it in 5 years. And it is ok to be wrong, as long as you learn from it.
"But Frank, I am not Elon Musk. I don't know how to do those things."
Well guess what, a leader doesn't need to know how to do everything.
All the technology around us that we might take for granted is the benefit of one of the biggest BHAGs of century. Did President Kennedy, on May 25, 1961, know how to design a rocket that could take a many to the moon and safely return him? Of course not.
And because of that BHAG, to make it possible, technology was developed that was unheard of then. We changed from vacuum tubes to solid state devices. To achieve the space race, we had to succeed in the technology race.
So, are you letting your business run you, or are you running your business?