Pronounced Bee-Hag, BHAG stands for “Big Hairy Audacious Goal.” I just LOVE this phrase! Ever since I heard it many years ago, it stuck with me. It’s only when we as people, organizations and as a civilization begin to dream bigger and set more outrageous goals can we make what seems impossible today a future possibility.
“BHAG is a concept developed in the book Built to Last. A BHAG (pronounced “Bee Hag,” short for “Big Hairy Audacious Goal”) is a powerful way to stimulate progress. A BHAG is clear and compelling, needing little explanation; people get it right away. Think of the NASA moon mission of the 1960s. The best BHAGs require both building for the long term AND exuding a relentless sense of urgency: What do we need to do today, with monomaniacal focus, and tomorrow, and the next day, to defy the probabilities and ultimately achieve our BHAG?”
When I was in college, a friend and I decided to get a Buddhist Student organization going. In our first planning meeting together, my friend and I brainstormed what we wanted the club to do. When we thought bigger and more long-term, my friend added that we should aim to have the Dalai Lama come to campus. I think I had laughed out loud. It seemed like a totally absurd impossibility to host a global figure on a rural upstate NY campus. I filed it away under “that would be nice, but I won’t hold my breath.”
But, lo and behold, years later after much work, many meditation sessions, retreats, and activity, although I would say really to no credit of ours, who was brought to campus in the spring of my final year? His Holiness. Cue one of the most epic days of my life! That was my own first personal encounter with experiencing a BHAG come to life. Totally. Worth. It.
Got any BHAGs? Go BHAG or go home. I had to.