The BHAG Checklist: 20 Questions Before You Bet the Company
The BHAG is one of the most celebrated ideas in business. When Jerry Porras and Jim Collins introduced the concept in 1994, it took off like wildfire and has endured for over 30 years.
Despite its age and popularity, it is also one of the most misunderstood.
Having studied 298 BHAGs, I know most fail.
Not because the concept is flawed. Because of a paradox buried inside it.
A BHAG has to be clear, simple, and easy to remember. But it also needs to be built on deep, rigorous understanding.
When leaders discover the concept outside "Built to Last" or the original article, they copy an impressive example without understanding what made it the right goal for the organization that set it.
The result? Most BHAGs are bold, inspiring statements that sound right but can't be executed.
The goal here is to bring clarity. To help you set a BHAG that succeeds.
Bringing Clarity to BHAG
The idea for this post was born over coffee with an old friend. He asked what makes a good BHAG. He's one of Boulder's most experienced entrepreneurs, which made it feel like a question worth exploring.
“Most BHAGs are bold, inspiring statements that sound right but can’t be executed.”
I knew what "Built to Last" outlined. But I'd never taken the time to translate the theory into a practical application.
So I set out to create a definitive, detailed checklist of the attributes of a successful BHAG. Something to hold a goal against and know if you should bet the company on it.
A preflight checklist, for audacious, risky goals.
To build it, a three-step process.
First, my own climbs. As a former professional rock climber, I split my most audacious climbs into three groups. The ones I sent. The ones I failed. The ones that almost killed me. Then I asked why.
Second, the great projects. I selected a set of my favorites, ones that set a BHAG and changed the world, to test the attributes against.
“The ones I sent. The ones I failed. The ones that almost killed me.”
Third, the source material. I compiled everything Jim and Jerry have written on BHAGs, including the original article that introduced it to the world. Then I compared what I found to what they found.
The Answer
There are twenty attributes to a good BHAG.
Yes, twenty. This is a practitioner's guide, not something built to go viral.
How to Use the Checklist
This is not a planning document. It is not a guide for leading an offsite to set a BHAG. It is a gut check for the person who has to sign the check and make the bet.
When Tommy Caldwell and I made the first car-to-car ascent of Mt. Hooker, one of America's most remote big walls, in under 20 hours, we broke the BHAG down in a 20-minute phone call. Alan Mulally sketched the BHAG plan to save Ford from bankruptcy in a few hours.
“It is a gut check for the person who has to sign the check and make the bet.”
It's not that these goals skipped planning. It's that we could explain why it was the right goal. Quickly. Like a preflight checklist.
The Checklist
Basics
You know the type of goal: (Target, Enemy, Role Model, Transformation, or Survival).
It's clear.
It has a finish line (different then timeline)
You can break it into logical big objectives.
It has strict quality measures.
It's free from bolt-on requirements and pet projects.
You know the gaps in your knowledge you need to fill to achieve it.
The goalpost is fixed.
It's funded (different then budget)
It's staffed.
Difficulty
It plays to your organization's strengths.
Your organization will need to develop new capabilities and often transform itself to achieve it.
It will require extraordinary effort and focus.
Its audacity filters people. (The right people light up at the challenge. The wrong people step away).
Belief & Evidence (No false modesty, No meekness and No Hubris)
You have a deep internal belief that you can achieve it, despite the odds being against you.
You have evidence you can achieve it.
Compelling
You find enjoyment in the work it requires to succeed.
It's compelling at every level: the CEO, the leaders, the people doing the work, key suppliers, and, if public, the market.
If it takes twice as long and costs twice as much, you still want to do it.
Your organization will bend to achieve the goal.
When You Miss One
Answer no to any of these and you don't have a BHAG.
You have what I call a WHAG. A Wishful Hairy Audacious Guess.
This is a gift.
More often than not it's where the most successful BHAGs start. It's only bad if you commit the company before you've filled in the blanks.
“A WHAG stands for Wishful Hairy Audacious Guess.”
There's a long list of leaders who did exactly that. Remember Kmart? They bet everything on a WHAG disguised as a BHAG and filed for bankruptcy.
Instead, go to work. Learn what you need to learn. Set up your R&D projects. Fire bullets, then cannonballs.
Once you have, commit to your BHAG.
One Last Thing
A BHAG has a time and a place. Used right, it is the most powerful tool a leader has.
But BHAGs have skeptics who discourage their use. There's a paper called "Goals Gone Wild." It's one of my least favorite papers. After all, I love goals. Reading it is like being told your baby is ugly. It may be true. But you don't want to hear it.
Jokes aside, the paper is well done. We both agree that an audacious goal is prescription-strength medicine. It works. It has a place. It can also kill you if the dose is wrong.
This checklist is how you check the dose and use BHAGs to their full potential.
Have Fun, Try Hard,
Adam
Adam@adamstack.com