B-HAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals)

In his book, Built to Last, Jim Collins relates how many successful companies have some sort of massive
goal for the distant future that he calls a B-HAG:

Big: large, massive, all-encompassing
Hairy: kind of crazy and difficult to manage (like a bad hair day)
Audacious: bold and adventurous, esp. in the eyes of others
Goal: something you want to accomplish and plan for in order to reach.

Mr. Collins recommends that companies consider the following questions when creating B-HAGs, though it's not essential:

• What are you passionate about? (What field, cause, skill, etc... are you really interested in?)
• What can you be best at in the world? (What's unique about what you can offer in your field of interest?)
• What drives your economic engine? (What can you make a living doing?)

Here are a few examples of B-HAGs (thanks to Wikipedia):

• Amazon: Every book, ever printed, in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds.
• Disney: Be the best company in the world for all fields of family entertainment.
• Ford: Democratize the automobile.^[4]
• Google: Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.^[5]+
• JFK's Moon Challenge: This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.^[8]
• Microsoft: A computer on every desk and in every home.^[9]
• RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds): Save Nature by 2020

Respond to some of the prompts below on this form:

1. Write down several possibilities of what your B-HAG could be.
2. What was your B-HAG when you were a kid?

Trade papers to read each other's B-HAGS and be ready to share a few with the class.