What's Your BHAG?
Michael Field
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Michael Field
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Setting a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is fun, challenging and inspiring. It can galvanise a team behind a purpose, which is fantastic if everyone knows what they are supposed to do and how (individually and collectively) to get there.
The easy part is setting the destination. The hard part is plotting the course and navigating the challenges, both expected and unexpected along the way.
To test the viability of your BHAG, ask your receptionist, salesperson, production, delivery, and customer service people the following questions. If they all have different answers, your BHAG may just be a big dream.
- What is our unique value proposition, do our customers care about it and can we prove it?
- How do we communicate our value proposition effectively to key customer segments?
- Why should people buy from us, above all of the other options available to them - including doing nothing?
- Which segments of the market are most prospective, attractive and accessible to us and why?
- What evidence do we have to support our hypothesis? Can we prove it and provide a numerical fact base for our claims?
- How, when and why do customers buy? What problems are they seeking to solve? What opportunities are they trying to capture?
- How long is the buying cycle? How many stages does it have? How can we identify each stage of the buying cycle? How can we help our customers progress through the sales cycle? What information do they need to support their buying journey?
- What key messages and channels to market should we use to reach our customers?
- Who else is competing for the same market, and how are they likely to respond when we aggressively pursue new clients and market share?
- How do we help our customers achieve their goals better than our competitors?
- What resources, including financial, human, and technical will we need to achieve our objectives?
- How will we monitor, measure and report on our progress against the goal?
- What additional capabilities, plans and resources do we have at our disposal in the event we experience greater than anticipated turbulence or opposition?
Want to know more? EvettField Partners Pty Ltd #B2B
Author, Consultant, Dr. Business Administration
7 年The questions here would/should be be asked if the goals were big and hairy or small and achievable? Why other than self delusion (and a cavalier attitude to shareholders' capital) would anyone set a goal that was unachievable ? Last question on list: "What additional capabilities, plans and resources do we have at our disposal in the event we experience greater than anticipated turbulence or opposition? " First, the present tense is wrong "do we have" should be "WILL we have" a completely different proposition. Second, the question really is "what is our strategic risk?" and the followup is "do we know our strategic risk" and "do we know our strategic risk appetite?" If the answer is No, then it's not a goal it's an aspiration.
Non-exec director, Independent consultant, Qualitative & Quantitative = Not sure on something? Give me a call
7 年Trevor Holt, I wasn't arguing against goals as such - they're essential. It's the fad of the #BHAG that I was questioning.
Non-exec director, Independent consultant, Qualitative & Quantitative = Not sure on something? Give me a call
7 年I thought this #BHAG fad had come and gone?