Leadership expert Jim Collins explains what drives some entrepreneurs to relentlessly pursue bold ideas--and succeed where others have failed.
Jim Collins says that in 1994 when he and his co-author, Jerry Porras, were writing the seminal book Built to Last, they debated what to call ambitious long-term goals that galvanize successful companies. Porras favored something businesslike and decorous, like “corporate mission.” Collins held out for a term that vividly conveyed the excitement, energy, and envelope-pushing boldness stirred up by such endeavors. He prevailed, and BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) came galumphing into the management lexicon.
Inc. Editor-at-Large Leigh Buchanan spoke to Collins about entrepreneurs who build their whole companies around BHAGs.
How are companies that pursue BHAGs different from others?
The power of the BHAG is that it gets you out of thinking too small. A great BHAG changes the time frame and simultaneously creates a sense of urgency. It’s a real paradox. So on the one hand, you’re not going to get a BHAG done in three years. You’re not going to get it done in five years. A really good BHAG probably has a minimum length of about a decade, and many take longer than that. Two decades. Three decades. So time frames extend to where you are no longer managing for the quarter but for the quarter century.
The power of the BHAG is that it gets you out of thinking too small. A great BHAG changes the time frame and simultaneously creates a sense of urgency. It’s a real paradox. So on the one hand, you’re not going to get a BHAG done in three years. You’re not going to get it done in five years. A really good BHAG probably has a minimum length of about a decade, and many take longer than that. Two decades. Three decades. So time frames extend to where you are no longer managing for the quarter but for the quarter century.
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