Why A Winning Aspiration is not a BHAG

The idea of a big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) was a concept coined in the 1990s introduced by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (1994). The BHAG has similarities but important differences to Roger Martin’s Winning Aspiration.

The BHAG (pronounced ‘bee hag’) refers to a clear and compelling target that an organisation tries to reach and that everyone can rally round.  It is similar to a Winning Aspiration in that it is designed to be both highly motivational and to shift focus to the big picture.

A BHAG is not a Winning Aspiration

A BHAG is not the same as a Winning Aspiration for several reasons.

Firstly,  BHAGS are typically characterised as bold but risky ideas that may or may or not be achieved.  The thinking behind this is that if the organisation shoots for the stars it might well reach the moon.  The winning aspiration does not share this philosophy, but instead seeks to find a stretching but achievable goal.

Categories of BHAG

Secondly, the authors envisaged four specific categories of BHAG.  The Winning Aspiration has no categories assigned to, and in our view is all the better for it.  

The four categories of BHAG are:

  • The role model, which seeks to emulate the success of another company
  • The common enemy, which focuses on catching and overtaking a named competitor
  • Targeting sets a specific objective, such as becoming a billion-dollar company
  • Internal transformation seeks to increase competitiveness by revitalisation

You can choose whatever label works for your to reflect a winning aspiration. However, we advise avoiding the BHAG label because of the two differences outlined here, neither of which we find helpful. 

The targeting category, in particular, can be dangerous – especially when the BHAG is framed as strategy. “Our strategy is to become a $1bn company”, a favorite statement of some CEOs, is particularly unhelpful and induces head shaking despair from employees who expect better of leadership.

The ‘Winning Aspiration’ Works

All organisations need to set a clear and ambitious direction in order to succeed and the Winning Aspiration replaces the conventional wisdom of creating separate multiple directional statements such as mission and vision.  It’s also better than a BHAG…