Getting Big, Hairy & Audacious

We love setting ambitious goals. It’s kind of our thing.

An old favorite guide of ours is the follow up from Good to Great, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. It’s a tried-and-true reference for any entrepreneur looking for exemplars of businesses that are sticky and have stuck around.

One takeaway from Built to Last is the idea of setting “big, hairy, audacious goals” (BHAG). Sounds kind of like a King Kong tagline, right?

What it means is that every business owner should set course for bold, tangible results, centered in a clear understanding of the value proposition and scope of their business.

But it’s not just about setting goals for the shock value. Imagine how you’ll feel if you meet the goal you’re setting. If that feeling doesn’t light you on fire, then toss the goal in the trash. A BHAG is useless if it isn’t personal.

What NOT To Do: Copycat Goals 

The main mistake people make when setting goals is to solely follow the expectations and reasoning of other people. 

While we can learn from the success of others, we must be careful not to set goals to emulate someone else’s success. 

Goal-setting is only a useful process when it is custom-tailored to your ambitions, resources, and circumstances. Great goals are highly personal. That’s part of what makes them stick. Your drive or motivation increases when you care about the outcomes.

When you know what matters to you — what you want out of life, who you want to be in the world, and what legacy you want to leave behind — you will be able to formulate clear goals that fall in line with your priorities and values.

If your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-sensitive, then they’re SMART. If your goals are big, hairy, and audacious on top of that, even better.

Every Goal Setter's Worst Enemy is Time Management

Did you know that…

• Of eight telephone calls placed, one will be repeated due to missing information.
• If you spend 10-12 minutes planning your day, you’ll save up to 2 hours of time that would have otherwise gone to waste.
• When it comes to planning allotted time for tasks, we underestimate how long a task will take almost every time. Most tasks take twice as long as we expect
• Of the time given to a workday, 80% is spent doing tasks with little to no value and only 20% is spent doing something important.
• A person who gives themselves one thing to do in a day will generally take all day to do it. If the same person gives themself two things to do, both will get done. If someone adds 12 tasks to a to-do list, most people do not get all 12 done but will get at least 7 done.

Time management has to be part of your strategy as you think about how you’ll get to your big, hairy goals. 

There are two sides to being the boss that you’re going to have to get comfortable with. Perhaps more than comfortable. You’ve got to love data, and love delegating. These aren’t only foundational to your business practice, but they’re also—conveniently—time-savers. 

Data

If you’re tired of hearing us say it, too bad. Wake up! Know your business! Be an expert in what you do so you can do it best. 

Every executive needs a tool to help them see the big picture. One way to think about this is a literal dashboard: a discrete tool to help you see how fast you are going, how well maintained your vehicle is, and a map to help you get to your new destination (that is, depending on how new your car is).

Your slightly-less-literal BHAG dashboard needs to fit your needs, so don’t overthink the flashiness or mechanics of the tool itself. At the end of the day, the only person seeing this is you, and perhaps your team. You just need something that helps you answer “Where is my money?” —and the rest is up to you. 

Delegation

The bigger your endeavors get, the more you’ll learn that you’re likely not an expert in everything it takes to make your business run. The sooner you understand your value add – what can you do for your business that no one else can? – the sooner you can put together a kick-ass team.

Assemble experts that round out your business. Hire for the areas you know are your weakest. Then trust your team to get the job done. When rigor and accountability are high, your team will see significant results.

What ACTUALLY To Do: An Example from REI Nation

Let’s save you some time. There are plenty of “don’ts” from our days leading REI Nation, but here is a “do” that has made the cut.

Every day we hold two recurring meetings. First thing in the morning, we gather sales leads to go over our numbers. And after lunch, our executive staff share updates, brainstorm, and identify key next steps.

Everyone isn’t expected to have a significant update each day, but by engaging in this routine we’ve found that we save a lot of time. For one reason, it saves staff the effort of vying for a time on our calendar for every little thing, because they know they have a standing appointment within 24 hours. For another, it clues everyone into the BHAGs we are collectively responsible for achieving.

Regardless of what operating models you are drawn to, the bottom line is that it needs to help you maximize your bottom line. This email only reaches people with big, hairy, audacious goals. Don’t lose your momentum by tripping over something trivial.