When it comes to defining your long-term strategic vision, few frameworks are as powerful as the Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Introduced by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their classic Harvard Business Review article "Building Your Company's Vision," a BHAG (pronounced "bee hag") serves as a unifying focal point that aligns your entire organization around a singular, ambitious mission.
If you're wondering "What is a BHAG?" or struggling to articulate compelling long-term business goals for your organization, the right examples can provide the inspiration you need. Whether you're setting your first 10-25 year vision or resetting after accomplishing a major milestone, understanding how successful companies craft their BHAGs will help you create one that energizes your team and drives sustained growth.
A well-crafted Big Hairy Audacious Goal does more than set a target—it creates a sense of urgency and excitement that transcends traditional stretch goals. As Collins and Porras wrote, "The envisioned future should be so exciting in its own right that it would continue to keep the organization motivated even if the leaders who set the goal disappeared."
Don't let your team fall into complacency after reaching one BHAG. Celebrate your success, then reset with an even bolder vision. This habit of maintaining an ambitious long-term strategic vision is what separates visionary companies from the rest.
Collins and Porras outline four distinct types of Big Hairy Audacious Goals in their book Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. Here's how each category works, along with classic and modern examples.
This is the most common type of BHAG, where you set either quantitative (numerical) or qualitative targets as your long-term business goals.
If setting a revenue target, ensure it genuinely thrills your team - keep in mind most people besides the ones who benefit directly won’t find revenue in itself inspiring. For qualitative targets, establish tangible measurements so you'll know when you've achieved success—just like NASA knew when they landed a man on the moon and returned him safely to Earth. You can only hit a target if you know exactly what it is.
This type of Big Hairy Audacious Goal rallies your team around beating a larger competitor—a David versus Goliath mentality that can be incredibly motivating. This works especially well when there's a clear industry leader whose market share you're pursuing.
Perfect for emerging organizations, this category focuses on aspiring to be like great companies. Rather than direct competitors, think about companies known for excellence in the ways you want your company to excel.
Best suited for larger, established companies, this type of BHAG focuses on fundamentally changing how the organization operates. This can apply to an entire company or a division seeking transformation within a larger enterprise.
Looking at how modern companies set their Big Hairy Audacious Goals can provide fresh perspective for your own long-term strategic vision.
The BHAG: Establish a self-sustaining city on Mars with a million people by the 2050s.
Elon Musk's vision for SpaceX goes far beyond launching satellites. Through developing reusable rockets with the Starship program, SpaceX is methodically working toward making humanity multi-planetary. This represents one of the most ambitious long-term business goals in modern history—a true 25+ year vision that inspires employees, investors, and the public alike.
The BHAG: Build artificial general intelligence (AGI) that benefits all of humanity.
Since its founding, OpenAI has maintained this audacious long-term strategic vision. With the release of GPT-4 and ongoing research into AI safety and alignment, the company continues pushing toward a goal that seemed like science fiction just years ago. This BHAG drives every product decision and research priority.
The BHAG: Increase the GDP of the internet.
Rather than focusing on market share or revenue targets, Stripe's Big Hairy Audacious Goal centers on expanding the entire digital economy. By building infrastructure that makes online commerce accessible to businesses worldwide, Stripe measures success by the collective growth of all internet businesses—a truly visionary approach to long-term business goals.
The BHAG: Make commerce better for everyone by arming rebels—entrepreneurs who challenge the status quo—with the tools to compete against established players.
Shopify's long-term strategic vision focuses on democratizing commerce by empowering independent businesses and entrepreneurs. This BHAG has driven their expansion from simple e-commerce tools to a comprehensive commerce platform serving millions of merchants globally.
The BHAG: Become the essential computing platform for artificial intelligence and accelerated computing across every industry.
NVIDIA has transformed from a graphics card manufacturer into the backbone of AI infrastructure. Their long-term business goals center on being the fundamental technology enabling AI advancement—from autonomous vehicles to drug discovery to climate modeling. This transformation demonstrates how an internal transformation BHAG can redefine an entire company.
The BHAG: Be in business to save our home planet while running a profitable company that inspires environmental action.
Patagonia's Big Hairy Audacious Goal integrates purpose with profit in a way few companies achieve. Their 2022 decision to transfer ownership to trusts dedicated to fighting climate change represents the ultimate commitment to this decades-long vision—proving that authentic long-term strategic vision can drive both impact and business success.
Ready to develop your company's Big Hairy Audacious Goal? Here's how to get started:
A BHAG isn't something you set and forget. The most successful companies make their Big Hairy Audacious Goal a living part of their culture by:
Remember, you don't need a moon mission to create an audacious goal—just something big enough that you're not entirely sure how you'll get there. If the path forward is completely clear, your goal isn't bold enough.
At Rhythm Systems, we help mid-market companies accelerate growth through strategy and execution software that keeps your long-term business goals on track. Download our BHAG template to get started, and let us know how your journey unfolds. We're always looking for patterns and better ways to help our clients develop winning strategies.
What's your Big Hairy Audacious Goal?
Looking for some more information on BHAG to help get you started? Check out our additional Big Hairy Audacious Goal resources:
How To Create Your BHAG: 3 Steps to Discovering, Creating and Putting Your BHAG to Work
What Drives Your Financial Engine? Profit/X Examples
Does Your Company's BHAG Connect to Your Hedgehog?
How to Reach Your BHAG (Infographic)
Editor's note: This blog was originally published on Sep. 9, 2013, and has been updated.