Strategy: Setting Your BHAG #
A BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is a long-term, aspirational objective that defines where your organization wants to be in the future. It provides a clear destination that guides strategic planning, annual priorities, and day-to-day decision-making.
Within the Strategy tab, you can define one or more BHAGs and establish the target year for achieving them.
What Is a BHAG? #
A BHAG is a bold, long-term goal that challenges your organization to think beyond annual objectives.
Examples of BHAGs include:
- Achieving a long-term revenue target.
- Becoming the market leader in your industry.
- Expanding into new markets or regions.
- Reaching a specific enterprise value.
- Building a business that is ready for succession or sale.
Your annual goals, milestones, and initiatives should all contribute to achieving your BHAG.
Setting Your BHAG Year #
Before creating your BHAGs, select the year you want to achieve your long-term vision.
The target year provides a planning horizon and helps your leadership team define meaningful milestones along the way.
Adding BHAGs #
To create a BHAG:
- Navigate to Plan → Strategy.
- Select the desired BHAG Year.
- Click Add Goal.
- Enter your long-term objective.
- Repeat as needed to add additional BHAGs.
You can create multiple long-term goals if your organization is pursuing several strategic outcomes.
Renaming the BHAG Section #
If your organization uses different terminology, you can customize the section title.
To rename the BHAG section:
- Click the three-dot menu.
- Select Rename.
- Enter your preferred title.
- Save your changes.
This allows the Strategy tab to align with your organization’s planning methodology and terminology.
Connecting BHAGs to Your Strategic Plan #
Your BHAG serves as the highest-level objective within your planning framework.
From each BHAG, you will build:
- Milestones that define major achievements along the journey.
- Annual goals that move the organization forward each year.
- Initiatives that drive execution.
- KPIs that measure progress toward your long-term vision.
Together, these elements create a clear connection between long-term strategy and day-to-day execution.
Health & Value Assessment Integration #
If your organization has completed a Health & Value Assessment, your BHAGs may align with the long-term outcomes identified during the assessment.
For example, your BHAGs may support goals such as:
- Increasing enterprise value.
- Improving profitability.
- Strengthening operational maturity.
- Achieving long-term ownership or succession objectives.
Using these insights helps ensure your strategic plan supports the outcomes that matter most to your organization.
Best Practices #
- Set a BHAG that is ambitious but achievable over the long term.
- Keep your BHAG focused on outcomes rather than individual projects.
- Limit the number of BHAGs to maintain strategic focus.
- Use milestones to break large objectives into measurable achievements.
- Review your BHAG annually to confirm it continues to reflect your organization’s long-term vision.
A well-defined BHAG provides a clear destination for your organization and ensures every annual plan contributes to achieving your long-term vision.