Do You Have a BHAGG for 2012?

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:27:56 +0000

You can’t buy it. You can’t make it. And you probably shouldn’t eat it – unless it’s organic.

You can, however, achieve it – because it’s a goal… a Big Hairy Audacious Green Goal, exactly the kind of goal we need if we’re serious about protecting the planet, our health, and the health and safety of our families.

You notice a BHAGG is not a “resolution,” as in the well-meaning but easy-to-break promise you might make to yourself in the new year. Nope, a BHAGG is a specific challenge you strive to achieve, knowing full well it may not be easy to reach – but when you get there, it will make a real difference.

For example, an eco-resolution might be, “save energy in 2012.” A BHAGG would be “reduce the amount of energy I use to heat my home by 20%, as measured by a 20% reduction in my heating and cooling bills.”

A resolution might be, “eat more locally grown food.” A BHAGG would be, “80% of the food I eat will be grown within 100 (or 200 at most) miles of where I live.”

A resolution might be, “drive less.” A BHAGG would be, “walk or bicycle distances of less than a mile.”

Precise, measureable, and meaningful: those are the keys to a BHAGG that will have an impact.

The original term Big Hairy Audacious Goal, or BHAG, was coined by James Collins and Jerry Porras in their 1994 best-seller, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. They discovered that successful companies set goals that were not only visionary, but very specific, such as “achieve a 10% revenue growth rate in the next three months.”

“A true BHAG is clear and compelling, serves as a unifying focal point of effort, and acts as a clear catalyst for team spirit,” they wrote. “It has a clear finish line, so the organization can know when it has achieved the goal…” I added an extra “G” to the original BHAG idea, to include Green in the equation.

At Big Green Purse, we’ve encouraged folks to set a goal of shifting $1,000 of their annual household spending to greener goods and services, as part of our One in a Million campaign to mobilize consumer clout to improve manufacturing. You can read about some of the people who achieved — and exceeded – that goal here.

So… what’s your BHAGG for 2012? If you want to join those who are shifting $1,000 or more, you can sign up here. If you have other goals, please share them with us so we can be inspired by your example.

Personally, I have two BHAGGs for 2012: to shift an additional $1,000 of my consumer spending to greener goods and services; and to reduce my home heating and cooling use by 20%. Stay tuned for future posts as I figure out how to do that!

Happy New Year!

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Do You Have a BHAGG for 2012?