Issue No. 185 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting features a change of pace this week, an extraordinary DVD documentary to inspire you about your BHAG. Enjoy! And this reminder, check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.
BHAG Documentary
Perhaps the best example of a BHAG (the term, “Big Hairy Audacious Goal,” was popularized by Jim Collins) is President John F. Kennedy’s famous address to the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961. He inspired the nation with these words, “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”
Kennedy didn’t live to see that audacious dream realized, but on July 20, 1969, the whole world watched as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. Since then “put a man on the moon by 1970” has inspired thousands of leaders to put a short-term target on the wall—and, in bold faith, blast off. For faith-based organizations, I prefer the term “Big Holy Audacious Goal.”
So I was energized once again with that profound BHAG while at a client’s senior leaders retreat in the Colorado mountains this week. One evening, we sat mesmerized by the stunning DVD, In the Shadow of the Moon, Ron Howard’s documentary of the 12 American astronauts who walked on the moon between 1968 and 1972.
This extraordinary 110-minute film has teachable moments in almost every one of my 20 management buckets. The Results Bucket: check. The Strategy Bucket: bull’s-eye. The Systems Bucket: 15 astronauts owned 15 segments of the mission. The Crisis Bucket: “Houston, we have a problem.”
The film is absolutely rich in memorable moments in the Team Bucket. Then there’s the People Bucket with often hilarious and poignant illustrations of the four social styles, including analyticals (Armstrong) and expressives (James Lovell). This massive, visionary expedition would have failed miserably without monumental achievements in the Delegation Bucket. There’s a lot more.
Besides the exquisite cinematography and the dramatic explosions (they had lots of failures enroute to the BHAG), the insights shared by the aging and straight-talking astronauts (it was filmed in 2007) were remarkable, often funny and frequently breath-taking.
If your learning style is more listener than reader, you’ll appreciate this week’s recommendation (my one movie review per year). This DVD is perfect for a staff retreat, a staff training day, a department Hoopla! Bucket event, or even a Friday night at the movies family celebration at home. Enjoy, learn and be inspired!
To order this DVD from Amazon, click on this link:
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) What were the risks for President Kennedy of “going public” to the whole world with such a daring BHAG?
2) Do we have an equally daring Big Holy Audacious Goal (a measurable target on the wall 3 to 10 years out)—that inspires our staff, board, donors and volunteers?
Hire Healthy People - Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit
One of the big ideas in the Culture Bucket, Chapter 8, in Mastering the Management Buckets, is to hire for attitude, not aptitude. Max DePree said, “The corporation can never be something we are not.”
Miles McPherson says, “One way to get a healthy culture is to hire healthy people.”
For more resources, visit the Culture Bucket.
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