After reading Jim Collins' "Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies," TCG CEO Dan Turner knew what his company needed.
Collins talks a lot about companies having a "big, hairy, audacious goal," or BHAG, which is a driving mission that should be difficult for a company to complete, but not impossible. And it has to be a clear goal. So, in 2000, Turner and his team at the D.C.-based IT and management consulting group decided they would save the federal government $1 billion.
"It was just a great idea. It addressed our concern that our BHAG was something that our employees could get behind and also something that our clients could get behind, as well," Turner said. "And it's just good for the public, as well. The idea of a company that is only doing $2 million in revenue (at the time) saving 500 times that is interesting."
In terms of the national debt or federal budget, $1 billion doesn't seem like a lot. But TCG grossed $21.6 million in revenue in 2015, and it's anticipated to gross $26 million in 2016. The company has 131 employees, and they're just one IT consulting company who contracts with federal agencies. But Turner says the idea was the perfect BHAG.
"We thought about a trillion and decided that would be hard. That seemed more impossible," Turner told DC Inno. "It should be possible, and it came from the brains of the incredibly talented executive management group. I am very proud of myself for accepting this as a fantastic idea."
TCG works with their clients to find innovative ways to save money, whether that be through streamlining their services or by building a faster, more effective tool for whatever system the client is looking to improve. Clients include the Department of Treasury, National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.
To reach their goal, the company's employees would sit down each quarter and think of new ways to save money. Was there a system they were using or a client was using that could be faster? Could they cut down on paper costs somewhere?
TCG set their goal 16 years ago, so it took a fair amount of time to reach their BHAG. With that, Turner says it might not mean a lot to Congress, necessarily, that they did save a billion over 16 years, but for clients it's huge. TCG billed about $140 million during that time and saved a billion, Turner said.
"We like what the government does. We think that the government is one of those few organizations that can really change the world and can be really a positive force for humanity and for Americans," Turner said. "So this BHAG aligns with that philosophy because it's giving them more to work with, and that was our goal."
What's the next BHAG? Well, Turner and his team aren't sure yet. They thought about $1 trillion, but the math worked out to show that it would be nearly impossible, even still, for them to save that much. They've looked at possible internal goals for the company, like have 1,000 employees, but those didn't seem to be motivating enough. And they also considered trying to set a goal to save the American people a certain amount of time through their effective services. But that didn't cut it either.
This BHAG did take them three or four years to generate, though.
"It wasn't a fast process, and it was really the upteenth brainstorming session that did it," he said. "We want to make sure that our next focus is in line with 'Do good things and have a good time doing it.'"
Image used via CC BY 2.0 — credit Pictures of Money
