Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies on setting goals show that measurable, specific, and somewhat (but not absurdly) difficult ones are best for motivating effort.” Two authors of an article in the McKinsey Quarterly, 2008, No. 4, at 136, believe that “motivating people to action requires a blend of lofty aspirations (to be attained in the distant future) and concrete goals (to be accomplished in the near term).” A general counsel can set ambitious goals that motivate the department.
Examples of BHAGs might include closing hundreds of lawsuits that have been moldering away; getting control over thousands of contracts from a template and administration standpipe; redoing the law-department intranet so that it is much more useful; in one month, culling thirty percent of the law firms that have peripheral roles; or creating backup guidelines for every major workstream.