We have come across much confusion (not least in our own minds) about the difference between ‘Vision‘ and ‘Mission‘. So here’s a quick and easy clarification.

Vision

A Vision keeps entrepreneurs awake at night and inspires the foundation of organisations.

A ‘Vision‘, is an ‘idea’, often called a ‘gap in the market’, a ‘dream’ or an ‘inspiration’, that keeps entrepreneurs awake at night, inspires the foundation of organisations, and drives them to achieve their ‘dream’.

It’s the ‘why we do what we do’.

It is the thinking and inspiration behind the ‘Mission‘: It explains why the ‘Mission‘ is the ‘Mission‘. Without this thinking, the ‘Mission‘ is all too often empty, meaningless (and often focused on only one stakeholder’s needs (no prizes for guessing whose!)).

For it to be a truly empowering and successful ‘Vision‘ it needs 4 intertwining elements:

   1. Passion: the owner needs to be passionate about it. Without this, it will never reach it’s full potential.

   2. Clarity: it needs to paint a very clear picture of the future. The ability to do this is vital and is the root of success in all great visions: the power of a ‘clear picture’ can be seen in the following situations:

      Muhammad Ali: visualized the whole fight, and even the round and minute when he would knock his opponent out, BEFORE the fight

      Martin Luther King: ‘I have a dream … that the sons of former slaves and former slave owners, will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood’

      Note: these are both very clear PICTURES of the future … not just WORDS.

   3. ‘Significant’ or ‘worthwhile’ purpose: it needs to connect directly with people’s ‘need for significance’ in the world. If it’s about exploiting a loophole to make a quick buck, that may be successful in the short term, but won’t stand the test of time. If the VISION has this ‘worthwhile purpose’ it will invigorate and embolden employees to excellence, and thus be a key building block of an organisation’s success.

   4. Stated from the customer’s point of view: so: we might make the greatest widgets in the world, but if they are of no value to the customer, there’s not much point. The ‘Vision‘ has to be from the ‘customer’s’ point of view, because otherwise it’s a great but often a bit pointless idea (remember the Sinclair C5?). In order to do this, we have to know who our target audience is: the clearer we are on this, the simpler this (very difficult) step becomes.

A ‘Vision‘ is something that ALL the stakeholders can clearly understand and mentally ‘buy in to’, thus binding them into a team that’s ‘pulling in the same direction’.

Problems occur:

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      If the ‘Vision‘ isn’t clearly there, then the stakeholders make it up in their own mind (engendering confusion at best, and dysfunctional cross purposes at worst).

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      If the ‘Vision‘ isn’t based on ‘worthwhile’ causes: this starts a cancer that eats away at the organisation and eventually kills it

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      If management aren’t passionate about it: it won’t engender commitment.

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      If management take actions that are contrary to it: actions speak louder than words!

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      If there isn’t a ‘clear picture’ that all can ‘see’: otherwise it’ll be open to interpretation, depending on the angle of the person looking at it. (E.g.: ‘To be the leading … (anything)’ … what does ‘leading’ actually mean?).

Examples of a successful ‘Vision’

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      Amazon.com: Our vision is to be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

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      Merck: ‘Medicine is for the people, it is not for the profits. If we look after the people well enough, the profits will follow’.

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      The Monkton Inn: Pubs should offer the best quality and best service at the most competitive price possible in a fun environment. That way, they become a place people return to again and again, with their friends.

Mission

Mission is about what and how.

This is much easier: a ‘Mission‘ is;

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      What we’re going to do in order to deliver the ‘Vision‘

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      What result we want from our customers

…and is often accompanied by ‘values’, which mean

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      How we’re going to do it

When an organisation has these clearly thought through, and clearly communicates them, incessantly, to all stakeholders, they will then have ‘alignment’, and the foundations of success will be in place.

But beware: This takes time, commitment, effort, objectivity, passion and obsession.  It cannot be ‘done overnight’, and just communicated to the people…

    No involvement = no commitment

You will know when this really is working when everyone from the MD to the loo cleaner (both roles being equally important), can clearly state the Mission when asked, and can understand and find guidance in it for their role.

The story goes of the person sweeping out the hangar at NASA who, when asked what his role was, replied: ‘I am helping to put a man on the moon’.  Bingo!

A great Mission statement must be:

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      Clear (easy to understand for all stakeholders)

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      Empowering (empowers all stakeholders to make decisions based on the ‘Mission‘)

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      Measurable (the measurement as shown in this book)

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      Worthwhile (otherwise it will destroy the organisation)

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      Directly linked to the ‘Vision‘ (obviously)

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      Customer focused … say no more!

And very often, a great Mission statement should be Timeless: it should be able to stand the test of time, and will usually achieve this by being based on timeless principles.

It’s essential to get all this right: this is the root of everything your organisation does: the only way to get bountiful fruit is to have sound roots!