Strategy 101 - Vision Without Mission

Vision without mission is dreaming. If you have a vision statement that spells out a clear, inspirational, long-term goal, but cannot come up with a mission statement, what to do depends upon the stage of your business.

If you have not yet started the business or are in early start-up mode, vision without mission means you have a dream but have not worked out how to pursue it. Focus on developing a mission to launch you on your quest.

If you have an ongoing business, follow these steps:

1. Analyze what the business actually does, who it does it for and how it does it differently from others. Write a mission statement for each set of "what, who and how" you come up with. Each of these describe your current actual mission or missions. You may find you are pursuing several missions, some of which may have little to do with your vision.

2-a. If you have multiple mission statements, ask which of these lead towards your vision and which do not. Those that do are the ones your strategy should focus on and enhance. Those that do not should be sold, treated as cash cows or phased out. Once you have gone through this thinking, you should be able to write your current mission statement, embracing those current activities that move you towards your vision. Yes, this means omitting those product lines and activities that need to be de-emphasized as you move forward.

2-b. If you have a single mission statement but it does not connect with your vision, you have a decision to make. Either the actual mission needs to drive a new vision, or the actual vision dictates transitioning out of the current mission and into a new one that advances toward your dream.

Caution: be careful not to rationalize espousing a fuzzy vision for the sake of hanging on to your current mission(s). It would be better to have no vision at all.

Copyright © 2007 Philip Bookman

Technorati: Business Strategy, Strategic Planning.