Being in the final stages of strategic planning right now with my company (following the establishment of a Vision statement last year) I just can’t leave Derrick’s post alone. He is absolutely correct with his assumption that many “visioning” exercises are empty of real meaning or impact. As any good business consultant will tell you, execution of the vision and the strategy is a lot harder than crafting the words. Most companies do not follow through and get any real value. It sounds like that’s what Derrick experienced (as I have in several previous lives). But, for a company like ours that is transitioning from a manufacturing mentality to become… Read More
Continue ReadingVision Statement vs. Leadership
Color me skeptical, but I am just not a fan of vision statements, mission statements, company statements and whatever else is the latest iteration. I prefer P&L statements. I could be wrong on this so I’ll provide an article from BusinessWeek.com titled Vision Decisions. The opening graph: Feeling the pressure to prove they have what former President George H. W. Bush famously termed “the vision thing,” they drag their staffs through formal visioning sessions. The resulting empty exercises yield “vision statements” to which employees periodically genuflect, but they have no operative meaning. The net result is anti-inspirational. The purpose of vision, after all, is to inspire: vision provides motivation through… Read More
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