Getting Vision Statements Wrong

The vision statement is the most misunderstood component in the management mix. Most companies

reduce it to a single sentence consisting of the most abstract thing they can say about themselves and

their intentions. Note to Management: Nobody cares!

Specifically, the statement is too abstract for anybody internal to care and too self-centered for anybody

external to care. So the only people that do care about it are the ones who crafted it. And the thing they

like best about that experience is that it is over.

Recommended Action: Press the reset button and try the following instead.

The vision statement is less than a page long. It begins with identifying one or more disruptive trends in

the sector or category you participate in, something that is going to shift either the amount of spending

to come, or where or with whom it will be spent. Call this the "Cheese in Motion" part of the "Who

Moved my Cheese?" exercise. The world is changing, and everyone needs a heads-up, if only as a public

safety announcement.

The second paragraph calls out the role your company intends to play under these changing

circumstances--typically pivotal, often heroic, always lucrative. But even here you should be talking first

about how the category changes are calling into being a new set of needs, and only after you have made

that clear, can you then put the spotlight (FINALLY!) on yourselves and how you will uniquely invest and

compete to serve these needs.

The third paragraph is optional. It calls out an initial target customer set who will be the early adopters

of this new you, highlighting the urgency of their needs, and the impact your next-generation approach

is going to have on them.. When this paragraph is present, it validates that you have immediate

prospects for driving commercial success. When absent, the vision can feel a bit "floaty."

Finally, your conclusion ties this entire vision of future state to your present state and past history,

showing how your legacy and your current status uniquely positions you to take advantage of this once-

in-a-lifetime opportunity. Cue the orchestra and the curtain.

Readers of Escape Velocity will see this is Category Power, Company Power, and Market Power, all

linked to declaring your vision. The goal is to have enough meat on the bone so that both internal and

external audiences will care, but to keep it compact enough and spicy enough that they can consume it

at a cocktail reception. Then you can move on to strategy and execution inspiring sight.