Sunil Dias speaks about the kind of vision statements that could be detrimental to one’s business and more.
A vision is considered critical for a leader or an organization. A future aspirational state to motivate employees. A beautiful picture to attract potential investors. A story to sell to customers. So, every company from the smallest to the largest has a stated vision and / or mission (and a few other statements!). Vision statements can be great. They can show direction and inspire action. But often, they can lead to indifference at best and chaos at worst. This article looks at signs that your vision statement isn’t really helpful. Or could even be hurting your business.
Sign #1: It could be anybody’s vision
Can you guess whose vision this is?
Our vision is a world in which all people’s basic needs – such as shelter, clean water, sanitation, food and reliable power – are fulfilled in an environmentally sustainable way and a company that improves the quality of the environment and the communities where we live and work.
It’s a difficult guess, isn’t it? A vision needs to be distinctive. Something which tells you apart from the competition. If it’s bland and generic, it isn’t going to enthuse anybody. This is Caterpillar’s vision statement. They’re the largest construction equipment manufacturer in the world. Clearly, they aren’t very good at constructing a unique vision.
Sign #2: It puts the organization above employees
For employees, a leader talking in mystical terms is bad news. They might be trying to disguise a sacrifice by packaging it in fancy words. Take, for instance, a vision that says that a company would do anything for the customer. That statement means that an employee should make sacrifices for customer delight. While that may hold for outlying cases, it’s not a sustainable model. Employees shouldn’t be continually making sacrifices to delight customers. If they are, somethings wrong with the vision and business model. Sacrifice may manifest in several ways. Employees needing to consistently work late to meet customer requirements. Or an employee needing to heed unreasonable client requests. It’s bad for employee morale, health and organizational culture. And while it may work in the short term, it isn’t sustainable.
Sure, Amazon has succeeded despite putting customer delight above employee welfare. Yet, it’s an outlier. For most, happy employees drive customer delight.
Sign #3: It’s unbelievable or unachievable
This is surprisingly common. A company with a vision statement that’s far removed from reality. For instance, consider the vision statement below
To sell food in a fast, friendly environment that appeals to pride conscious, health minded consumers
This was the KFC mission statement in 2013! Fried chicken appealing to health minded consumers? Sure, there will be health minded consumers who sometimes (or often) can’t resist fried chicken. Yet, I don’t think too many are fooled into thinking that it’s healthy. We visit KFC despite knowing the food is unhealthy.
Another common issue in vision statements is the use of superlatives. To be the world-best, brightest, most admired etc. Yes, aiming for the sky is good. But such vision statements make sense for companies which are already big. If you’re a small sized entity, people won’t believe you. Worse, they might ridicule you. So, what should you do if you are convinced that your company is going to become this world-beating entity? Keep it to yourself! And when you are close to world domination, make your vision statement reflect it.
Sign #4: Itisn’t inspirational enough
My best example of what great vision can do is John F. Kennedy’s vision in 1961. He said, “To land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth before the end of the decade.” Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969. Sure, Kennedy’s vision statement wasn’t the only reason for success. Yet, it kick-started an exercise most thought impossible.
The problem is that most vision statements aren’t so inspirational. And that’s not because of lack of intent. The problem is that its often not possible to have a specific and succinct vision for a business. At least one that is universally accepted. A founder’s goal of hitting a billion dollars doesn’t become a great organizational vision.
Sign #5: It sounds great but doesn’t mean too much
If you ask Donald Trump what his vision is, he’ll tell you that it’s to “Make America Great Again”. Yet, MAGA’s a slogan. It’s a vision which sounds great. But it doesn’t mean too much. How do you test whether America has become great again? What does greatness mean? Granted, it gets some citizens to more patriotic. But, if you don’t know what the vision means, it’s all a bit meaningless.
Closing thoughts
A vision alone is dangerous. It needs a plan and robust execution to achieve a vision. It also needs to be flexible. For the few years leading up to 2020, many strategy and business plans had a nice sounding ‘Vision 2020’. See where that led. We’re in 2020 and it’s likely that most of those ‘Vision 2020’ documents were very different from what we’re currently experiencing. All this isn’t to recommend you don’t have a vision. Of course, you need to have one. And crafting a vision statement can be a great way to articulate your vision. What’s a better way? Build a ‘Strategic Narrative’. That’s the story of your company. Everybody loves listening to a story. A story about who you are as a business and where you’re going is much more useful for everyone than a bland vision. Only be careful that the narrative is authentic.
To conclude, don’t worry if you haven’t got a fancy sounding vision statement. And if you do have one, don’t despair. Many of the biggest companies in the world have terrible vision statements. Caterpillar, for instance, has consistently been a Fortune 100 company. A bad vision statement doesn’t mean poor performance.
The author runs iv-advisors, a consulting firm helping businesses become bigger and better. Email:sunildias@iv-advisors.com
