Hi Marvin

Absolutely. Vision statements are truly important.

Corporate Vision should be more than a wishful-thinking statement about what should be the expected and perceived corporate future. A strong corporate vision incorporates as part of its statement both the philosophy of a company as the appreciation of its future in a way that apart of being complementary with the corporate mission offers a clear orientation toward where the corporate projects associated to strategic execution should be directed.

From the perspective of developing employer branding practices, I believe about how relevant, convenient and necessary is having an inspiring and powerful corporate vision as a strong motivator in hiring and retaining top-talent to gain business differentiation and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.

Being from my perspective, Corporate Vision, the projection of Corporate Mission for a foreseeable future and a bold statement to outline corporate ambition, is commonplace that wise, competent and seasoned leadership, take advantage from the inspirational character of its meaning to be applied as a main motivator in crucial projects of transformational nature to lead the company from the present business perspective, that most o the times is implicit in the corporate mission, toward a most desirable future state, where employee commitment, strong leadership and opportune change management facilitation are elements essential to ensure a successful strategy execution.

Complementary to this question, I am including links to 3 questions that I have posted sometime ago in Linkedin Answers:

1. How an arrogant attitude of management may drive to an organization straight to the abyss?

2. How important is having a powerful Mission and a inspiring Vision as essential elements of an employer branding strategy?

3. Passion, Discipline, Vision or Conscience. Which of these factors has been more useful to construct your own competitive advantage, and why?

I hope this helps you.
Octavio

Links:

• http://www.linkedin.com/answers/management/organizational-development/MGM_O...
• http://www.linkedin.com/answers/management/organizational-development/MGM_O...
• http://www.linkedin.com/answers/management/organizational-development/MGM_O...

posted 10 months ago

Vision statements are critical to large and small businesses. But it usually evolves from the founder, CEO, or group of individuals starting the business. It may never be shared however everything starts with the vision statement. It's the brass ring so to speak. However, the mission statement is what solidifies the vision and allows others in the company to see the vision. The mission statement is the communication mechanism which allows individuals in the company to share in the vision. It provides others with something tangible that they can sink their teeth into and that they can breathe life into. It provides the tools for focus, accountability, success, and makes the vision a reality. Everything starts with a vision.

posted 10 months ago

Only of value if used.

Companies function perfectly well without but if they do develop them and don't use them or worse don't live up to them it's a disaster.

I worked with a client once developing at main board level a set of Vision Mission Values. The Board debated for a long time if they could offer Trust and Integrity as values whilst consciously withholding from existing customers the existence of accounts with better t's & c's from the one's signed up for in their portfolio. They deided they could.

Imagine if I'd let them publish that as they proposed to to both staf and customers.

posted 10 months ago

Marvin,

In my experience, vision statements have been of very limited usefulness in and of themselves. However, the process of getting an organization to write their vision statement has been very useful. When people sit down, without a template, form etc, and think about what their purpose is interesting things happen.

thanks
jerry york
jerryork@gmail.com
please feel free to invite/link!

posted 10 months ago

Very important but poorly used.

The greatest marketing companies in the world come up with these vision statements that when you read then, not only can you not decide who the company is, you can't even figure out what industry they are in.

Guy Kawasaki says it best when he encourages you to build a vision statement, if you have to, but create a mantra. "A mantra is three or four words long. Tops. Its purpose is to help employees truly understand why the organization exists."

Here's link to his take on vision statements.

I agree with him - it has to short and repeatable by everyone in the company.

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/mantras_versus_.html

posted 10 months ago

The benchmark by which to judge all vision statements, in my view, is John F. Kennedy's challenge to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. It was broadly understandable and provided a clear focus for the human and financial resources of the space program. We choose to go to the moon. "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win." Any vision statement that can do this will be successful.

posted 10 months ago

Marvin,
I would like to give you my point of view about the importance of visions for start-ups.

For start-ups a vision has to be an answer to the question “Why will the company be a viable business opportunity?” and I think it is the most important element to be shared among company founders. Simply put, a vision should describe a trend in the market on which founders strongly agree and they believe is not completely emerged yet or correctly addressed by existing players.

A vision based on market trends makes easier the approach with investors and keeps the founders focused on tangible elements when the things go wrong (and things go wrong very often in start-ups). As a vision based on market trends is, in a certain sense, measurable, therefore this kind of visions enables founders to timely kill bad projects.

I think start-up visions do not need to necessarily answer to the question “Why will the world a better place with ...?” and, in particular for people who are going to have the first entrepreneurial experience, in no way the vision has to deal with the personal reasons for starting the entrepreneurial venture (also when these personal reasons are apparently shared by all the founders).

posted 10 months ago

Marvin

Vision Statements play an important role from two perspectives:
(1) From human resource perspective: Articulation of an organisation's aspirations, intended direction and destination to the employees. This can bring about a sense of belonging and help in inspiring people.
(2) From strategy perspective: How to reach where we intend to reach.

Needless to say, if a vision statement is treated as a mere slogan or created for effect, it has no use.

Kind regards

posted 10 months ago

Marvin,

It has been clearly stated that unless it is well crafted and used properly, a vision statement is of limited benefit. However, I do believe a well written vision statement (or some proxy therefor), especially for a start-up, is important.

I think the biggest mistake made with vision statements is they aren't properly used. They're written and put somewhere on the company website and in the handbook, but oftentimes, not well known.

At one company, I took an informal poll (i would ask people in person what the company's vision statement is). Of the 20 or so people I asked, not a single person knew it.

The second failing organizations make with vision statements is the failure to 'walk the talk'. For example, they might profess to wanting to "be the best" in their industry segment, yet they will cut out service to drive down costs in what they've turned into a commodity offering.

David

posted 10 months ago

Vision is great and important, so long as it is bound by both external and internal operating constraints. There numerous examples of bold vision statements and a call to arms and the organization collapses because the vision was so out of alignment with their environment the flounder and fail

posted 10 months ago

According to me, Vision defines the road map of the company. While working as a business analyst for a start up, I realized that it played crucial role in attracting talent, creating an identity which is strong enough to differentiate you from rest and yet is very real and grounded.
I, from my experience believe that it is very important to have a realistic vision and then celebrate the smaller successes which help you achieve this vision.
I often relate this with Shackelton's Ten Leadership Skills: Especially the one: Never lose the sight of your ultimate mission but keep the short term achievements in mind.

posted 10 months ago

Vision statements are important, but they don't substitute for understanding what needs to get done, by whom and by when. Companies spend lot's of time on vision statements and still have poor management. I'd rather see a well managed company without a vision statement than a company laden with mission, vision and not getting it done. They aren't mutually exclusive but a vision statement alone won't develop a high performing company.

posted 10 months ago

Marvin:
If you are a Marcus Buckingham fan he would tell you that the number one role of leadership is to create clarity of purpose and that is more important than any other capability for the leader or aspiring leader.
I am a huge "investor" in the concept of engagement. Not just employee engagement, but customer engagement as well.
To the point made by other it is mission critical that management be capable of drawing a clear relationship between the vision in macro and the tasks, responsibilities, and activities we ask staff to perform.
Most organizations don't do that all that well.
I would say that when you do, and I have experienced this, you can accomplish amazing things.

posted 10 months ago

Vision statements are very important. Only if it truly fits the culture of the company. I have worked for companies that have great mission or vision statements on paper, but the paper statement clashed with the actual management culture and it had the reverse effect on the employees. Instead of motivating them, it made many of them resent management who would produce flowery statement and then take action contrary to them.

posted 10 months ago

Marvin-

I hate the it depends answer, but it does.

I will say for a start-up, post start-up or many small companies for that matter, this is a total waste of time. A Brand Proposition/Promise is much more direct and important for sales. Once a company and it's products are branded, perhaps.

Larger companies have the time to polish apples, small ones don't.

Steve

posted 10 months ago

Marvin,

I would like to offer a view on the difference between a vision statement and vision.

the first is the marketing and public view of the company and should reflect the service to and define the people you service. But vision, that's another matter. Vision is the creative process, the spark that will never go out, the thing that lights you up and hopefully causes your business to exist in the first place. It is what you see, taste and smell, feel in your gut and does not exist in the world...yet. So, consider your vision and breathe life into it.

I am a certified facilitator for a group that will help you truly define your life vision. Visit the happenings page of my site and join me in bringing vision to life for yourself.

No boxes, no boundaries, no limits. Jim Rohn asks "How far can you see? Throw a rock then go there, then throw it again, eventually you'll see how far you can go." I may be misquoting the exact words, but the point is intact.

Links:

• http://www.the-healthy-zone.com

posted 10 months ago

Yes, a vision statement is important. Without a clear definition or vision how can you measure the success of an endeavor? With the appropriate outline you can demonstrate progress, correct and/or re-apply efforts and know when or how to refine the core intention.

Wendy C. Frye

posted 10 months ago

I've found a useful construct when thinking of vision statements is to think of a fulfilled vision as a 'legacy' i.e. something of importance left to future generations.

Imagine an historian, 50 years from now, writing YOUR history in a book; what would that historian point to as your legacy? What are you creating TODAY that's important or enduring enough to be in that book?

It's probably not today's strategic planning exercise or next year's budget or some 5-year capital plan...those are all useful and necessary as bridges to that future but hardly memorable enough to matter in 50 years. What matters to today AND the future, and what endures is that vision...

posted 10 months ago

Your vission is most important than your business plan.
Your vission is the summary of all your objectives. It may change in times, that is totally valid. Keep reviewing them on a regular basis.
Dr. Alberto Correa

posted 10 months ago

Marvin -

Most of the small or entrepenurial companies I have been exposed to are started by someone that has a vision. Many times vision is all they have.

This being said, vision is not just important, it is the lifeblood of a company. Most people have been unfortunate enough to have expereinced crappy sevice or have purchased a poor product from a company that clearly has no vision other than dissapointing its customers.

The challenge I have experienced is capturing the "vision" from a start up and placing it into a "statement" A compelling lively vision seems to end up a pasty former version of itself by the time a committee gets it on paper.

So my vote is that Vision Statements matter to companies that dont know who they are or what they do. But startups can dispose with the formalities in most instances. Time can be better spent on sales and cash flow in the early stages.

posted 10 months ago

Vision and mission are strongly connected. They show, both within the company and to the outside World, what a company stands for. It is a written declaration of the reason of existence for the organisation. It brings clarity, at least that should be the case.

It is therefore no slogan and the words rather must be chosen for their meaning then for their beauty, rather for their clarity then for their cleverness.

José van Gelder, the Netherlands

posted 10 months ago

No sailor can navigate any sea without a compass that always points North ... but it doesn't mean they don't change directions along the way.

In the businesses I have been involved in ... we reached cross roads multiple times on where to invest to ignite the next wave of growth ... or hit obstacles that make us want to turn back as the path forward was unclear.
The core vision always acted as the compass that pointed North.

As a part of the leadership of the company we needed to motivate our teams and rally them around the cause. I often found energy of the leadership team to motivate others was directly proportional to their belief in the core vision.

I believe no great company ever got built without a simple but earth shattering vision. It's like faith in GOD in our personal lives. You need it to truly be on a life long mission.

posted 10 months ago

Hi Marvin,

When I enter a company as an independent advisor, and I ask the business owner :”Why did you start with this business? What was your vision at that time? What is your vision now? And why are you now not where you should be? Last Q depends on the previous question off course. But this is a generic problem in most SME’s, and also in MNE’s.
While a business must adapt continually to its competitive environment, there are certain core ideals that remain relatively steady and provide guidance in the process of strategic decision-making. These unchanged ideals form the business vision and are expressed in the company mission statement.

The firm’s core values and purpose constitute its core ideology and remain relatively constant. They are independent of industry structure and the product life cycle. The core ideology is not created in a mission statement. Rather, the mission statement is simply an expression of what already exists. The specific phrasing of the ideology may change with the times, but the underlying ideology remains constant.
Core values are a few values (max 4 – 5) that are central to the firm. Core values reflect the deeply held values of the organization and are independent of the current industry environment and management fads.
For example, if innovation is a core value but then 10 years down the road innovation is no longer valued by the current customers, rather than change its values the firm should seek new markets where innovation is advantageous.
The core purpose is the reason that the company exists. This core purpose is expressed in a carefully formulated mission statement. This purpose sets the firm apart from other firms in its industry and sets the direction in which the firm will proceed. The core purpose is an idealistic reason for being. While the firm exists to earn a profit, the profit motive should not be highlighted in the mission statement since it provides little direction to the firms employees.
What is more important is HOW the firm will earn its profit since the HOW is what defines the firm.

The core purpose and values of the firm are not selected, they are discovered. It should portray the firm as it really is.

Visionary goals are the high objectives that the firm’s management decides to pursue. This vision describes some milestone that the firm will reach in the future. In contrary to the core ideology that the firm discovers, visionary goals are selected. These visionary goals are longer term and more challenging than strategic or tactical goals.

While visionary goals may require significant stretching to achieve, many visionary companies have succeeded in reaching them. Once such a goal is reached, it needs to be replaced (to continue to be successful). It is about your customer value statement. You should always define your vision, taken into account that you have to add value to the customer. Focus on the customer, add value for him. Shareholder value will follow.

Vision is like a GPS system. No vision, no road, you will get lost….

Cheers

Frank

posted 10 months ago