Mission: Impossible?

Is it really that hard to write a good mission statement?

Fast Company's November 2009 issue has an excellent short article by Nancy Lublin about mission statements. Nancy compares real mission statements with the random garbage that is spewed by the Dilbert Automatic Mission Statement Generator and challenges the reader to spot the difference (hint: you can't...)

I think the keys to a great mission statement are threefold:
1) it's singular - a mission statement is just as important for what it doesn't say as for what it says
2) it's a rudder - it makes it clear what every individual should do when presented with multiple options
3) it's unique - it defines what you do differently from (almost) everyone else

How's yours stand up?

huesworks mission and vision

I carry index cards with me everywhere I go.

Most of the cards are blank, but not all.

Among the 'used' cards I carry are my to-do list, works-in-progress, and my mission/vision/values cards. A few days ago, my colleague Mike and I were discussing a project I'm working on. He asked, "Does it align with your mission?"

I answered, "Let's find out" and pulled out my cards.

As soon as I read my mission, 'provoke positive learning moments through constructive conversations', we both nodded.

That was easy, I thought.

Just like spotting the flag on a golf course, or a lighthouse on a coast, having your mission and vision in a place where you can see them insures that you won't go off course.

Fun with Acronyms

This morning, I created an acronym - MoVVeRR - for what I'm calling the "Team MoVVeRR" workshop.

• M - Mission
• V - Vision
• V - Values
• R - Roles
• R - Responsibilities

It's almost impossible to have an effective team without clarity on in all five of these areas, which makes this one of our most important workshops.

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for a good acronym. This isn't one of my best, but it works...
That's good enough for me!

Trick or Treat Leadership

This... is... classic. A Halloween leadership bonus.

If you didn't see or hear Mike Singletary's post-game conference last week: it's must-see TV.

Mike is the new coach of the San Francisco 49ers. In his first game as coach, he sent one of his own players to the showers.

Some of my favorite quotes from the press conference.

• "It will change"
• "We hit people in the mouth, number one."
• "Number two: We cannot give them the game"
• "Number three: We execute"
• "I will not tolerate players that think it's about them when it's about the team"
• "Cannot play with them. Cannot win with them. Cannot coach with them... Can't do it."

As a leader, is this 'trick'? Or 'treat'?

He's positive. He's got clear values.

He's got a mission and vision.

And he scares everyone in the room...

So, what do you think? Trick or Treat?
Personally, I'd love to play for this guy...

Visual Communication - Shout it Out

Deviant Art is perhaps the most vibrant art community on the web.
I often spend hours wandering through the site, and it's a rare visit where I won't stumble onto an inspiring image.

One of my favorite themes on DeviantArt is the 'Shout It Out' image.
A challenge started by one contributor - Shout It Out's stand at the crossroads of vision statements, mission statements, value statements, credos, slogans, cliches, art, and a random font generator. Hundreds of artists in the community have created a personal 'Shout Out'.

Even the 'worst' (an absolutely arbitrary word) are compelling, in a 'train-wreck' sort of way (you want to pass by, but you can't turn your head away).

If you're struggling with creating a vision or mission statement, or wonder how to articulate your values - one or more of these 'Shout it Out' images might kick start your brain.

Check some out.. I encourage you... (or dare you, if that helps)
You might even want to do your own...

Poll: Does Your Team Have a Mission Statement?

It seems like I don't go more than a week without a conversation about mission statements...

This weekend I've been reading "The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organisation" by Peter Drucker, with new material by Jim Collins, James Kouzes and others.

I'm pleased to see that Mr. Drucker and I agree strongly that "The effective mission statement is short and sharply focused. It should fit on a T-shirt. "
We also agree that "Your core mission provides guidance, not just about what to do, but equally what not to do."

This is the first book by Drucker that I've read (I know, I know... it's inexcusable, I promise to make up for it in the next few months) and I'm sure we'll agree on a lot... as if his work needs my validation.

Anyway, that brings us to this weeks poll (you'll find it to the right):
Does your team have a mission statement?

Creative Tools I: Magnetic Poetry

My Business Poem

Here's a fun site from the Magnetic Poetry folks.
You may have seen magnetic poetry kits in book stores.

It's a box full of words that are on magnets. You can toss them on a refrigerator and whip up a haiku (or a limerick - art is up to the artist...) while you grab a beer.

On this site is an online version that you can play with when you're not near a refrigerator.
This is the office version, so even if you get caught you can tell them you're working on your mission statement!

Application of a Personal Vision

Clarence Eddy and Heather Hinrichs-Andersen

This past March, I was attending a DISC training class at Ken Blanchard Corporation, in San Diego. The course was led by Drea Zigarmi, a great teacher and a wise man. One day, Drea asked me what my life's vision or purpose was.
I attempted to laugh him off, but he challenged me to live my life with intention. He must have struck a nerve, because since then, I've kept working on this vision of mine.

About one month ago, these words came out of me, "My vision is to live in a world where every human interaction results in a positive learning moment for both parties".

I like it. It captures what I've been trying to do in my life, as I've been living through my life.
Whether as a songwriter, a photographer, a traveler, an engineer, a manager, or as a facilitator - all I've really wanted to in my life is learn and share learnings 24 x 7.

Last week, I was having lunch with my friend Heather Hinrichs-Andersen of Brilliance, Inc. Heather and I were discussing coaching. Heather is very passionate about coaching.
I'm not.

Don't get me wrong... I enjoy coaching.
I view it as an essential part of any development plan. I do a lot of it.
But I don't get the same thrill from it that I get from facilitating a group session.
There's a difference between the reflective energy of one coachee vs. the active energy of a group.
While I enjoy coaching at the moment I'm doing it, I don't wake up thinking, "How can I get more coaching on my plate?"

As we talked, I tried to make sense of this. The fact is, I don't learn as much when I'm coaching as I do when I'm facilitating a group.
Coaching is about the coachee learning. It isn't about the coach learning.
Facilitating on the other hand is a full-time learning experience for the facilitator.
There may not be a 'next session'.
The facilitator has to learn, adapt, and get results within the time allotted.

It was interesting. Heather immediately caught it, "Facilitating is aligned with your vision. Coaching isn't."
Maybe I'm selfish... but helping isn't enough for me. I need to learn while I help.

That's the kind of thing that's good to know!

What Are You Working On?

I was helping a team that had 'prioritization' problems, so we did this exercise.

I asked the team to write down (on Post-it Notes) the tasks that they do in a typical week.

We made four columns - Mission Related, Strategic Objective Related, Personal Objective Related, and Other - and two rows - Proactive and Reactive.

I then asked them to place the tasks in the appropriate box. What did we discover?

1. The team agreed that they didn't really know what the mission was. Hard to prioritize if you don't know that...
2. A lot of 'other' activities are being done. Are they mission related? Who knows?
3. More than 40% of the work was reactive (non-scheduled). The team agreed that this was too high.

Action items the team agreed on:

• Write the mission.
• Regroup the tasks, if necessary, against the mission.
• Review the 'other' tasks. Distribute them to other groups? Stop doing them?
• Look at reorganizing the team, the roles, or the schedules to address the number of reactive/non-scheduled tasks.

Having time-management challenges on your team? This might be a good exercise...

Vision and Mission Statements II

My colleagues and I have worked on a number of mission statements in the past few weeks.
In an earlier post, I listed my 5 expectations for a mission statement.
Today, I'd like to add two introductory questions and a reflection question.

First the introductory questions:

1. What is the intention of this mission statement? Is it to serve as a rudder in times of doubt? Is it a recruiting tool? Is it a wish list? Is it to polish your reputation? Obviously, some of these intentions are better than others, but let's at least be honest. There's nothing worse than spending a few days on a mission statement when there is a hidden agenda.
2. Who is the audience? This ties to number one. Is it for customers? For candidates? For the senior leadership? For the front line? For all of the above?

In my mind, the best missions are intended to serve as a rudder, and are for all audiences.
But other intentions and audiences can be written for, and written effectively - as long as there is agreement.

My reflection question is this: Look at all the verbs in your vision and ask 'are these accurate descriptors of the people we want'?

An example: if the word 'help' is in your statement, are you hiring Helpers?
If the word 'deliver' is in your statement, are you hiring Deliverymen?
I've seen technology companies use both words, when the words don't accurately reflect their intentions. Be careful.... words are powerful.

If you want to hire designers, leaders, builders, creators, and energizers - then use those verbs in your statement.

Writing Vision and Mission Statements

Last week, I facilitated two mission statement exercises.

A lot of people get an acid stomach at the thought of a vision/mission session - and rightfully so.
Writing a vision/mission statement usually an exercise in wordsmithing that has no actionable outcome.

Why?
Because no one wants to put in writing what they are NOT going to do.
And that's essentially what a mission statement is. It's a guide to what you will and will not do.

If your mission is "to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world" (Nike), then you're not really focusing on low-cost shoes, are you?
If your mission is "to give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people" (Wal-Mart), you're probably not going to overstaff, or offer a lot of customization, are you?
If your mission is to "democratizing the air" (Southwest), you don't provide reserved seating.

What if your mission is "to provide personal vehicle owners and enthusiasts with the vehicle related products and knowledge that fulfill their wants and needs at the right price. Our friendly, knowledgeable and professional staff will help inspire, educate and problem-solve for our customers." What are they NOT doing?

That's the mission statement of Advance Auto Parts. I'm not picking on them. They just happen to be the first entry on MissionStatements.com. And there are plenty of other mediocre missions there. In fact, Dilbert makes fun of this phenomenon with the Mission Statement Generator.

So, what's wrong with the Advance Auto Parts mission - other than the fact that no one could possibly memorize it?

Well, as an employee, it doesn't help me prioritize.
If I have to choose between 'fulfilling their wants' and getting them the 'right price', which do I choose?
If a mission statement is not a rudder, why write it?
Or just write, "Be everything to everyone". At least I can remember it.

Unfortunately, we know how well 'be everything' works for humans.
Why would it work any better for a company?

I have 5 expectations for a mission:

1. It supports and leads to the companies long-term financial goals
2. It acts as a rudder - should we take an action or not?
3. It benefits all stakeholders - not equally, or even obviously, but it benefits them
4. Easy to remember - 3-12 words, shorter is almost always better
5. Is unique - should belong only to you as a company or a group in the company
   

Google's mission of "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" meets all 5 criteria - though I would shorten it (organize global information to be accessible and useful?).
Notice the customer isn't mentioned? There's an assumption that if the mission if fulfilled, the customer will benefit. Also, the customer might be mentioned in the company values - no need to cover familiar ground if that's the case.

My mission? Accelerate Learning for my clients.

What's yours?