Why having a vision and mission matters.
Probably the only time you come across the vision and mission statements for companies is either when you visit a website home page when job hunting, when reading the annual report Publications or you find them written on the organizational walls, alongside the values. Many people including employees don’t give a hoot about them and see them as a good to have or a checkbox for management.
In the good book, Proverbs 29:18 states “where there is no vision the people perish.” Maybe that explains why vision and mission statements are a must, fearing the consequence of perishing.
Back in high school, my former principal was barely 2 years into his new role. He wanted to institute proper structures in our provincial school which pride itself on infrastructure that would rival national schools but academically it was not living to its expectations. To do this Mr. Arama wanted to start right by engaging the whole school fraternity to come up with a vision and mission statement. It was later officially launched during our assembly and by the end of the week it was plastered on the administration block near the main gate and you would not miss to notice it.
The sad part is the staff was not with him especially the old guards and sadly he didn’t get to see it through. What followed was lots of infighting that led to his transfer to a district school with fewer facilities. A few years later the school he went to ended up performing better than our school.
Is a mission or vision statements important to a start-up or company? Well, think of yourself as a hiker in order to reach your destination you will need a compass to ensure you are on the right path and arrive on time.
Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba back in 1999 gave an inspiring pitch by painting a vision to his team. In his pitch, he simply communicated 3 things: Alibaba was going to be a global website and not a domestic website. Two, there is a need to learn the hard-working spirit of silicon valley so that they have a fighting chance to take on the Americans and finally they will have an IPO (initial public offering) by the year 2002. Time has vindicated him. Below is the actual presentation he did.
There is this line cum advice that is normally dropped in during dating or relationship conversations for ladies that when dating a man “Usiangalie mfuko angalia vision” (don’t look at the size of his wallet instead focus on his vision). Well, the jury is still out there.
Conclusion
A vision articulates what success would look like in 3 years. A Mission on the other hand is why do you exist, what is your purpose?
Some of the vision/ mission that has come to pass include:
Microsoft Vision back in the ’80s was “A computer on every desk and in every home.”
Google Mission and still is: “Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Both vision and mission if well communicated and practiced can be an enabler in helping the company attain it’s goals far more easily and in the process earn a profit.