Vision, Mission, and Purpose Statements…Puffery or High Priority?

I have on occasion found myself debating with CEOs (ok, well just my current CEO) how relevant and important it is for a company to agree on and promote a unified corporate vision to employees and stakeholders. 

On one hand, I concede the world went vision/mission crazy a few years back with laminated wallet cards featuring overly complex, over-edited, watered down Dilbertesque visions and missions. (check out Dilbert’s Mission Statement Generator for a good time)   Yet there is more to a successful vision than platitudes on the back of a wallet card, and I’m perplexed as to why getting my CEO to see my side of this is so challenging.

To build more ammunition for my argument, I began researching scholars on this topic. My journey brought me to a book by the name of Purpose, by Nikos Mourkogiannis.  As long as I was going to get to the bottom of vision and mission, I decided, I may as well consider how purpose weighs in.  My hope was to put a cogent argue together on the topic for once and all.

In the end, while I cannot say I’ve convinced my CEO of its merits, I’ve at least convinced myself.  Here is how I see it.

Mission, Vision, Purpose Defined

What is a Mission – Missions are typically seen as the existing product or services the company produces, connected to an often insincere “moralistic aspiration” about the future. For example, AOL’ boasts this mission on their web site: “To Serve the World’s Largest and Most Engaged Community”  … Hmmm.  Not only is this vague, but it seems to be missing something they really wished they could say like, “and make lots of money doing it!”   McDonalds has a similarly moral bent with its mission, stating they seek to “promote Diversity and Inclusion among our Employees, Owner/Operator’s and Suppliers who represent the diverse populations McDonald’s serves around the globe.” 

What is a Vision – In comparison, a vision is an amoralistic view of how a company would like to see the future, possibly with the company as a catalyst to making it so. Take the BirdLife Partnership, who’s vision is to “improve the quality of life for birds, for other wildlife (biodiversity), and for people.”    For comparison, McDonalds’ current vision is to “leverage the unique talents, strengths and assets of our diversity around the globe in order to be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat.”  Microsoft’s original vision was to "put a personal computer on every desk and in every home.”  And I heard they thought that was a huge stretch!   

What is a Purpose – Purpose was not something I had traditionally focused on, but after reading the book Purpose, I’ve decided to add it to my list of valuable things to consider. According to Mourkogiannis, purpose is an “attitude deeply imbedded in your culture that drives your strategies and values.”  Nikos argues there are only four types of purpose and if you think long and hard enough about it, your company embodies one of them:  Discovery, Excellence, Altruism or Heroism.   

Corporate Values – These are typically not concerned with the destination of the organization nor are they moral.  Instead, these are simply ways of regulating behavior. They are designed to ensure the smooth running of the company.  A good example of this may be, "we believe in ecstatic customers," which in essence says that around here, we make sure the customer is happy at all costs.

So which of these do companies need and why? 
In short, it is my opinion that companies are best-served by understanding their purpose and vision because these items set the course for who the company is, where it is going and what it values.  The least important of these is a mission – which in many cases you may as well skip.

How Vision, Purpose and Values work together 
If you follow Mourkogiannis’ way of thinking, a purpose is what you are born with – or at least a company is born with.  And it stays with you until your leader changes or you change dramatically.  Purpose is what drives strategy and values because it helps you determine how you will go about doing things.  If you’re struggling to determine your strategy and values, try taking some time to contemplate your purpose – because as soon as you figure that out, your strategy and values will likely flow effortlessly. This is because purpose puts a stake in the ground about what the company believes in at its core. It provides a clear path that everyone can follow and check all of their activities against , aka "is what I’m doing today in line with the company’s purpose?"  And as Mourkogiannis says, "purpose is not merely a motivational tool but an objective in itself that can be enduring".  I like that.

Vision is also needed because it explains how you see the future and as such it helps you set your positioning. Employees that understand the company’s vision can work toward it and prioritize their work flow every single day.  Isn’t that is the end goal you are all striving for?   

My favorite vision story is the Pikes Peak Fish Market.  Last I looked they are now on their second vision – having achieved their first one of becoming world famous.  If you have not read their story, you’ll find it inspiring as you go to create your company vision and understand your purpose and inspire your employees in ways you never imagined.