#22 The most important reasons why no one is interested in your company vision
Who hasn't seen them: the boring, meaningless or interchangeable corporate visions and mission statements on the long corporate corridors?
There are the visions, which vary in their slogans between market leader and number 1 in the market. Strange-looking interpretations of missions and visions that make it clear at first glance that nothing is clear here. The whole thing is then garnished with a potpourri of values that often makes you lose your appetite or is simply not stimulating. Yes, mission statements are important and yes, good mission statements are a fine art and take a lot of time to develop, which is why they are rare.
However, anyone with a vision should not go to the doctor, but ask themselves the question: is my vision motivating enough and does it generate momentum for our corporate strategy?
In this episode you will find out what it takes to have a good corporate mission statement, what alternatives there are and how you can set big goals with "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" (BHAG) that motivate and inspire, but also create a positive impact.
Detailed episode description:
Table of contents
- Better no mission statement than a bad one
- What is a mission statement anyway
- Alternatives to the mission statement
- BHAG - "Big Hairy Audacious Goals"
- What are BHAGs?
- BHAGs with a positive effect
- BHAG examples from practice
- Three key questions for your BHAG formulation
- Contact us
- Shownotes
Today's episode from the strategy knowledge category is about the North Star, to which the strategy should be aligned.
Our key question is: How do you find the North Star for your corporate strategy?
Better no mission statement than a bad one
A popular quote that I come across again and again in this context comes from Helmut Schmidt - the former German Chancellor. "If you have visions, you should see a doctor."
Of course I would like to disagree with that in an energetic way, but he is right about one thing: most of the Leitbilder are often spelled with a D and not a T and are really a pain in the ass.
Why do many companies still try to carry out a mission statement process at the same time as the strategy process? After all, we have read and learned that there is no strategy without a mission statement. The mission statement is the anchor, but the North Star is often enough a makeshift nail and in the end it is not a panacea. Of course, your strategy should be based on something essential, but one statement has proven itself in practice over the past 15 years: better no mission statement than an incredibly bad one.
Either completely or not at all. Either you decouple the mission statement process from the strategy process and place it in front of it with sufficient time or you need a good alternative.
What is a mission statement anyway
If your mission statement is your North Star, i.e. why we exist? Then your vision statement is the mountain you want to climb - what you want to achieve and how it feels to reach this goal.
Together with the corporate values and principles, the mission represents the philosophy of your company, so to speak, and should therefore have an extremely long shelf life - according to Prof. Esch, 100 years or more is a good guideline. At 10-30 years, your vision plays in a different time league and has an additional external dimension. It should not only help your team to make strategic decisions about long-term goals that need to be achieved on the way to fulfilling the mission. No, the vision can also make a difference for external stakeholders such as banks, investors, potential employees and customers. Ideally, the vision provides clear answers to the "why?" and "how?" behind your mission statement so that you can achieve your company's mission.
If you want to know how to approach a mission statement correctly, you will find suggestions in our very first podcast with Jan Hoffmann from Viessman, who have solved this topic very well.
There is of course a link to the episode in the show notes:https://www.underwood.de/podcastfolgen/01-vi-have-a-dream
Alternatives to the mission statement
But time is not only precious and to create real momentum with inspirational power, a real alternative that provides clarity is recommended. As we all know that many paths lead to the same goal, here are a few other options for aligning your strategy: Simon Sinnek's "Golden Circle" and "Start with Why" are a great pragmatic approach. A "Purpose" development would also be more lengthy and in-depth here, which is on the same level as the mission statement in terms of content, but usually takes just as long as the mission statement development and similar problems can arise here.
BHAG - "Big Hairy Audacious Goals"
In practice, one method has proven its worth, to which we have added a small supplement. We are talking about BHAG. Pronounced: Bie-hag stands for "Big Hairy Audacious Goals". Big, challenging or audacious goals. Introduced to the world by Collins and Porras in the mid-1990s, BHAG has been the search - for the incentive of impact - for many companies. When we talk about really big goals, we really mean it literally.
What are BHAGs?
Your BHAG should be inspiring and long-term, taking your business to the next level. BHAGs are huge tasks that take 10-15 years to implement. They push the boundaries of what your company can achieve and challenge your team to make enormous progress. The boundaries between visions and BHAGs are blurred. When they are first set, BHAGs often seem like goals that are almost impossible to achieve. Consider President John F. Kennedy's 1961 proclamation that the United States would land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In 1961, such an aspiration seemed more like a dream than a possible future reality. But by setting this goal, President Kennedy inspired the United States to achieve the seemingly impossible.
BHAGs with a positive effect
However, in order to give the BHAGs a little more depth and thus create a combination of mission and vision with a strong shot of adrenaline, we have added the term impact to the objective for the BHAG. This addition draws attention to the impact that the company wants to achieve and, with the right wording, has a high potential to inspire.
Why impact? Impact statements show how your work makes a demonstrable and verifiable difference in the lives of people, communities, your company and the environment - in the three dimensions of social, economic and environmental conditions - in short ESG. In this way, the impact statement closes the gap between BHAG and ESG - in other words, sustainability in a holistic sense. Documenting the results of your efforts is also increasingly expected by donors and interest groups. It helps to define the impact you want to achieve with your actions.
Pure financial targets are not only misplaced in terms of impact. Sales and profit are only a consequence and not an end in themselves. Describe the topic or problem (relevance) you want to solve for your main target audience in simple and appropriate terms.
BHAG examples from practice
One of the most beautiful BHAG examples with high impact comes from the car manufacturer Volvo:
No one will die in a new Volvo by 2022.
One consequence of this was for Volvo to limit all new cars to a speed limit of 180km/h. Very consistent and strong.
Microsoft also had a vision that worked like a BHAG:
Microsoft's famous goal was to put a computer on every desk and in every home.
Further examples
Airbnb: Creating a world where anyone can belong anywhere
Evernote: Remember everything
Feeding America: Ensuring equitable access to nutritious food for all
Facebook: Connect the world
Google: Organize the world's information
Michael J. Fox Foundation: Finding a cure for Parkinson's disease
Microsoft: Putting a computer on every desk and in every home
Spotify: Unleashing the potential of human creativity
Tesla: To accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy
Volvo: No one will die in a new Volvo by 2020.
Three key questions for the BHAG formulation
But how do you create such a BHAG with impact? Imagine three circles with three key questions:
1. what is your great passion?
2. how can your company be the best in the world?
3. what drives your economic engine? Is it the profit per customer? Profit per meter? Profit per shipment? What is your "x" in "profit per x"?
At the intersection of these three questions or circles lies your goal-oriented BHAG with impact.
We hope to give you some inspiration for the foundation on which your strategy should be based.
Contact us
If you have any questions, would like to have your mission statement or BHAG reviewed or are planning such a process, I would be delighted to hear from you at christian@underwood.de
SHOWNOTES:
Christian Underwood:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianunderwood/
Hope is not a strategy:http://www.hoffnungistkeinestrategie.de
Pre-order the book Hope is not a strategy nowhttps://www.underwood.de/buch
Underwood GmbH:https://www.underwood.de
HIKS podcast episode with Jan Hoffmann from Viessmanhttps://www.underwood.de/podcastfolgen/01-vi-have-a-dream