Goodbye mission, vision, and values: The flexible alternative you need to know!
Throw away the Business Textbook
Open any business management book and there will be a chapter about establishing your mission, vision, and value statements. The point of creating these statements is to give the organisation focus, consistency, and direction. But what happens when they are too rigid or outdated and constrain innovation and creativity? Think about your own organisation, do you know what the mission, vision, and values are? How long ago were they created? Are they even still relevant?
In today’s business environment organisations need to be adaptable and dynamic to respond to market forces and societal shifts. Management theory that dates back to the 1960s is no longer fit for purpose in today’s competitive and rapidly changing world.
Breaking free from rigid business models
It’s time to consign to the past the rigid model of mission, vision, and values (along with shoulder pads and power suits). In today's rapidly changing and uncertain world, relying on a fixed mission, vision, and values is not enough to set the future direction for an organisation. It's difficult to have a 10-year vision when the future is unpredictable.
Inspiring Creativity and Flexibility: Purpose, Way and Impact
Instead, organisations should focus on clarifying their purpose and being more adaptable to change. This means emphasising the "why" and "how" and being flexible about the "what" which can evolve over time. By inspiring creativity and action, and enabling people to connect with the purpose, organisations can respond to changing times and thrive in a volatile environment.
Rather than vague statements, what organisations need is a new model for setting direction that is flexible and adaptable. Purpose, way, and impact deliver a framework that can flex to changes in the market, industry, or society, allowing organisations to respond quickly to new challenges or opportunities. Taking this approach allows companies to pivot their strategies, when necessary, without having to completely overhaul their guiding principles.
Why fixed plans can lead to failure
The problem with mission, vision, and value concept is that it can impede an organisation’s effectiveness due to the lack of flexibility and adaptability. When a company's mission, vision, and values are rigid and inflexible, it inhibits people from being able to adapt to changes in the market, industry, or society. This can limit a company's ability to innovate and grow, making it difficult to achieve its goals.
Another challenge is the difficulty in measuring success. Unlike concrete metrics such as revenue and profits, mission, vision, and values are abstract concepts that are difficult to quantify. This can make it challenging for organisations to establish whether they are achieving their goals or not.
The purpose of mission, vision, and values is to guide a company's overall direction, but what if they are not effective? Some organisations have mission statements that are too broad or generic, lack meaningful values, or fail to align with their business strategy. If employees can’t understand how their work contributes to the company's goals, this will inevitably lead to a lack of engagement or motivation. When mission, vision, and values are disconnected from day-to-day operations, they become empty slogans that fail to resonate with employees or customers.
From static statement to measurable impact
Instead of a fixed vision, let’s leap forward with a new model for setting direction. Purpose, Way, and Impact provides organisations with a concept that is inspiring, flexible, and aligned with achieving measurable impact.
Purpose: stating the change that you want to make.
Way: the behaviours and the unique way you will make things happen.
Impact: how the organisation will make the world and people’s lives better.
When a company's purpose, way, and impact are clearly defined, it becomes easier for employees to understand how their work contributes to the company's overall goals. This can lead to increased engagement, passion, motivation and job satisfaction among employees.
Lastly, by focusing on measurable outcomes, organisations can determine whether they are achieving their goals and make data-driven decisions. This can help companies improve their performance and achieve greater success.
Setting direction that delivers impact
As a leader, you hold the power to scale both your own and your team’s contribution and impact to the organisation. The choices you make every day are instrumental in determining the direction and success of your team.
To increase your own impact and contribution, it is essential to lead through your people. You cannot achieve everything on your own, and working collaboratively with your team will achieve greater outcomes.
One key aspect of leading effectively is to set meaningful goals for yourself and your team. These goals should be ambitious yet achievable and be aligned with the overall purpose and strategy of the organisation. To ensure that you and your team are making progress towards your goals, break them down into smaller milestones that you can work towards on a regular basis. This can be done on a quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily basis.
Why setting direction matters
During a visit to the NASA Space Centre in 1962, President Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man, and said: “Hi, I'm Jack Kennedy, what are you doing?” The janitor responded: “I'm helping put a man on the moon, Mr President.”
When people know that their daily tasks contribute to the organisation's goals, they feel inspired and valued. This drives them to work more effectively towards a common purpose, resulting in greater job satisfaction, purpose, and employee retention. And when employees are fulfilled in their work, it leads to improved overall performance and reduced turnover costs.
But why does contribution matter so much? Simply put, it's the driving force behind the success and growth of any organisation. When employees feel that their contributions are valuable, they become more motivated, engaged, and productive. This, in turn, leads to innovation and success, benefiting the organisation as a whole.
Need some help uncovering your Purpose, Way and Impact?
Through our setting direction course, we’ll help you set the direction for your organisation
When people understand an organisation’s purpose, way, and impact, they can more easily connect and be inspired by it – and when people are inspired, they contribute more.
Our setting direction course equips managers with the tools to help them establish a focused yet flexible Purpose and Way of working for their teams. They will learn how to make a difference and get everyone lined up in the same direction to collectively make a positive contribution to your organisation’s goals.