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Are Words Getting in the Way?
Recently we seem to have found ourselves caught up in heated debates with clients around the meaning and purpose of traditional business language—in particular, terms such as Vision, Mission, Ambition, Purpose, and Strategy, which appear to confuse people where clarity is required. A kind of paralysis results, and people are reluctant to do anything until the senior team have crafted the appropriate statements on what the organisation should do to achieve the prescribed "vision" or "mission"—or whatever word you would use.
All this reminds me of a quote from Dee Hock:
Given the right circumstances, from no more than dreams, determination and the liberty to try, people consistently do extraordinary things.—Dee Hock, 1999, Birth of the Chaordic Age
People will energise themselves around a cause that matters to them. So, how do organisations go about achieving a shared sense of purpose; how much direction do talented people need from the top in order to give their best; and what is the role of the CEO and the Executive Team in making "the dream" meaningful to all?
Sharing the carefully crafted "company vision" at the annual conference is a start and will be enough for some—those that have worked it all out for themselves anyway! To help people truly engage, then isn't dialogue more important than getting the words right the first time? Leaders who make things happen have a knack of keeping things simple. They talk to people about the future, listen to their responses, and engage in thousands of conversations in which people create their own meaning.
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David Pilbeam is another one of the UK team (but then you knew that from his spelling), who's weighing in on our blog for the first time. Welcome, David! And thanks to everybody in the U.K., and to John O'Leary here in the U.S., for contributing their efforts in Tom's absence. We look forward to hearing from more of the Tom Peters Company group.
Posted by cathy mosca at January 25, 2007 9:45 AM
Yes, David, the point of creating (or re-creating) a vision (or mission or purpose) is not to have a flag to salute but to engage sharply different perspectives (hopefully) and eventually reach some kind of shared understanding of what the enterprise is up to. As a result of these conversations, a TEAM may emerge. And the more that conflict is tolerated the more robust that team will be. Unfortunately, this "chartering" process is often misunderstood and frequently mismanaged, leading to vapid slogans and anaesthetized participants.
Posted by John O'Leary at January 25, 2007 10:03 AM
Great post David - Part of the answer has to be the use of simple plain language. For instance this was an entry I made last November on my Blog about this subject
'Many organisations in the Corporate and the Public Sectors today are striving to achieve greater value from islands of information which typically reside in multiple, disparate sources. Our specialisation is in turning data into information through our scaleable data warehouse Data Academy and Corporate Radar reporting solutions. '
Errr .... what was that?? ... please pass my pills Nurse
Posted by Trevor Gay at January 25, 2007 10:03 AM
Guy Kawasaki's recommendation of a mantra comes to mind.
(I just heard him talk in person at the University of Minnesota but here is basically what he said.)
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/mantras_versus_.html
Posted by Jason Peterson at January 25, 2007 11:03 AM
As an aside, since his next planned event in Minneapolis is private, I wonder if Tom Peters would want to swing by the U. when he is here in October?
This is a strategic move to impact future business leaders now... and to shake up the Carlson School of Management...
Well it's just a thought. (or a vision? or a mission?? hopefully not a daydream...) :-)
Posted by Jason Peterson at January 25, 2007 11:29 AM
Words certainly get in the way if they're corporate-speak that could be generated by the Dilbert Management Statement Generator.
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/games/career/bin/ms.cgi
I'm not even remotely convinced that management statements of "vision, mission, and values" amount to a hill of beans. As you say, engagement requires a dialog...and it requires treating employees like the adults they are.
I would wager that if all the companies that had "mission, vision, values" statements just took them down and made them go away, nothing would change. There would be no giant sucking sound where people all of a sudden starting behaving counter to the corporate culture.
I'm with Jason, I think Guy Kawasaki's "mantra" is a much better way of doing business. It's certainly what Southwest Airlines has. I think it's working there.
Posted by Frank Roche at January 25, 2007 11:39 AM
There is no Soviet Union anymore, but everybody remember those great victories and defeats. We trusted in idea and we made our history through great losses...
www.backinussr.com
Posted by jimi at January 25, 2007 8:07 PM
This is why the line managers job is one of the hardest in management - they have to translate this stuff into language that makes a difference to each individual
Posted by PaulH at January 26, 2007 6:28 AM
Shift the beliefs and identity away from linear time. The past and future is NOW! We are the future. What can each of us do in every moment to be perfectly and remarkably aligned with what and who we ARE?
immediate. energizing. purposeful. inclusive.
Posted by mary wynne-wynter at January 26, 2007 7:31 AM
Mary, great reminder that you have to have a personal strategy before a company strategy (Joseph Barrett). I feel energized reading your post.
And Paul, that's true... one company lost me because I thought my poor manager was the face of the company. And I have great respect for UPS because my boss had huge integrity (matched along with UPS policies that made sense)
So Frank, lets have you burn the mission statements.
John, lead the team in a good discussion
As Jimi pointed out so we can change the world.
hmm.... what should we tackle? What's your mantra?
Posted by Jason Peterson at January 26, 2007 10:46 PM
Well said Paul. It is observed that CEOs/COOs make these vision/mission/etc. in some companies, and the line managers are not even consulted which makes their job even more tougher. The frontline staff should be considered as the face of the company. They will definitely have better tales to convey when consulted. Jason - what do you think?
Posted by VK Narayanan at January 27, 2007 2:46 AM
Frank, Thanks for the Dilbert link. Perfect example of the opposite of Tom. And fun.
Posted by cathy mosca at January 27, 2007 11:39 AM
Nice topic. I'm not entirely sold on Mantras. As I remember it, Kevin Keller was the original instigator of this (as Brand Mantras). Being simpler by virtue doesn't mean people are more inclined to do it –the intention to render it simpler was to verbally position products and companies (top of mind) in markets of economic surplus. However, the real problem is the translation of static words into action, rather than being an issue of clarity in communication, i.e. it's not issue of comprehension.
Over 90p/c of the literature I've read about vision, values... Collins & Porras, Lencioni, Wheatley, etc. There has always been this situation surrounding semantics, precise definitions and desired outcomes rather than action and context. How do we translate static words to palpable action? I must say, one of the best articles I have read about the value of mission, vision and core values [in context of innovation] was 'The practice of innovation' by Peter Senge (1998), [link supplied below]. Peter's main points are echoed in what was mentioned in the above posts about 'organization buy-in' and to be truly mission-based. It is tough, but it can be done.
http://www.leadertoleader.org/knowledgecenter/L2L/summer98/senge.html
Posted by Edwin Riggs at January 27, 2007 12:42 PM
Hello David!
Exactly! This whole vocabulary is so foggy. I can not, for the life of me, still tell the difference between a vision and a mission. I think just once I had a moment of philosophical clarity about this in my life, but never again.
Time to take people in corporations out of Obscuristan; and allow them to be human, think human, act human.
P.S. Trevor, I found a truly funny example: "In the process (of hiring), you may pass over many avatars..." Avatars! What about "names?" "People?"
Avatars!
Posted by Ramla A. at January 27, 2007 2:51 PM
Ramla - Avatars!! is that an alien breed of robots who failed the Star Wars audition? :-)
Brilliant example - I rest my case on simplicity.
Posted by Trevor Gay at January 27, 2007 3:52 PM