Item Subject: What's in a Mission Statement? LO9267
Replying also to LO9238:
My experience with statements of organizational direction can best be
expressed by paraphrasing Eisenhower's statement about planning:
The statements themselves mean little; but building the statements
means everything.
I have found the process of building the vision/mission/purpose etc.
statements to be a vital and powerful teambuilding exercise even if
what emerges looks like motherhood and apple pie to those who weren't
there.
It's important, therefore, when looking at one of these statements to
look not only at the words, but also the process and players that
created the statements.
Sometimes we can capture some of the underlying discussions by real or
imitation hypertext, but no words can capture the emotional bonding of
the group struggling to accommodate and meld the diverse individual
beliefs and values.
Another way of helping convey meaning in these statements to include
what the statements exclude. Explicitly say not only what the
organizational direction is, but also what it is not.
Take, for example, the Air Combat Command Mission statement in LO9238:
"Air Combat Command professionals providing the world's best combat
air forces...delivering rapid, decisive, and sustainable airpower ...
anytime, anywhere."
Does this exclude Naval air combat delivery platforms (e.g., aircraft
carrier-based combat planes)? Does this mission statement refer only
to manned aircraft or could it also be interpreted to include drones
and even missiles? Etc.
Joe
joe_podolsky@hp.com
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations
For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>