Terms commonly used in strategy setting and business planing mean different things to different people. A crisp common definition of key terms makes it easier for a leadership team to create and communicate organization in strategy setting and business planning. Assuming everyone has the same definition in mind leads to confusion…it is better to be explicit.

The following definitions have served many organizations well:

PURPOSE: Why the organization exists; lasts as long as the organization is around.

VISION: How leaders plan for the organization to be some time, generally years, in the future. Often best expressed in terms of where the organization was in the past, where it is now, and where it is headed. Updated annually but does not change radically except in extreme circumstances.

MISSION or BIG (Hairy-Audacious) GOAL: What the organization aims to accomplish by when; lasts until accomplished or until it no longer makes sense relative to other options; at which point it is replaced with a new one. Continue reading How to synchronize the language leaders use in strategy setting and business planning. →

Any organization that performs and grows, exists to solve a problem in organization for a customer.  Its mission explains why it exists and its vision explains where it is headed but neither, individually or together, necessarily explains the solution (WHAT) it provides customers (WHO) and the problem their solution solves (WHY) for those customers.

While it may at first seem simple or obvious, it is usually surprisingly difficult for leaders to sort out and agree on how to describe all three dimensions. Employee surveys invariably reveal that the most urgent need across the organization is to get a better handle on: “Who are we and what do we do?” which reveals the importance of clearly and consistently communicating all three dimensions to everyone in the organization. Continue reading How leaders can get clear about whose problem their organization solves. →