Most mission statements suck
A friend of mine recently asked me for some advice on writing a mission statement for her company. I think she was a little surprised when I told her I don’t think mission statements necessarily work anymore. Why? Well honestly most of the time managers think that by printing the mission statement or having a big meeting with t-shirts and other schwag that they are creating a shared vision (yes I have been guilty of this). The truth is that while the vision has been shared it may not be shared. If the team doesn’t commit to or more importantly - understand how it relates directly to their role in the company it won’t work. Personally I think Guy Kawasaki’s prescription for a corporate mantra or short phrase works best. In a very classic sense a mantra is believed to be the sound form of reality, having the power to bring into being the reality it represents. Basically it gives things meaning and brings them to life. A corporate mantra can help clarify for an employee why their job exists on the deepest level, regardless of what they do. The video below is Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start presentation. His thoughts on missions and mantra is about 6:25 into the video. If you have time to watch the whole thing, it’s a great presentation.
You might be asking yourself “OK so what’s your mantra?” Well our customer slogan which you can see on the site is “Refreshing Marketing”. Internally based on the direction we are heading as a company the mantra is “Solutions that work for people”. Those solutions could be marketing campaigns, social media campaigns (maybe software…hmm), regardless we want to keep the “human” using the “solution” at the forefront of what we do. It’s simple, easy for everyone to understand and can be applied to many different aspects of each employees job including dealing with customers or internal issues.
Guy Kawasaki and The Art of the Start
On July 13, 2007 @ 10:49 am Chris Risen said
Great point all around. I agree with your statement, “…I don’t think mission statements necessarily work anymore.” I agree because most companies simply state what they think a customer or more likely, an investor wants to hear about the company’s purpose for being. And, most mission statements are BIG FAT LIES anyway. I think if more companies were honest in their mission statements, they’d state more things like…”we exist to make piles of cash while giving you the customer, investor, etc. little perceived value of the product or service that is being provided.” So, for some companies, this would work because their investors already know this about the company. Oh, and they don’t care! They don’t care because like the company, they too are after making piles of cash whether or not the product or service is of any perceived value. Notice that I left out the ‘customer’ in the aforementioned about what is already known about a company’s so-called mission. This is because most companies simply don’t know what it means to embrace a VISION. A vision goes well beyond a mission. A customer- the HUMAN, is at the heart of any corporate vision. Always has been, always will be. Sounds like PopLabs has embraced a Vision rather than a mission; people rather than profits; significance rather than success. Finally, profits come as a result of people’s collective perception of the value they receive from such a company; success is inherent to significance.
On July 13, 2007 @ 11:09 am Grayson De Ritis said
Always great to hear Guy speak in his no b.s. style.
On July 13, 2007 @ 11:51 am Brian Horn said
Mission statements exist more for the egos of the people that write them, than they do for the benefit of the organization.
A catchy slogan, or short mission statement (like your “refreshing marketing” used more for marketing purposes is a different animal.
Everything is marketing, and mission statements are so over done, they are like spam mail for Viagra now. People, usually unintentionally, completely ignore it…unless it is really remarkable and catchy (like Google’s “Don’t Be Evil”).
A good mission statement would be “Mission statements are SO 1990’s,”
On May 17, 2008 @ 8:00 am London Designer said
so your saying we should have 2 mantras, one within the company and one out, makes sense and keeps things uncomplicated, thanks!