Vision, Purpose, Mission, Values. Can you say what they mean?

Vision, Purpose, Mission, Values.

Can you say what these four words mean? Would your colleagues define them the same way? If you were to draft a statement for each of them, how would you go about it? Would your colleagues agree? Would the answers describe, succinctly, what your organisation stands for?

We believe these four words are some of the most misunderstood in the business-leader’s vocabulary, and that this is a great pity, for they answer four very important questions that any leader ought to be able to respond to simply and convincingly: 

  1. Where are you going?

  2. Why is this important?

  3. How will you get there?

  4. What principles will guide your decisions along the way? 

The situation is not helped by a management literature that, rather than bringing clarity, offers a plethora of different interpretations, permutations and starting points.

Take these examples, all drawn from Harvard Business Review articles published between 1996 and 2022.

‘Every great culture needs a mission, a vision, and values …’​

It’s time to take a fresh look at your company’s Values  Coleman, ​HBR, Mar 2022​

‘Leaders need to think hard about how to make purpose central to their strategy…’​

Put Purpose at the core of your strategy​ Malnight, Buche, ​& Dhanaraj, ​HBR, Oct 2019​

‘Leadership teams often spend hours wordsmithing their business’ vision, mission, and strategy, only to hear employees complain, “We don’t have a north star.”’

5 reasons your employees 
don’t understand your 
company’s Vision​
Nawaz, HBR, Sep 2021

‘Often, a well-articulated mission statement is the place to start …’

To give your employees meaning, start with Mission Amabile & Kramer, HBR, Dec 2012​

‘A truly powerful purpose statement is one that achieves two objectives: clearly articulating strategic goals and motivating your workforce.’

Why are we here? 
Blount & Leinwand, HBR, Nov 2019​

‘Companies that enjoy enduring success have a core purpose and core values that remain fixed while their strategies and practices endlessly adapt 
to a changing world …’

Building your company’s Vision​ Collins & Porras, ​HBR, Oct 1996​

We’ve been working in this field for over 23 years and, for many leaders and their teams, the confusion is real.

Why is it important to answer these four questions?

People find it valuable to know where they are going, why their work is important, how they will get to their destination, and to have a set of principles that help guide their decisions and actions.

We believe that a leader’s core job is to answer these important questions​.

Thanks to an extensive review of the management literature, 23 years of experience, and one of our favourite resources – the Cambridge English Dictionary – we hope to end the debate.

Here's a snapshot of where we landed:

  • CAMBRIDGE: The ability to imagine how a country, society, industry, etc. could develop in the future and to plan for this.

    POSSIBLE: We find the definition provided by authors Collins and Porras to be particularly useful. To them a Vision describes ‘What an organisation is seeking to create, achieve or become, over the long term, with an extraordinary amount of effort, and a little bit of luck’.

    They go on to state that a compelling Vision should include, essentially:

    1. A vivid description of an end-state outcome, and

    2. One or more specific goals.

  • CAMBRIDGE: Why you do something or why something exists.

    POSSIBLE: The purpose statement answers why a firm goes to the effort of doing what it does. It is the motivating force behind the action.

    For some organisations, this motivating force will be the pursuit of profit for shareholders.

    For others, it may extend to a desire to deliver a benefit to a range of stakeholders including employees, suppliers or customers.

    The third type of motivating force is that of higher ideals, such as solving a social, health, economic or environmental problem, such as climate change.

    The most inspiring purpose statements tend to avoid playing to the selfish interests of stakeholders, and instead describes a higher-order role the organisation plays in society.

  • CAMBRIDGE: An important job, especially a military one, that someone is sent somewhere to do.

    POSSIBLE: The Mission is about the specific role, job or task performed by the organisation. One could argue that the Apollo 11 Mission was to land on the moon, but it was in service of a broader Vision for the future of America.

  • Cambridge: The principles that help you decide what is right and what is wrong, and how to act in various situations.

    POSSIBLE: In addition to the Cambridge definition, which we wholeheartedly adopt, our observation is that it is worthwhile distinguishing between actual values - the principles that actually drive an organisation’s decisions, and aspirational values - the principles that an organisation would prefer to have driving its decisions.

    Many leaders can come unstuck when they tout their newly-crafted values as those that drive the company, when in fact, staff know that they do not align with the firm’s actual behaviour.

In practice, we know that these terms are interpreted in different ways by different organisations. What some may call a mission, others will label their purpose. Many organisations may have a vision or a mission or a purpose, but not all three, and we have no problem with that.

We do however, find major problems with organisations and leaders that create vision, mission, purpose or values statements that are inauthentic, not remotely achievable, or in other ways at odds with reality. For any of these statements to serve their purpose – which is to answer fundamental questions for stakeholders – they must be grounded in reality and consistent with the actions of the people who lead the organisation.

We believe another key test of effective statements is that they are mutually reinforcing and link clearly with the competitive positioning and distinctive competence of the organisation they relate to. To be powerful, they must not be marketing slogans, but must be deeply embedded in the culture and business logic of the organisation.

In summary, we believe that leaders’ words matter. A well-crafted set of statements that describe where your organisation is going, why this journey is important, how you get there and the principles that drive decision-making along the way can be powerful tools for leaders seeking to execute their strategy for success.

So, how simply can you describe what your company stands for?

REFERENCES

Amabile, T. and Kramer, S. (2012). ‘To Give Your Employees Meaning, Start With Mission’. Harvard Business Review, December. https://hbr.org/2012/12/to-give-your-employees-meaning

Blount, S. and Leinwand, P. (2019). ‘Why Are We Here?’. Harvard Business Review. November. https://hbr.org/2019/11/why-are-we-here

Coleman, J. (2022). ‘It’s Time to Take a Fresh Look at Your Company’s Values’. Harvard Business Review, March. https://hbr.org/2022/03/its-time-to-take-a-fresh-look-at-your-companys-values

Collins, J. and Porras, J. (1996). ‘Building your company’s vision’. Harvard Business Review, September. https://hbr.org/1996/09/building-your-companys-vision

Malnight, W., Buche, I. and Dhanaraj, C. (2019). ‘Put Purpose at the Core of Your Strategy’. Harvard Business Review, September. https://hbr.org/2019/09/put-purpose-at-the-core-of-your-strategy

Nawaz, S. (2021). ‘5 Reasons Your Employees Don’t Understand Your Company’s Vision’. Harvard Business Review, September. https://hbr.org/2021/09/5-reasons-your-employees-dont-understand-your-companys-vision

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