Mission and Vision Statements

The Problem with Mission and Vision Statements

There is perhaps no other part of strategic planning that can be more contentious or frustrating than coming up with a mission and vision statement for your organization. These statements have even become a source of jokes, especially within the corporate world. Do an internet search on "mission statement cartoon" and you'll likely get tens-of-thousands of hits. A big part of the problem is that these statements are sometimes so long and lofty that they don't end up saying anything at all. Take, for example, the fictitious mission statement for the Dunder Mifflin company, from the comedy series The Office:

“Dunder Mifflin Incorporated provides its customers quality office and information technology products, furniture, printing values and the expertise required for making informed buying decisions. We provide our products and services with a dedication to the highest degree of integrity and quality of customer satisfaction, developing long-term professional relationships with employees that develop pride, creating a stable working environment and company spirit.”

This sort of ongoing, try-to-be everything to all people statement is part of why statements can be laughable, put on the wall, and forgotten about. 

But it doesn't have to be that way. Over the years we've created a very simple and effective approach to creating mission and vision statements that our customers both love and get great strategic benefit from.

Definitions

It's critical that you and your team have a common definition of a mission and vision statement. 

We define a mission statement as one succinct and somewhat timeless sentence that states what your organization does and for whom. A vision statement is one succinct, inspirational, and somewhat timeless sentence that describes what "the world" will look like when your organization succeeds at its mission.

Note that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the mission and vision. You want to be able to say that “if we succeed at our mission then our vision is more likely to happen.” Given this interrelationship, you cannot write a mission and vision statement in isolation from each other. They are two parts of a whole. 

Note that a key element of each definition is that each statement is only one sentence. One-sentence statements will:

  • Be easier to remember. 
  • Help you and your team focus on the absolute essentials.
  • Serve as clear filters for making organizational decisions. 

Real-world Examples

For the mission statements below, words that are bold describe what the organization does. Words in italics describe the subject / persons that are the organization’s focus.

ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
Mission: To provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.
Vision: That the United States is a humane community in which all animals are treated with respect and kindness.

Feeding America
Mission: To feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks.
Vision: A hunger-free America.

Human Rights Campaign
Mission: Working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality.
Vision: Equality for everyone.

Make-a-Wish
Mission: We grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Vision: That people everywhere will share the power of a wish.

Note how each of the vision statements are pretty lofty and inspirational. In fact, those vision statements could even be the same vision for another organization. That's ok. They are meant to inspire and capture the ultimate picture, however lofty, of what "the world" will look like when you succeed at your mission. 

Want More Details?

Sometimes having a short and sweet mission statement can feel too limiting for even the most focused of organizations. If that’s the case for you and your team then we recommend that you follow up your mission and vision statement with a brief set of bullets that indicate how your mission and vision will be achieved.

Below is an example from one of our customers, Canopy.

Mission: to grow the urban tree canopy in Midpeninsula communities for the benefit of all.

Vision: We envision a day when every resident of the Midpeninsula can step outside to walk, play, and thrive under the shade of healthy trees.

We will achieve our mission and vision in these four ways:

  • Engage: We plant and steward community trees in partnership with residents, volunteers, school communities, municipalities, and grassroots partners.
  • Educate: We create life-long environmental stewards through exploration and education about trees and tree care.
  • Steward: Our rigorous approach to tree care and maintenance—always engaging the community—ensures high rates of tree survival and longevity.
  • Advocate: We uphold and promote policies and funding that protect trees and promote a healthy urban forest.

Note that the four bullets, above, might change a little from year-to-year while the mission and vision will remain constant. 

Here is another example from another one of our customers.  

If you use this approach then you and your team can benefit from the value of short and succinct statements while also being able to provide some clarity about the specifics of what you do.

Editing an Existing Mission Statement

Here is a real example (name changed) of a mission statement that we think is too long, too hard to remember, and doesn’t pair with a vision statement. 

"The Stone Creek Running Club is a diverse community of runners of all ages and abilities. Through training, group running experiences, and participation in running events, we encourage and support our members to attain their running goals, foster a spirit of camaraderie, and give back to the local running community."  (50 words)

Did you get all of that? We didn’t. We think this would be much stronger if this transitioned to mission and vision statements like these:

Mission: "To inspire a love of running for everyone in Stone Creek." (11 words)

Vision: "Stone Creek is a model of an active and close-knit community." (12 words)

These refined statements are timeless, easier to remember and more inspirational. If they wanted to provide more detail then they could say:

We do this by:

  • Welcoming runners of all ages and abilities. 
  • Providing effective and fun training and group running experiences. 
  • Hosting and participating in a variety of running events. 

The running club can then change their specific strategies, above, without having to change their mission and vision statement. 

How to Create Your Mission and Vision Statement

Step 1 -- Get Input from Your Full Team

Creating a mission and vision is an excellent way to get your full team of staff and board members engaged in your strategic planning process. With that in mind, you can ask your team these three questions either in an online survey or during a meeting:

As briefly and specifically as possible:

  1. State what our organization does.
  2. State who our organization serves.
  3. Describe what our community/world will look like when our organization succeeds.

Step 2 -- Craft Drafts

Do not try to wordsmith your mission and vision with the full team. Rather, identify a small team of people (no more than four) that will review everybody's answers and create some drafts of the mission and vision. Note that the information for the mission statement will be pulled out of questions 1 and 2, whereas the content for the vision statement will come from question 3. 

Be sure to use the examples provided earlier in this article as a practical guide. 

Step 3 -- Review and Finalize

The small team from step 2, above, will then present their drafts to the full team for feedback and discussion. The small team will then use the full team's feedback to make revisions and present a final version to the board for approval.