Making sense of Purpose, Mission & Vision
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Every company needs to understand their WHY, their HOW and their WHAT.
WHY = the reason you are here beyond money, it’s forever = PURPOSE
HOW = your actions based on your purpose, it’s everyday = MISSION
WHAT = the final destination when you are “done, it’s someday = VISION
While you don’t need three statements, you can understand what they are for your company and then decide what to communicate. There is a difference between strategy and execution.
TEMPLATE:
Purpose
We believe... (what is the insight or belief you have about the problem you are here to tackle?)
We exist to... (what do you need to make happen that leverages this insight and belief?)
Mission
We act on our purpose by... (what are the key activities and principles that are the most critical to our success?)
In order to...(what is the impact and for whom?)
Vision
Our version of utopia is... (describe the new world when you are "done")
Watch the video that breaks it down:
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Purpose vision, mission. What are they here to do? Do you need all of them? When you look at companies today, some companies put out a purpose statement, some companies put out a mission statement and a vision statement, but does it really matter?
When you look at iconic brands, you hear accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy, to be the Earth's most customer centric company, to help all families discover the joy of everyday life. Now, what do you think they are? Are these vision statements or mission statements? Regardless of which, they act as a north star to any organization. While you don't have to put out all three statements per se, you do have to go through the process of understanding what they are and align on the core elements of these things. The first thing you have to pull apart in your mind is that there is strategy and there is execution. These are two different things. First, you gotta go through the strategy, the strategy of making sure that you have the right elements for the purpose, the mission and the vision, then you figure out what do you want to execute. What do you wanna communicate to the world?
The first one is purpose. Now you've all heard of this. Purpose is your why? Why do you exist? Why do you exist beyond making money? And Simon Sinek has an analogy that helps us understand this. Every company's reason for being is not about making money. It's like a car, a car's purpose is not consuming fuel. A car's purpose is to take you from point A to point B much like a company. A company's purpose is not just making money. Money is the fuel that gets you from point A to point B. So the first thing to tackle is purpose, it's forever. It's your why. Now your mission that's every day. How are you gonna act on your purpose? How are you gonna make that a reality? And a lot of times, when you think about your mission, it's also about who you serve and what kind of impact do you want to have? And the last piece is the vision. This is, this is the someday what's gonna happen. When you have acted upon your mission every single day, what's that desired end state?
A reminder that this is strategy. So approach it from a strategic perspective, what is your purpose, your mission, your vision. And then we figure out what we wanna communicate
Purpose. Remember, this is forever. This is your why. We believe… What is that key insight of belief that you have about the problem that you're here to tackle. We exist to… What do you need to make happen that leverages this insight and belief. Your mission. And this is your every day. We act on our purpose by… what are the key activities and principles that are most important and critical to our success? In order to… what is the impact and for whom? Lastly, vision. That's your someday. A version of utopia is… describe the new world when you are done.
A hypothetical example from Patagonia
The purpose. We believe that all life on earth is under the threat of extinction. We exist to make the climate crisis, our business. And so you can see their belief is that because the earth is under the threat of extinction, they exist beyond making money, making the climate crisis, their business. For their mission. How do you act on that purpose? How do you act on that? We want to use all the resources. We have our business, our investments, our voice, our imagination, to do something about that threat in order to are the best products to enjoy nature while protecting and preserving the environment in their vision. Our version of utopia is a secure and more just future of our planet. Once you're put together the strategic elements of the purpose, the mission, the vision is time to decide what you communicate
In a traditional sense, companies put out a mission and a vision statement. So helping people understand where they're trying to go. That's your vision statement and what are the things that they're doing every single day to get there? That's your mission statement. My preference, one statement. Something really clear to help people understand what you're here to do. And that could be a purpose statement. It could be your mission statement. It doesn't really matter. It's one statement to help bring clarity into why your company exists, what it's here to do and, and give people a north star. So for me, this is just, but one element of all the things that a company can use to communicate all the things that wants to say, whether it's your positioning, your promise, your value proposition, there are other ways to talk about your company, your values and behaviors, for example. it's a very, very important way to communicate the principles that you live by. So pick a statement, write something concise, let it feel something, write it in a way that helps your audiences feel and understand immediately what kind of a company you are. Well there, you have it, the purpose, the mission, the vision. I hope through this video, you understand what these elements are, how to strategically craft something and then pick an, a statement to execute and communicate on that north star.
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