Tài liệu Seven Steps to a Successful Business Plan Chapter 4-5 doc

Vision and Mission: The Two

Key Anchors That Add Passion

and Purpose to Your Story

This chapter defines the heart of your story. To build an effective

plan you begin by putting two stakes in the ground. The first of

these is the vision statement and the second one is the mission

statement (see Figure 4-1). This chapter deals in detail with both

elements. Here I tackle controversial issues such as top-down versus

bottom-up visioning. Because they are often confused and consid￾ered the same thing, I clearly separate the definitions and purposes

of vision and mission by describing the roles and functions that

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each has in developing your plan. I go further by explaining how to

look at your mission in a new light. This new concept is called mis￾sion analysis and gives you a detailed review of what is required by

the mission statement.

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Figure 4-1. The mission and vision serve as the two end points for the

path of your plan.

Putting stakes in the ground gives you anchor points for your

plan and creates stability by defining start points and end points of

your planning. One stake defines where you are now and the other

defines where you want to be in the future. Neither can be absent

from your story since they are the originators of your plan’s purpose

and passion. By knowing the two end points of your plan, you can

add pieces and parts of the planning process. From these anchor

points you build an integrated model of many critical items, which

combine to form your story.

THE TWO CRUCIAL PARTS OF THE VISIONING

PROCESS

Let’s put the first stake in place. The vision stake contains two parts

(see Figure 4-2):

1. The vision itself

2. The vision statement

These two parts are different but so closely integrated and

interdependent that they cannot be separated. Both must be pres￾ent in your thinking and should be developed at one time in the

process.

Vision and Mission 87

Figure 4-2. The vision and the vision statement together provide the

direction of the plan.

One part, the vision statement, is short and to the point,

whereas the vision itself can be lengthy and somewhat vague. As

you build your plan, these two parts must be discussed. The vision

statement becomes part of your written documentation in the

business plan itself. The longer vision may be captured in narrative

as part of the company’s recorded history.

TECHNIQUES THAT CAN HELP YOU CREATE A

POWERFUL COMPANY VISION

The vision is the guiding focus of the company’s direction. Without

a direction the company is lost, wandering around the landscape of

the business environment. Employees are disillusioned with the sit￾uation because they cannot see an end game. I believe that people

come to work each day expecting to move toward some goal. That

means they need direction to their existence. Companies without

this fundamental element are doomed to exist from day to day, act

only in a reactive mode, and be forever chained to the present.

Scenario Writing: Where Are You Heading?

Direction provided by the vision can be written many ways. A use￾ful tool for developing the vision is called scenario writing. You

may choose to describe multiple versions of your vision. Two exam￾ples or versions will give you different perceptions of how you want

to proceed. One version may be an extension of the present situa￾tion but improved over time. This means you are satisfied with your

present business but would like it to grow or be more profitable.

Visualize making your existing business much bigger. A second

vision scenario may ask you to change your current business into

something different but better. This could mean growing from your

present product or service line into something quite different. For

example, you may be presently in the insurance business. Looking

into the future you expect a certain part of your business to grow to

the point where it becomes the dominant income producer. Your

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main income might then be from brokering stocks and bonds. Ten

years down the road your company name may still be the same but

your products may be completely different as you slowly gain more

definition and clarity of what your vision really meant.

Keep Your Focus Future-Oriented

Other factors distinguish the vision as a concept that is different

from the mission or other parts of your story. The vision must obvi￾ously be future-oriented. This means you must think outside the

box of today and describe the world of the future. Since the vision

can be anything you want it to be, it may be recorded as fragments

or it may be a complete document. The vision can include a num￾ber of diverse points or it can be very focused. Because the vision is

a description, it should be stimulating in phrases and wording. The

vision must paint a picture that attracts employees through the use

of visual imagery. This is what hooks people into passionate buy-in,

subsequent followership, and cheerful implementation of the plan.

The idea that a vision has to be a completely thought-out,

stand-alone piece of work is not necessarily true. Often just the

concept of where you want to go as a leader can fire the imagina￾tion of the company. Consider Steven Jobs’s idea that every person

should have access to a computer. Consider what kind of story was

built around that simple but elegant vision. Maybe entrepreneurs

cannot fully explain their vision on the first pass, but they can

anchor the idea. That is often enough to build successful compa￾nies. In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner was visited by a

voice that told him, “Build it and they will come.” His character

then began a quest to find out what that voice meant. In the begin￾ning he had no clue, just a belief that the message was important.

During the journey he found another believer and then a third,

who reinforced his vision. Later Costner’s character “bet the farm,”

putting his entire future at stake to fulfill the dream and make it a

reality.

Vision and Mission 89

Add Keywords to Fire the Imagination of Your

Employees

The stimulating factor of a vision cannot be underestimated. By

using keywords in telling a story the leader stirs the imagination,

bonds employees with common purpose, and creates hope for the

future. Howard Gardner’s simple but elegant description seems to

fit: “And still others have investigated the primary purpose of

stories—binding together of a community, the tackling of basic

philosophical or spiritual questions, the conferral of meaning on an

otherwise chaotic existence.” In his book Leading Minds, he builds

example after example of the power of stories and linking people

through a common imagery.1

The vision must include concepts that capture people’s atten￾tion and create the passion necessary for successful planning.

Inherent to the visioning process are words that convey the follow￾ing information:

■ Size. What size company could you become in ten years?

Just how big do you want to grow the company? How

hard are you willing to work?

■ Geography. Where do you want to be located in ten years?

Are you willing to do what is necessary to expand, often

into other countries with different rules, regulations, and

business climates?

■ Markets. Are you willing to shift markets from your exist￾ing one to an emerging market, one that could be risky?

■ Products, Goods, and Services. Are you willing to give up

old-line products and sacred cows for new ventures that

may be different from your company’s history? How dif￾ferent would it be to move from a producer of goods to a

deliverer of services in ten years?

These are just examples of items you must consider when

developing your overall vision. Combine these key concepts when

painting the picture of the future. Substitute the words planner or

90 Seven Steps to a Successful Business Plan