Vision Without Action is Worthless
Are you doing something every day that will lead you to achieve your goals and overarching vision?
I’ve been thinking a lot about organisational vision and mission lately, and the importance of having both along with clear company goals. I see many companies with these crazy big visions, which I am all for, but if they can’t back them up with clear strategic goals and relevant action, then they’re just impressive words. Companies with clear actionable items that are in line with their vision and mission are going to have much greater results than those with a vision that is just for show.
A vision defines the desired future state of an organisation, and what it wants to achieve over time, whereas a mission defines the current state of an organisation and why it exists (Evans, 2010). In terms of executing the vision, it is crucial that it is not imposed or sold to the company, rather an effective leader will be able to inspire employees to take on the work of making the vision a reality (Quijada, 2017).
It is important however to recognise that the vision is not the end goal in itself, rather a way for leaders and employees ‘to share a vision in order to facilitate common goals, perspectives, and outcomes’ (Berson, Waldman and Pearce, 2015).
Here are some questions to think about in relation to your vision and mission.
Is your vision and mission clear to everyone that sees your company?
Have you developed clear, actionable goals for your employees to strive towards your vision?
How is your company working towards achieving the vision?
Are you developing your employees with the skills necessary to maintain the mission, and achieve the vision?
‘Learning is a necessity for organizations to remain adaptive and competitive in today’s ever-changing business environment.’ (Chadwick and Raver, 2012)
Even if you don’t own a company, it is really good idea to think about your own vision. The principle that vision without action is worthless still applies here, so think about your own vision and how you are working to achieve that.
Best Wishes,
Kate
References
Evans, J. (2010). Vision and Mission. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/smartwork/201004/vision-and-mission [Accessed 16 Sep. 2017].
Quijada, M. (2017). Ideas for Teaching Vision and Visioning. Management Teaching Review, pp.3-4.
Berson, Y., Waldman, D. and Pearce, C. (2015). Enhancing our understanding of vision in organizations. Organizational Psychology Review, 6(2), pp.171-173.
Chadwick, I. and Raver, J. (2012). Motivating Organizations to Learn. Journal of Management, 41(3), p.958.
