Why do you need a vision?
‘’If you don’t know where you are going any path will take you there.''
Lewis Carroll
The point of having a vision is to create something bigger than yourself, something that people can believe in and rally behind. A picture of a future that provides meaning and direction. If you want to engage people, you must give them a vision to get behind. And, if you want a strategy that takes your business where you want it to go you must articulate where that is!
Its important to note the long-term focus of your vision - its usually 10 years in the future!
Vision & the 4 zones
At adapt, we use our 4 zone model to help you consider all parts of your business. We believe it gives you a simple framework that you can use in many aspects of your strategic planning.
Economic Engine
- What are our customers saying about you?
- What markets are you operating in? And what services or products are you taking to those markets?
- What impact are you having on the world? Your community? Your customer’s world?
- Do you want to grow the business?
- What do you want the business to contribute to the world?
Leadership & Culture
- What does it feel like to work here?
- What are the people who work here saying about the business?
- What is the culture like in the business?
- How big is the business? Revenue/ employee numbers/ profit
- What are the opportunities for people to grow and develop here?
- How involved do you want to be in business - now, short term, long term?
- In what roles do you think you best serve the business?
Financial Security
- What capital will be necessary and how will you access that capital?
- What is your appetite for risk?
- What are your thoughts on future ownership? sale, float, or handover?
- What sort of financial return do you want? Annual draw/ future return on investment?
- Do you want to hold some ownership in the future when you are no longer working in the business?
- What is the state of your finances?
Organisation Design
- What do your business systems and processes look like?
- How is this impacting your business?
The vision statement
The vision statement is your attempt to summarise, in a sentence or two, where you want to see your organisation be in 10 years time. Think of the vision statement as a summary of your vision. This is the more external facing statement you would present.
Vision statement - Some examples
adapt
Build incredible communities by empowering SMEs globally
Southwest Airlines
To become the world’s most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline
Adobe
To empower people to create exceptional digital experiences
Google
To provide access to the world's information in one click
Tesla
Accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing mass-market electric cars to market as soon as possible
Harvard
To develop leaders who will one day make a global difference
Quality Check
Quality check - Vision
- We believe your vision is more important for communication to those who are direct stakeholders in your business rather than a line statement to the world.
- Your vision should engage in a bit of dreaming but be grounded in enough reality for people to believe it’s possible.
- If you are comfortable with video, you may like to make some notes and then roll the camera and talk directly into it. This is a good opportunity to speak from the heart & be authentic.
- When articulating your vision you could do it from the future state to describe what the business would look like if your vision was achieved
Quality Check - Vision statement
After forming your vision statement, run it through this quick quality check asking the following questions:
- Is it looking five or more years in the future?
- Is it future-focused but written in the present tense?
- ‘We are’, not ‘To be’
- Is it a stretch? Is it audacious?
- Is it inspirational?
- Is the direction clear?
Don't restate your purpose here, the vision should be an aspirational statement of the future state of the business.
Align ownership with vision