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Vision, A Blueprint for Building a Bridge to the Future

by Allen Forte, Senior Associate

Business leaders often misunderstand the relationship between the vision of a company and their efforts to create an effective business strategy. There is generally a rush of anxiety when developing a compelling vision because business leaders are expected to generate profitable results, not paint a picture of a better tomorrow.

What is vision anyway? Vision - your vision, the vision of your business - is a blue print for building a bridge to the future. Vision is that state in the future where we see ourselves thriving; it is an expression of future possibilities.

Years ago the Japanese company Sony created the vision to “become the company most known for changing the worldwide image of Japanese products as being of poor quality.” If you are old enough to remember the quality of Japanese products in the 1970’s and compare that to the high quality of Japanese products today, the significance and impact of their vision is obvious. From their blueprint, Sony built a bridge to connect the strategic objectives they would pursue to make their vision a reality.

Creating buy-in and inspiring people to act with determination and persistence toward a lofty objective are two of the greatest challenges businesses face in successfully creating and executing a business strategy. Real commitment to the strategic direction of the business is best obtained and maintained when there is a powerful and inspiring vision. The vision endures where goals may not. We help business leaders understand that people will more likely do on the outside what they can envision within.

Consider the key qualities and characteristics of an effective and compelling vision:

1. The vision itself must be a short clear symbolic expression (think eleven words or less)
2. It must convey integrity – the vision is good for everyone and anyone (Sony’s vision is good for Sony and its good for us – quality is good for everyone and anyone)
3. It suggests a journey rather than a task (We embark upon the never ending journey to a vision)
4. It spans a period of time beyond what you can do immediately (It is for a time in the future)
5. It is compelling, inspiring and motivating
6. It is enduring and lasting (It is a never-ending journey)
7. It speaks clearly of itself – there is no need for anyone to explain what it means
8. It must be written and communicated to people
9. It should allow for effective use of analogies

Lofty strategic goals alone are never enough to create believers among your people. In fact, the bigger the goal, the more apprehension we find on the part of the employees. Without vision, there is often proliferation of non-aligned goals and objectives. Perhaps more importantly, when people decide for themselves what the ultimate objective should be, they will put their roles before the overall corporate goals. The greater opportunity of tomorrow is compromised for the short term gain of today.

Strategy not born and developed from a compelling vision of the future is immediately put at risk of successful execution. But a clear vision for the business will likely always give rise to hope and hope will manifest itself in people who act to successfully develop and execute the business objectives.

At the beginning of a past strategic planning session, the CEO began with this statement “our vision is to become a two billion dollar company.” This is an objective, not a vision. At that time, this company was a $1.2 billion organization. I commented, “So tell me what does your two billion dollar company look like to you, and what will you have to do to get there?" As I expected, the CEO had not given that idea much consideration. His thought, and the natural inclination of many people, was to do more of what you have done to become more of what you are.

We help businesses learn they cannot run a sub-three hour marathon by simply running more miles during training. A world class marathon runner is a in a different class than the casual marathoner. In much the same way, a 2 billion dollar company of tomorrow will be a vastly different company than it is today. Creating an effective vision symbolic of the future possibilities for your business is the most effective way to ensure you develop the strategic objectives that enable you to become not just bigger, but world class.

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