In a November 2009 Fast Company article entitled “How to Write a Mission Statement That Isn’t Dumb,” Nancy Lublin writes, “Mission statements are like corporate Hallmark cards. Often written in a bland cursive font and plastered conspicuously at headquarters, these aspiring epigrams are pretty words in Air Supply-like rhythm.” Need proof? Here’s a fairly standard example:
“Committed to building a family of the world’s best fashion brands offering captivating customer experiences that drive long-term loyalty and deliver sustained growth for our shareholders.”
Wow. Eliminate the word “fashion” and you could drop this gem into just about any company in the world. It does, however, contain many of the approved business buzz words: committed, customer, growth, shareholders. (The company? Victoria’s Secret.)
How does your company stack up? Quickly, off the top of your head, write down your company’s Mission Statement.
Welcome back. Some of you were curious enough to go look at the framed version in the conference room, or pull out your faded, dusty HR Manual and check inside. In my experience, less than ten percent of employees know the company’s Mission Statement. Which begs the question: why do companies create Mission Statements? If your people don’t know what it says, they almost surely don’t live by it, so what good is it?
Mission or Confusion?
Let’s take a look at the details of your company’s Mission Statement. Is your company dedicated to ‘unparalleled quality’ and ’superior customer service’? Focused on ’serving your customers’? Do you ‘provide value to your stakeholders’? Maybe your Mission Statement reads something like this classic:
“[We are]…engaged in socially responsible operations, worldwide. It is dedicated to provide products and services of such quality that our customers will receive superior value while our employees and business partners will share in our success and our stock-holders will receive a sustained superior return on their investment.”
As it turns out, this isn’t working out real well for General Motors. And no wonder – among the many problems the company has, their Mission Statement is about as motivating as yesterday’s leftovers. Again, you can cut-and-paste that generic dribble into just about any company in the world.
In 1989, Carl Larson and Frank LaFasto published a book entitled “Teamwork: What Must Go Right, What Can Go Wrong.” In researching high-performance teams, they discovered that these teams shared a common characteristic – what Larson and LaFasto called a “clear and elevating goal.” Their research revealed that a clear and compelling mission is a critical component of team success. High performance teams, they said, “have both a clear understanding of the goal and a belief that the goal embodies a worthwhile or important result.” Lublin’s Fast Company article points to survey results that arrive at a similar conclusion:
Mission statements don’t have to be dumb. In fact, they can be very valuable, if they articulate real targets. The first thing I’d do is forget the exact words and remember the reason for a statement in the first place. In 2006, Wilson Learning surveyed 25,000 employees from the finance and tech industries. Respondents said they wanted a leader who could “convey clearly what the work unit is trying to do.” The same applies to mission statements, which set the tone. Employees, vendors, and clients don’t get stoked by fuzzy mission statements. They will line up behind concrete goals.
Muddled mission statements are simply an exercise in futility. Employees rarely have any idea what they say, and they certainly have no influence on day-to-day workplace performance. On the other hand, a clear and elevating goal can galvanize a team, giving your employees something they can line up behind.
Want a great example of a clear and compelling Mission Statement? Here’s one that has created a legion of followers:
“These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: To explore strange new worlds; To seek out new life and new civilizations; To boldly go where no man has gone before.”
Clear enough?
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