By Drew Yancey
All too often, traditional company vision statements fall short due to vagueness, misalignment with values or lack of communication. Unsurprisingly, the effectiveness of traditional vision statements is undermined by several common pitfalls:
- Lack of Specificity: Generic visions fail to provide actionable clarity, leaving employees disconnected from the broader organizational goals.
- Misalignment With Core Values and Culture: Visions that do not reflect the company’s values risk eroding authenticity and trust.
- Communication Gaps: Poor dissemination of vision leads to disengagement, with Gallup reporting only 22% of employees strongly agreeing that their company has clear direction.
- Exclusion of Stakeholders: A lack of inclusive vision development results in poor resonance and ownership among key players.
- Static Nature: Failure to adapt the vision to external market dynamics and internal growth erodes its relevance.
The Vivid Vision as a Solution
Unlike static mission statements, a Vivid Vision approach transcends limitations. It’s one that’s dynamic, specific, and deeply integrated with the organization’s purpose, values and strategy.
Rife with inspiration and specificity, a Vivid Vision is a detailed and compelling description of what a business aims to achieve in 3-5 years, answering the question: “What does amazing look like?”
This methodology addresses shortcomings of traditional vision statements in a number of ways. It includes offering detailed imagery of the future business, aligning with core values and strategic priorities, encouraging stakeholder involvement to build commitment, and remaining adaptable to evolving circumstances.
Vivid Vision in the P2E Process
A Purpose-to-Execution (P2E) process focuses on translating a company’s purpose into actionable strategies and measurable outcomes. A Vivid Vision bridges the gap between high-level purpose and day-to-day execution by providing a clear framework for decision-making and resource allocation—things like:
- Anchoring Purpose and Values: The Vivid Vision grounds the organization’s strategy in its fundamental “why.” Purpose-driven companies grow three times faster than their competitors, but this growth is only sustainable when aligned with core values. The Vivid Vision ensures that all strategic initiatives reinforce the company’s foundational principles.
- Fostering Alignment Across Teams: With detailed goals and vivid imagery, the vision aligns employees at all levels, ensuring that efforts are cohesive rather than fragmented. This alignment is especially critical for businesses that are large enough to face bureaucratic inefficiencies but small enough to lack the resources of large enterprises.
- Enabling Decision-Making With Clarity: Decision filters derived from the Vivid Vision simplify choices by asking, “Does this align with our desired future?” This clarity prevents resource dilution and enables a focused approach to execution.
- Driving Strategic Focus: A Vivid Vision narrows the organization’s priorities, helping leaders adopt a “great = few” mindset, rather than spreading resources too thin. Research indicates that companies with fewer than three strategic priorities achieve significantly more than those pursuing broader agendas.
- Inspiring Innovation and Engagement: By painting a compelling picture of the future, the Vivid Vision inspires employees, fosters a culture of innovation, and attracts top talent and investors.
Key Components
To integrate a Vivid Vision effectively into the P2E process, it must include the following elements:
- Detailed Description of the Future: Cover aspects like culture, customer experience and market positioning in specific terms. For example, a restyling shop might envision becoming “the leading accessory solutions provider for end consumers and dealerships, renowned for innovation and customer-centricity.”
- Alignment with Core Values: Ensure that the vision reinforces the company’s core values and aligns with its overarching purpose. This alignment fosters authenticity and consistency.
- Inspirational and Motivational Narrative: Engage employees and stakeholders by describing an aspirational-yet-attainable future.
- Strategic Priorities and Measurable Milestones: Include benchmarks to track progress, breaking the long-term vision into manageable short-term objectives.
- Adaptability to External Changes: Build flexibility into the vision to accommodate evolving market conditions, technological advancements or competitive shifts.
- Inclusiveness: Incorporate perspectives from key stakeholders, including employees, customers and investors, to enhance ownership and buy-in.
- Clear Communication: Translate the Vivid Vision into actionable messaging that can be easily shared across all levels of the organization.
5 Steps to Implementation
- Define Purpose and Values First: Begin by identifying the core “why” of your organization. Use tools like the Purpose Prism to align stakeholder needs with your value proposition.
- Craft the Vivid Vision: Collaborate with stakeholders to write a detailed narrative describing your desired future. Ensure it addresses all aspects of the business, from culture to market impact.
- Align Strategy and Execution: Break the vision into strategic priorities and execution plans. Ensure every department understands its role in achieving the vision.
- Communicate Relentlessly: Use storytelling, visual presentations and regular updates to keep the vision top-of-mind across the organization.
- Monitor and Adjust: Regularly review progress against milestones and adapt the vision as necessary to remain relevant and impactful.
The Vivid Vision as Strategic Catalyst
Relative to business growth, the Vivid Vision offers a vital compass, guiding organizations toward sustainable success. By integrating the Vivid Vision into the P2E process, companies can achieve clarity, alignment and focus, turning challenges into opportunities for innovation and growth.
The question for leaders is not whether to create a Vivid Vision, but how vividly can you imagine—and communicate—what amazing looks like?
Drew Yancey, PhD, is founder & CEO at Teleios Strategy, a strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching and succession planning advisory firm. He is also the co-author of “Leading Performance… Because It Can’t Be Managed: How to Lead the Modern Workforce” and a frequent keynote speaker. Reach him at teleiostrategy.com.