James Short - Partner SPS South-West
Introduction
The great challenge that faces all leaders in whatever setting they work is the
issue of getting colleagues and subordinates to move in a certain direction in
a unified and coherent manner. First and foremost, the “direction” has to be
clearly communicated to all personnel involved in implementation – but before
that message can be delivered (by briefing, directive or presentation), there
has to be clarity of thought and unambiguous definition of the logical path forward
in the mind of the Leader. The military have a very straightforward approach
to solving the challenges of ‘change management’ and it requires the leader to
write what is called a “Mission Analysis” or more simply an examination of all
the different factors surrounding the issue. The aim of the end result is to
produce a clear, concise and straightforward plan that is capable of being implemented
by those in the organisation.
The fundamental building blocks of such an ‘appreciation’ are:
- Understanding the overall Mission
- Setting the Strategy
- Defining the Tasks
- Planning & gaining the commitment of all involved
- Building team infrastructure from existing talent
- Finding the quickest and least costly route to the Objectives
- Delegation and Empowerment
- Opportunity Management
Understanding the Mission
A military campaign would not even be considered without everyone involved being
briefed on the objectives and desired outcomes of the campaign. Every person involved
needs to understand the mission, the objectives, the targets (which are not synonymous)
and their specific part in achieving that mission. They need to know what results
and outcomes the leader wishes to achieve, and what needs to be done in order
to reach the desired end-state. The military put it quite simply: “Tell your people
WHAT to do, not HOW to do it”. Inevitably there must be a degree of delegation
and empowerment by the leader. If, as the Boss, you cannot (or do not) put trust
in your subordinates, the mission is almost guaranteed to fail, because you cannot
be everywhere, all the time, doing everything!
Laying the foundation for any strategic plan starts with the Vision statement,
which articulates the company’s longer term ambitions. To build a solid foundation
for growing a successful business it is essential to have a clear, written, concise
and consistent Vision statement. It simply explains who you are, why you are
in business and what your long-term aim is.
Next, every business needs a Mission statement. It answers the question: “how
are we going to achieve our goals and target (specific purpose)”? The military
always add a “unifying clause” to the mission statement, along the lines of ‘…in
order to…..’ which gives an indication of the reason ‘why’; it also represents
a statement of the desired end-state. Clarifying the vision, mission and values
is essential for achieving the set objectives. Defining your organisation’s core
purpose, so that everyone knows what this particular company is doing, is essential
for ultimate success.
The Vision statement serves as the foundation for future decision making and
the Mission statement as the guide for day-to day operations.
A problem that you must seek to avoid at all costs is your company succumbing
to a bad bout of the “Christopher Columbus syndrome”:
He left and didn’t know where he was going,
He got there and didn’t know where he was,
When he got back, he didn’t know where he had been
…..and it was all on borrowed money!
Yes, he discovered America but was that an accident? Do you operate your business
this way? Do you rely on lucky accidents?
It is also vital to ensure that you make the main focus of your ‘new direction’
towards satisfying your customers’ needs. It’s not what you want from your customer,
it is what your customer should receive from you. You must always concentrate
on satisfying your customers’ needs, rather than focusing on the salient ‘features’
of your product or service.
There are certain necessary criteria for a clear Mission statement:
- Strength: Base your mission statement on what you do best. Make sure your core competencies are well understood and convey a competitive superior internal strength, expertise or resource that you do well (or better) in comparison to your competitors.
- Motivation: To achieve change, you need to motivate and inspire your employees and gain their commitment to your Mission statement. It should not just be based on making more sales or more money for yourself, but rather on recognising your employees’ significant work and how the mission relies on their contribution, and the external effect that your company has on people’s lives.
- Realism: Be practical and avoid making missions too narrow or conversely too broad. A mission needs to contain a purpose that is realistic and achievable, avoid going off on tangents that are not part of the core purpose and are seen to be unrealistic.
- Specifics: Be precise, succinct, sharply focussed and memorable. Write a statement of purpose that describes the essence of your business in words your employees and customers will remember.
- Clarity: Be clear and easily understandable. Develop and write your mission statement so that you can quickly tell people you meet at a business event or network meeting, why your company exists and what you do better than anyone else. If you keep this concept in mind your statement will automatically be short and comprehensible. Make sure to give your company a profoundly simple focus for everything it does in business.
- Memorable: Say something that you want your company to be remembered for - your mission statement should leave a lasting impression. How do you want the world to think of you? Your statement should provide a simple insight into why you do business.
It is strongly recommended that you review your mission statement frequently.
Most are ‘work in progress’ and many lose their relevance in time. If you have
a mission statement, it may appropriate to give it a polish or an update, you
may even have to rewrite it. Sit down with your Board or management team and evaluate
your current mission and use everyone’s thoughts and suggestions. The CEO or business
owner is the one to make the final choice but leave the ‘wordsmithing’ to an individual
on your staff with a creative streak for clear communication. If you do not
have one – you need one!
The worst thing is actually to have a new mission statement that is meaningless
to your staff or other stakeholders. Here are three tips for crafting a good statement
- Define the purpose of your business?
- Explain clearly what you will actually do to accomplish your purpose?
- Describe who benefits of the new direction and/or what is intended to accomplish on behalf of your customers?
Examples of great mission statements:
3m: To solve unsolved problems innovatively.
Google: To organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Marriott Hotels: To make people who are away from home feel they are among friends and really
wanted.
Sony: To experience the sheer joy of advancing and applying technology for the benefit
of the public.
Sun Microsystems: To solve complex network computing problems for Government enterprises and service
providers.
They do not always have to be quite so brief but ultimately your vision, your
mission statement, your goals and objectives are the roadmap for your company’s
future success. They empower everyone in your organisation to be more effective
and provide a framework for independent decisions and actions. In the military,
where “Mission Command” is the driving doctrine, emphasis is placed on understanding
the leader’s vision and mission statement, and not being fearful of acting on
one’s own initiative within the clearly defined framework. It has bought success
for many years and will doubtless continue to do so.
If you need help in facilitating this then please Contact me.