Companies use meaningful words to show who they are, what they want, or to distinguish themselves from the competition. The strategy, the mission or the vision are terms often nurtured by the HR departments and PR specialists.
You may have heard about them many times. And if you ever wonder what exactly do they mean or how to tell one from another – I prepared a short, and (I hope) the most straightforward description that helps to understand these terms:
1. Vision – tells where we want to go and who we will become. In business, it’s something like “where our gold is” (meaning where the success or fulfillment is). Vision should be (by definition, it seems) about the future.
Examples of vision:
- Alzheimer’s Association: A world without Alzheimer’s disease.
- Honda – in 1970: We will destroy Yamaha.
- BBC: To be the most creative organization in the world.
2. Mission – explains why we are doing this, why we bother. It is the primary reason, the purpose we exist as a company (not counting the profits, or?:). It is mostly about the present (otherwise, it would be a vision, right?).
Examples of mission:
- Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
- TED: Spread ideas.
- Uber: We ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion.
- Impossible Foods: To Save Meat. And Earth.
It seems that the philosophy surrounding a company (and a brand) becomes more and more critical. It’s rapidly expanding value is intangible, yet measurable. In the case of some startup companies, the founders manage to sell investors an appealing vision with a solid strategy without having the product itself available at all.
Employees love alluring philosophy because it gives them a chance to identify with something more meaningful than just a sales output. People want to work for the companies that seduce them the same way they lure the customers.
And the customers need the philosophy too. That is why we witness the emergence of products that are not merely a sum of available functionalities. They became a creation of a business philosophy.
3. Strategy – is the way how we will get there. So it is about transition. It describes the vector that connects now to the future goal.
Since this is the most accessible term in business, I am not going to write long. There are a lot of good and bad examples of a strategy, and you can easily find them yourself. But if you need something compact and quick, check here.
4. Company values – the way we are doing things around here. What we stand for. In some businesses, the values are called the company philosophy.
Here are two examples of company values:
Coca-Cola:
- Leadership: The courage to shape a better future.
- Collaboration: Leverage collective genius.
- Integrity: Be real.
- Accountability: If it is to be, it’s up to me.
- Passion: Committed in heart and mind.
- Diversity: As inclusive as our brands.
- Quality: What we do, we do well.
Google:
- Focus on the user and all else will follow.
- It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
- Fast is better than slow.
- Democracy on the web works.
- You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
- You can make money without doing evil.
- There’s always more information out there.
- The need for information crosses all borders.
- You can be serious without a suit.
- Great just isn’t good enough.
Unfortunately, in some organizations (more often than it seems), the values remain an ideal, useful to chatter or tag actions. I think it is better not to have them than to function in deception or denial. Employees usually (also intuitively) know that values are disregarded, and this mistrust is quickly transferred to other areas of the company.
As a bonus, I will throw in 3 more terms you could encounter in business or private life: Credo, Motto, and Manifest (first two are related, and frankly, their definition is overlapping to some extent). They can be very supportive of building an identification with a brand (also personal).
5. Credo – our core belief, a statement that actively guides our actions. It is personal, almost like a confession of faith in something. It originates from beliefs and practices regarding the supernatural and the worship of one or more deities. Credo comes from your soul; it is more like an act of faith.
Examples of credo:
- Less is more.
- I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now.
- The customer is always right.
6. Motto – a sentence or statement through which someone expresses himself or shows adopted principles. The origin of the motto derives from a heraldic achievement. Compared to the credo, motto comes from the mind, as it usually has a substantial practical connection.
Examples of motto:
- Work hard, play hard.
- Keep your eyes on the prize.
- Carpe diem.
As you can see, both the credo and motto can be used as very compelling advertising tools (or the best marketing slogans can transform into a memorable motto/credo).
7. Manifesto – comes from the Italian word, meaning “public declaration explaining past actions and announcing the motive for forthcoming ones.” Often used in politics but also may come in handy in a company, as it allows to herald the declaration of policy and aims uniquely.
If you use the manifesto to convey your views, your choice will be very vocal and open, even asking for criticism or discussion. Works well when you want to distinguish yourself from the crowd since it is used less frequently than the vision or the mission. Write your manifesto – it will be fun, I promise.
One of the most famous manifestos in business is the one created by Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. See how moving it is:
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Well, that’s all. I hope it’ll come in handy someday.
Note 1: The vision and mission statements usually have a short and long version. I believe that a short one should be enough, simply because if you have to explain it in an extended version – both short and long versions are not good enough.
Note 2: the modern approach to a vision and mission has opened up space for new roles – such as a technology evangelist (that would be a person who translates a given technology to the market and then builds a critical mass of support for it). It will be interesting to observe the emergence of philosophy as a necessary wrap of the product approach.
Note 3: In my opinion, some vision statements sound more like a mission statement. For example, take Apple: “We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products” is supposed to be the vision statement, but looks rather like another mission statement.