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• Use external audit team: An external team brings objectivity, plus a
fresh perspective.
Sourabh Hajela
Adapted

from http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleI
D=17500069 (retrieved October 29, 2008).
Mission and Vision-Development Process
Mission and vision development are analogous to the “P” (planning) in the P-
O-L-C framework. Start with the people. To the greatest extent possible, let those
people responsible for executing the mission and vision drive their development.
Sometimes this means soliciting their input and guiding them through the
development of the actual statements, but ideally, it means teaching them how to craft
those statements themselves. Involve as many key stakeholders as possible in its
development; otherwise, they won’t consider it theirs. Assign responsibility so that
it’s clear how each person, including each stakeholder, can contribute.
Content
The content of the mission and vision statements are analogous to the O
(organizing) part of the P-O-L-C framework. Begin by describing the best possible
business future for your company, using a target of five to ten years in the future.
Your written goals should be dreams, but they should be achievable dreams. Jim
Collins (author of Good to Great) suggests that the vision be very bold, or what he
likes to call a BHAG—a big, hairy, audacious goal—like the United State’s goal in
the 1960s to go to the moon by the end of the decade, or Martin Luther King’s vision
for a nonracist America.
Recognizing that the vision statement is derived from aspects of the mission
statement, it is helpful to start there. Richard O’ Hallaron and his son, David R. O’
Hallaron, in The Mission Primer: Four Steps to an Effective Mission Statement,
suggest that you consider a range of objectives, both financial and
[1]
nonfinancial. Specifically, the O’Hallarons find that the best mission statements
have given attention to the following six areas:
1. What “want-satisfying” service or commodity do we produce and work
constantly to improve?
2. How do we increase the wealth or quality of life or society?
3. How do we provide opportunities for the productive employment of
people?
4. How are we creating a high-quality and meaningful work experience for
employees?
5. How do we live up to the obligation to provide fair and just wages?
6. How do we fulfill the obligation to provide a fair and just return on

capital?
When writing your statements, use the present tense, speaking as if your
business has already become what you are describing. Use descriptive statements
describing what the business looks like, feels like, using words that describe all of a
person’s senses. Your words will be a clear written motivation for where your
business organization is headed. Mission statements, because they cover more

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