Can you say where you're going?

Forbes’ recent article by Eric Jackson, “Top Ten Reasons Why Large Companies Fail to Keep Their Best Talent” included (coming in at number 8) “The Missing Vision Thing.”  It asks: What strategy are you executing? What is the vision you want this talented person to fulfill? Did they have a say/input into this vision?

Obviously, this applies to every size organization, not just the biggies. An employee survey at a small software company revealed overall concern around vision with several comments, such as – “unaware of general strategic vision of the company; where do we hope to be in three years?”

The Built to Last authors (Jim Collins and Jerry Porras) probably had one of the best approaches to getting at a company’s vision, or core purpose. They called it the “Five Whys.” They suggest starting with a descriptive statement – we make X products; or we deliver X services. And then ask why that’s important five times. After answering these whys a few times you can usually get to the fundamental reason you’re in business.

When going through this exercise at companies where I’ve worked, I’ve often used the following as good examples of a company vision:

·         Disney – To bring happiness to millions

·         Apple – People should not be subservient to technology

·         Johnson & Johnson – To alleviate pain and disease

Another great example Collins and Porras use is for a company not as well-known or exciting which started this exercise with: We make gravel and asphalt products.  After a few whys, the conclusion was: To make people’s lives better by improving the quality of man-made structures.

People want to be inspired. They want their managers to lead them to a higher place where they feel like they’re part of a greater purpose. They’ll jump on the band wagon if the vision is clear and well-communicated. The best talent will stick around for that.