Summary

Most people would not go on a trip without at least some idea of where they were headed. Yet, many organizations go on for years without a clear vision or definition of success. For reasons that are hard to explain, many organizations are resistant to visioning, and even when they do go through a visioning process, there is tremendous confusion about the difference between vision and mission.

The Background

Let`s see how this might work in practice. Within six months of becoming the executive director at Education Unlimited (a nonprofit that provides mentoring opportunities to low-income children), David Owings found himself guiding the organization through a visioning process.

The Solution

At the strategic planning retreat, the organization arrived at the folowing vision statement: "We envision ourselves as the leading mentoring organization in the New York metropolitan area." After some debate, they then arrived at the following mission statement: "Our mission is to provide superlative mentoring opportunities to disadvantaged youth." At that point, people became confused about the difference between vision and mission.

Lessons Learned

This example illustrates how the distinction between vision and mission becomes blurred when an organization inserts itself into the vision statement. Essentially, a vision statement describes a future world that people would like to create. Since the organization is merely a vehicle for getting to the vision, the vision statement is designed to stand independently of the organization. A more helpful vision statement would therefore read as follows: "Education Unlimited envisions a world where all students receive guidance, encouragement and support to reach their full potential in life."