Rethinking your company's vision in this unusual time.

It is no secret that we are living in uncertain times and experiencing an event that none of us have lived through before. Confining the majority of the global population to their homes is a concept many of us may be finding surreal and would not have considered possible a few months ago.

Fortunately, as history has proven, difficult times have been the incubation period for some of the best inventions. This isolation period provides us with time to think, reflect and to appreciate things we might have taken for granted. For me personally, having some extra time allowed me to read and reflect more. It brought me to the idea of writing an article about vision as no one is sure of what the future holds, but we still have to plan for it. More specifically I wanted to write about creating a vision for your company. As much as we could have planned for the future, how many of us included a global pandemic as a likely scenario in our strategic plans? 

What we are currently experiencing is changing the way we live, work and think. Perhaps it is time to take advantage of this isolation period and think about the future – not only professionally, but personally as well. Now more than ever, we find our home life inextricably entwined with our careers. I wanted to share this short article about rethinking (when you have an existing business) or creating a vision for your company (new company), but at the same time this can be applied in setting the vision for your personal life. The inspiration for this article, along with several quotes that I will use are from the book “HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy, 2011”. The specific chapter written on “Building Your Company’s Vision” was written by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras.

From interpreting the chapter on building your company's vision, it is clear that a well-formulated vision contains two major components:

1.  Core Ideology – what you stand for and why you exist

2. Envisioned future – what we aspire to become, to achieve and to create

Let’s start with the core ideology. It can be argued that it is more important to know who you are than where you are heading. Both are important of course but let me explain. Where you are going will change as the world around us changes continuously. People come and go, new products and innovations are constantly introduced, the market environment changes rapidly, new technologies are born and management’s approach to staying relevant through these ever-changing conditions needs to adapt accordingly.

Your core ideology has always served as your true north, the compass for guidance and even inspiration. Core ideology keeps the business together in difficult times when unexpected challenges are testing the strength and resilience of the company. We are all experiencing this right now during the current global pandemic. It is very important to know who we are and what we stand for. Maintain your focus during this time as it will eventually pass and life will return to normal, it might be a new normal though. 

For an organization to have an effective vision, it must embody a core ideology, which in turn consists of two distinct parts. The first being its core values - a system of guiding principles, and second the core purpose - the organization’s most fundamental reasons for existence. Let’s take a closer look at core values and purpose. 

Core Values can be explained by using three good examples from well-known companies. The first is from the company Nordstrom. For Nordstrom, “Service to the customer”, even to the point of subservience is a way of life, dating back as far as 1901 (80 years before customer service programs became trendy). In a second example, Bill Hewlett and David Packard placed a strong emphasis on “respect for the individual”, which was a profound personal value for both.

As a final example I will use the restaurant chain Cactus Club Café in Canada. It talks about “Attitude determines your altitude”, with its mission statement “Every guest leaves happy”. This highly successful restaurant chain is making sure its most valuable asset, its employees, are being treated like one big loving family – they care about their people. As a result of this, the employees take care of the customers. It’s a place where you always have a positive experience, where the service is friendly and fast, the quality of food is consistent and the atmosphere is always good, irrespective of time of day or season. The core values of these three companies are deeply rooted in their vision, strategy and way of conducting business.

To help you truly understand your core values, take it one step further by asking a few basic questions:

·      What would you tell your children are the core values that you hold at work and what do you hope they will hold when they become working adults?

·      If you were to start a new company tomorrow in a different industry, what core values would you build into this new company?

·      Lastly, can you envision these core values still being as valid 50 years from now, as they are today?

Your company’s core purpose is its reason for being. It is the soul of the company and it goes beyond just making money. The purpose should not be confused with goals or the company’s strategy and tactics. Purpose is also not describing the company’s products or customers. Collins and Porras go further to explain that you will quickly get down to the fundamental purpose of your company by asking yourself the following question five times: “Why is what you are doing important?”  This can help you to frame your work in a more meaningful way.

In short, your core ideology can be discovered by some careful introspection; it does not come from the external environment. It has to be authentic and it has to be YOU. It’s about the core values that you truly and passionately believe in. It has to be meaningful and inspirational to the people in your company. Therefore, it is important to understand that you can’t impose your core values on employees. What you should focus on is attracting people who share your values and purpose and then do your utmost to retain them. 

Once you’ve identified your core ideology (core values and purpose), you’ll want to explore your envisioned future which consists of two parts. The first is to create a very ambitious 10-20 year goal and the second is to create a powerful description of what it will be like to achieve that goal. This forces the executive team to be visionaries, rather than just being strategic. There is a big difference between the two. You must translate the envisioned future from words into a picture. Employees find this much more tangible as they can remember the picture better. It takes on a meaning and becomes part of their focus. The company’s leaders must be creative in setting these long-term ambitious goals. Here are a few questions that might help with setting your envisioned future:

·      What should your company look like and how should it feel like to work for your company if we could fast forward 10-20 years into the future?

·      What should the company have achieved in the next 10 and 20 years?

·      If you were to read a major business article in 20 years, what do you want it to say about your company?  

The envisioned future is not about predicting the future or trying to determine if your ambitious goal is the right one. It is about the creation of your desired future, even if it has only 50% - 60% probability of success. Research has shown that companies that go through this exercise are much more successful than companies that don’t. The key here is to set that ambitious long-term goal, get engagement from everyone in the company and to remain focused on it. Employees should be excited and motivated to achieve that goal, even if the team who created this envisioned future is no longer with the company. It requires a certain level of excessive confidence and commitment. 

Collins and Porras warn against the “we have arrived” syndrome. They use the example of many start-up companies that suffered from this syndrome after going public or once they reach a key milestone. An envisioned future only helps the company if it has not yet been reached. To ensure constant progression, it is best to re-evaluate your goal and replace it with a new and more aspirational goal as the business grows and evolves. Maintaining the forward momentum towards that goal is essential. Think of it as a mountain - while you are climbing this mountain, start to identify the next one - a bigger mountain. Vision simply provides the context for bringing this dynamic to life. 

The same goes for your personal life. By having a vision for yourself, I truly believe you can create a better future for yourself. Use this time to create your vision for your company, your career and personal life. Stay safe and look out for each other!