Where Do I Start? Defining A Clear Vision

Many organizations still confuse vision with mission. While visions needs to be dynamic and drive constant innovation and learning, missions hardly ever change.

Vision, unlike mission, is not a statement; it’s simply a combination of ideas that describe the future state of the startup. When you’re trying to define a clear vision, you shouldn’t rush to summarize everything. After all, it is a set of ideas. Plus, it should allow you to stretch your imagination and provide a sense of aspiration.

The most effective way to define a clear vision to your startup is:

1 – Think about vision attributes.

2 – Think about what it takes to deliver those attributes you just defined.

3 – Think how you can measure progress through a road map as well as through metrics.

When you’re using the broader level of vision, the last thing you want to do is to measure your progress. The vision shouldn’t be a transformation into a future mission.

The next frequent problem many startups have when they’re trying to create their vision is by setting their vision as the leader of a specific industry. Unlike what you may think, this statement should be a part of the vision. After all, if you’re already the leader and want to continue being so, you should make sure to restate it.

Make sure that you don’t forget that a vision is not only about growing; it’s also about maintaining. The last thing that you need to consider about vision is that you need to create it in a way that’s meaningful for both internal and general public. Even if what you placed in your vision is 10 years from now, you don’t actually need to know the exact path. All you need to do is to keep that goal in mind and start prioritizing certain milestones; eg. investments. In 10 years, you’ll be looking at a complete different vision as your vision should evolve over time with your startup.

To sum up, a vision helps to see the goal as well as to set priorities. Since businesses keep learning and adapting to the new market conditions, so does the vision.

Visions should be altered every time there are new opportunities, when an investment decision is made, and if one of the parts is not necessary any more.

More information on how we help start-ups can be found on www.f10.ch