Vision vs. “It”
20 Jan
I was schooled in the art of leadership that said “vision” is a leaders most potent weapon. A vision brings clarity to your organization. It says, “this is who we are and this is where we’re going.” At the same time it informs your people who you aren’t, and what you will not be doing. Vision is what infuses life and passion into your organization. If your organization were a rocket, vision would be the fuel. As Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Church, so eloquently writes, “vision is painting a preferred picture of the future that inspires passion.”
For a long time I was a vision maniac. I wanted to know my vision and I wanted to know your vision. It was normal for me to ask human beings, “so, what’s your vision?”
However, over the years my faith in the power of a vision has faded.
I think this has been for a number of reasons. First, there were times when I would actually put my vision down on paper, only to reread it months later to find that I had lied. Some of the vision we had pursued, other parts had faded for one reason or another: wrong timing, failure to get buy in, but probably the most popular reason was that a huge portion of it simply wouldn’t work. This sounds like a complete disaster, but to my knowledge it really wasn’t. In fact I never had a team member come up to me and say, “Hey, remember that vision talk you gave a few months ago? Do you recognize that the thing we are doing now is different in significant ways?” It was almost as though, despite what every book on leadership taught, we were guided by something other than what was written down as our “organizational vision.”
So where exactly does this leave us as people and organizations? If a rousing vision isn’t the fuel for our rocket, what is?
Honestly, I don’t have a good term yet, but I’m thinking of “it.” “It” is that thing that just oozes out of a leader and his/her organization. They don’t have to talk about it or write it down. It’s simply who they are, and who their organization becomes.
For my youth ministry “it” was these things: organic and relational. Whatever we did had to flow from those things. It didn’t matter what was written down on as our vision. If it didn’t line up with those things… somehow we knew, “this just isn’t us.”
Another example of this inner guidance is my current company Fuor. We don’t actually have a vision. In the early days I kept asking “what is our vision, what is our vision, what the heck is our vision?” All the guys would just kind of look at me, hang their heads, and keep silent. I wanted clarity, by golly! I wanted to know all the details of what we are going to be about. But, you know what I’ve realized? We don’t know those things and that’s okay. However, mysterious as it may sound, when I start thinking about Fuor these ideas and concepts just come to my mind. We are all about quality and creativity. Whatever we do is going to be the best. Nothing second rate. Also, we can’t stand boredom, so it has to be creative and interesting. Right now “it” is primarily channeled into designing and developing websites. But, you know what? That may change. Building websites doesn’t best describe Fuor. Creativity and Quality does.
So what about your organization? Don’t tell me your elaborate plans for the future. Don’t try and pump me up with your word pictures.
Just describe to me your “it” and that should do the trick.
I have a hunch that “it” goes by another name called “core vales.” But that revelation has only now come to me as I write this post, so I’ll have to think it through.
More on this topic to come. I think we are on to something here.
I empathize with your previouse confusion regarding vision and your frustration. If I have learned anyting about vision over the decades of either running or owning a business, it is this one thing: Vision is a moving target. It is a goal you want to reach, but the manner in which you travel to get there is elusive and ever changing. It is somewhat like the gaps in “The Purpose Driven Life”…..great book, but has a glaring gap. Who says we have only one Purpose? Doesnt each day bring a new purpose as God moves different people into our lives? Arent those daily purposes part of our preparation to achieve a larger purpose? In business, our vision is or should be the same for everyone: To give results beyond expectations; expectations to be determined by each customer. How we do that is the ‘moving target” part. We can define vision a hundred different ways, but all of them boil down to anticipating or creating a need, then filling that need beyond expectations. All the rest is just how we achieve that, and in achieving that, we adapt to the perception of filling that need. That perception is defined by the customer, and it is inarguably their reality.
This is where God becomes so valuable, and sensitivity to the Spirit is all important. The Father sees the bigger picture; how personal and corporate relate to each customer, as well as how those two relate to your own needs, as determined by Him. God can define your corporate vision, if you allow Him to, and give you direction in getting their, as accurate and successful as any GPS will lead you to a destination.
Fill the need beyond expectations as determined by God. Corporately or personally, it works each day, each year, each decade, each life.
I enjoyed reading this post and when you mentioned core values in relation to ‘it’, I couldn’t help but think, ‘yes, exactly!’ It lead me to journal about core values myself. Thanks! Amber Bontrager
I like the way you unpacked your experience with vision. A person’s experiences can have more impact than a stated theory. After all, who can argue with real life experience. I’m energized my truth that is generated through undeniable real life experiences. Of course, sometimes we have to check the conclusions we draw from those experiences. And yeah – I was totally hearing core values in what you wrote. The cool thing is, at least in my EXPERIENCE, is that core values are the common threads that run through our lives, no matter what we’re doing, what the life season is or the life stage. It’s the ‘why’ behind what we do; it’s our ‘to die fors’. Kind of makes knowing your core values a real plus, if one wants to consistently live life in a way that resonates deeply – feeling that you are doing and being what you were created for. Like a lot of things, I’ve found this to be an unfolding process of discovery. I’m still on the journey.
What you are saying really resonates with me. My core values reveal to me my truest intentions. When all is stripped away, what’s left. What do I fight for daily? What gets my juices flowing and what is the fire that forges my sword? For me, it is to see us all get the opportunity to be the best we can be. So, the MLK blog rang true also. “I have a dream.” I think MLK fought and died for his core values, not a vision.