The Hindu Business Line : Crafting a vision

As the Managing Director of a large company Yogesh is just coming to grips with the complexity and nuances of the business. He knows that the company has hitherto been run in a rather loose fashion. Everybody seems to be pulling in different directions. People are checkmating each other! Yogesh realises that he has to get the entire organisation to move in the same direction quickly. He needs to quickly weave the disparate strands into a resilient fabric. Alignment is the need of the hour!

Vision document

Yogesh prides himself on his creative English writing skills. So he sits down one Saturday afternoon and labours over the organisation’s vision. After several drafts he freezes a 150-word masterpiece of flowery language replete with superlatives. He’s come up with the ultimate vision…or so he thinks!

A few more minutes of formatting with ClipArt and the document is ready for distribution. Now that the vision, sorely lacking until now, is ready, Yogesh is excited and sure that it’s only a matter of time before the organisation turns around.

Come Monday morning, Yogesh gets his top people into a huddle and grandly reads out the vision document. Hearty applause ensues! Everyone is thrilled, congratulating him for his great vision; the language is fantastic, the direction is crystal clear, the prospects are motivating…. Yogesh basks in the encomiums, satisfied and happy. He orders the vision document to be circulated and made into plaques and posters for every desk and every wall.

Doomed to failure

Six months later Yogesh is crestfallen and desperate. Sales have declined, profits have eroded, some of the best talent has voted with its feet, infighting is rife and rumours have it that the board is quietly scouting for a new MD. What happened to the vision document? Well, it’s quite obvious that the document remained where it was destined to be: on the walls and desks! It didn’t stand a chance to seep into hearts and minds and initiate action.

The vision was doomed to failure, like most vision statements. Companies launch mission-vision statements with great fanfare. Crores of rupees are spent on consultants, communications, printing, press conferences and parties to announce the vision and yet the vision itself remains an absolute non-starter! Why? Because Yogesh and his ilk have no clue about the basics of visioning!

A vision statement is not just any other statement. It’s a statement of intent, outlining a direction that the organisation intends to take while adhering to certain non-negotiable values. Intent, however, needs to be translated into action through resolve. Resolve can only exist if the intent is shared and owned by the “intenders”. Therein lies the rub. In most cases, the vision resides somewhere between the CEO’s consciousness and his secretary’s shorthand pad. It’s not owned or shared by anyone else; so what chance does it have to germinate or come to fruition?

Collaborative process

Crafting a vision that is owned, shared and lived is every CEO’s first duty. That’s because a vision that comes alive through ownership and action aligns and unites the organisation and propels it into realms of performance that can scarcely be imagined. While the CEO is certainly entitled to harbour deep-felt aspirations he must understand that vision is a highly collaborative process born out of deep respect for colleagues and subordinates.

A CEO’s own personal vision must ignite a process that culminates in the entire organisation coming together in a series of very interactive and yet structured exercises that first define the values and then discover the purpose for which the organisation exists. The sum total of values and purpose constitute vision. When vision is born out of collaboration, the organisational thrust generated dwarfs the thrust the giant Saturn V rockets generated at ignition during NASA’s Apollo moon missions!

Many CEOs are convinced that they understand the macro environment best and so are in the best position to set direction. That may be so but setting direction and actually propelling the organisation in that direction are two very different cups of tea.

Desire for change

Organisational movement is dictated by its internal dynamics most of which have to do with a desire for change that can only be fuelled by ownership and motivation. These are the keys that the CEO has to use to unlock the organisation’s potential. Like Aladdin, he has to discover these magic words to open the door to the treasure chamber!

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