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Contextualizing purpose
Defining Purpose, Vision, Mission isn’t as simple as one might think. Here’s an attempt, using the moon landing as context.
Vision and Mission statements have been around for a long time for brands and organizations. While many world’s leading organizations have clearly articulated–and even made memorable–Vision and Mission statements, working with clients, I’m surprised how often I come across organizations that don’t have them articulated that well.
None would admit to not having a Vision or a Mission, of course. But if you don’t have them clearly articulated and your employees can’t quite recite them, you might as well not have them. Or at least, your Vision and Mission are not having an impact they should or could have on your organization.
But to be fair, not only is defining a Vision and a Mission not a trivial process, there is another word that’s been popping up in the business world more and more: Purpose.
Mix Purpose with Vision, Mission, and Values–another one of these corporate words that is actually important but not well understood or applied–it’s a topic that you thought you understood well but can’t quite explain to others simply.
So here’s an attempt:
Purpose = "Why" we exist ❤️Vision = "Where" we want to be 🔭Mission = "What" we do 🚀Values = "How" we do/act 🖖
Let me try to make this a little more tangible by contextualizing it.
In 1962, John F. Kennedy gives a speech and announces that the United States will land men on the moon by the end of the decade.
This is during the Space Race, a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Although it is the US that had started this Race seven years prior, the US is falling behind the Soviets. The US and its leader President Kennedy needs to boost not only the morale of the Americans, but also the US’s stature in the world.
Here’s the full, now-famous “We go to the moon” speech by John F. Kennedy as well as its transcript:
