Will it make the boat go faster? 3 ways to define a vision that moves your company forward

21/03/17 Strategic planning

When the British olympic 8-way rowing team wasn’t getting the medals they hoped for in the 1996 olympics, they decided to make a drastic change. That change wasn’t related to the teammembers or replacing the trainer. That change was about determining a clear VISION.

Their vision consisted of 7 words and resulted in that same team winning the Olympic gold medal only 4 years later: “Will it make the boat go faster?”

While it may be difficult to capture your vision statement in seven words, I often see the same mistakes that take away the power of vision statements.

 3 useful tips when defining your company’s inspiring dream:

1. Make sure your vision is an inspiring view of what you want to become as a company – not a description of what you are doing today.

Having an inspiring dream will act as a compass in making important strategic decisions.

2. Make your vision crisp and memorizable.

There are plenty of inspiring examples out there. SpaceX’ dream is “We want to save humanity”. How is that for inspiring?

3. Make sure your vision is shared and not only exists in the heads of management.

Putting your vision on paper is just a first step. Next, make it ‘live’ within the organisation. Putting the vision out there, literally, is the most powerful statement you can make!

So what is your organisation’s “Will it make the boat go faster?”

Figuring out this answer might be the most powerful move you make this year…

Looking forward to your comments below.

#strategic planning #Strategy #vision
Simon Anthonis
Simon Anthonis

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