When we think it’s imaginary, one important reason is that we don’t really understand it.

Editor’s note: This article is from the micro-channel public number “barn burst School goods” (ID: gucangchanpinjia), Author: product family.

We will hear the “importance of mission, vision and values” on different occasions, but we always think it is vain because we can’t find a grasper, can’t see feedback, etc.

Actually, when we think it’s very virtual, one of the most important reasons is: we don’t really understand it. This content, in a relatively easy-to-understand way, allows everyone to better understand the top level of the company. One of the important matters.

1. Mission (Mission) keywords: role, responsibility

Ma Yun once said: “If a company is big, it is not necessarily happy; if it is small, it is not necessarily unhappy. You must figure out what you have, what you want, and what you can give up? I call this “Sense of mission.” All people work around this mission, and so do I. “What do I have? What do I want? What can I give up? In addition to self-examination, these three questions can also lay the foundation of the company at the beginning. Without a foundation strategy, everything is empty.

What is mission? Mission is the role and responsibility of an enterprise. The mission is concerned with what we are going to do now, and what are the advantages that are different from others? We often say that we should not forget our original intentions, and setting a mission is actually a process of returning to our original intentions. The meaning of the mission takes precedence over the vision. When shaping it, the company’s sense of social responsibility, environmental protection, etc. must not be ignored. A good mission should be straightforward and easy to understand. When it is clear, the most important work of an enterprise should be carried out around this starting point.

The more precise the mission, the clearer the development direction of the company, because it contains the company’s understanding of its own value. Google’s mission is to “integrate global information so that everyone can access and benefit from it.” One sentence not only summarizes the role of the enterprise, that is, the scope of business: “information integration”, but also explains the corporate social responsibility: everyone benefits, to achieve the democratization of information. This can be said to be very thorough thinking about the positioning of the company. In the 1920s, the founder of AT&T proposed that “every family and every office in the United States should have a telephone.” In the 1980s, Bill Gates did the same: “Let every family and every office in the United States have a PC on the desk.” To today AT&T and Microsoft have basically achieved their mission.

By thinking about the mission, we have the opportunity to re-examine the company’s core business. We all want our company to provide valuable products, but do our products meet the needs of target users? Is the company committed to solving the fundamental problem behind the demand?

In the book “Competing with Luck”, the author emphasized: The focus is on progress, not on products. In other words, users are not simply buying products and services, but bringing products and services into life to achieve certain “progress”. The author refers to this “progress” as the “task” that users need to complete. . So, take a look at the corporate mission we defined. Does it directly promote some obvious progress? This progress can be personal, industrial, or even global. Only by showing a certain “progressive” mission can we inspire everyone’s enthusiasm and work hard for it.

2. Vision keyword: common interest

The vision is oriented to the future, which is the “scene that the company is willing to see”, expressing the ideals shared by the members of the company and the common benefits they hope to bring to everyone. If the mission must be “altruistic”, then the vision can be “self-interested”.

The vision and mission echo each other, just like a person, taking responsibility in the present, and the purpose of unremitting efforts is to realize a future ideal. Once the mission is determined, it cannot be changed easily, but the vision can be phased, such as what achievements and status in which fields are hoped for in five, ten, or twenty years. A successful corporate vision should have a meaningful purpose and a clear blueprint for the future.

What are the ideas for formulating the corporate vision? Take Disneyland as an example. Its mission is to “treat visitors as family members and create unforgettable memories for them”, and its vision is to “create a place to discover happiness and realize dreams.” Some visions are related to the personal beliefs of entrepreneurs, such as Wal-Mart’s “Let the common people have the opportunity to buy the same things as the rich.” Some companies develop blueprints based on insights into the macro environment, such as sports brand Patagonia: “Create the best products, avoid unnecessary harm, and use business thinking to provide solutions to environmental crises.” The vision is the embodiment of the company’s development direction and strategic positioning. An effective communication vision must be integrated with the company’s unique culture, so that employees are convinced and willing to fight for it.

The expression of the vision should be clear and concise as possible, no more than 1, 2 sentences, so that everyone can repeat it quickly, understand it, and spread it.

So how to formulate a corporate vision? Maybe it’s not easy to write a refined vision from the beginning, so you might as well list the company’s bold goals and look at the company’s long-term goals from a certain distance to help you better describe a goal after it is achieved. world. In fact, this is the core of the corporate vision. A tailored visionBe able to distinguish your business from other businesses, keep your goals in mind at critical moments, and guide the future of your business.

Three. Value (Value) Keywords: Code of Conduct

The importance of corporate culture is self-evident. Values ​​are the code of conduct, bottom line and creed advocated by companies that all companies need to abide by. How should the company establish its core values? Can values ​​change? Former Google Vice President Jessica Powell (Jessica Powell) is responsible for global communications and public affairs. The views in her article “How to Build a Company’s Core Values” are worthy of our reference.

She believes that, whether it is a newly established start-up company or an already small-scale company, it is a good way to clarify the company’s values. Many companies disdain to spend too much energy on this, they feel that their values ​​are to make as much money as possible. This is indeed a clear goal, but it is far from enough for companies that want to continue to develop. With the development of the company, the scope of employees’ work has become narrower, and business managers need to have more things to attract employees to participate in this work. So in essence, the company’s core values ​​are the basic beliefs that support a business.

Internally, this is reflected in how managers work effectively with employees, and externally, it also manifests in how the company interacts meaningfully with customers, critics, and competitors. How you work, how to solve problems, and even the corporate leaders’ own values ​​greatly affect the direction of the entire company and the daily work of employees.

So if the founder can’t find the direction, how to define the values? The author mentioned, first answer a question: What is most important to you? This is a simple and difficult question, try to answer some more specific questions first:

  • What brought the founders together? What is the motivation?

  • When hiring, what personality characteristics does the company expect from candidates? Is it more important to self-drive, the ability to resolve conflicts, or to good interpersonal and communication skills?

  • What is your product goal? Is it customer satisfaction, technical strength, or scale? Of course, these are not mutually exclusive, but if the goal is to create the most efficient company, then your company philosophy is probably not “putting the customer first.”

  • How do you think about innovation and success? For example, does it emphasize data-based decision-making? Highly iterative product development? Do you recognize that failure is an important part of the innovation process?

  • What makes your company unique? Maybe you only hire PhDs, or you like a diverse team to get more people involvedTo bring better products and business decisions.

These concepts are very different, but after selection, they will all point to a final core value.

After answering these questions, the author emphasized that the values ​​established by the company must be true to the corporate culture and founders, and must be factors influencing promotion and hiring decisions. Most importantly, these contents need to be trusted at the highest level. The company’s cultural tone is determined step by step by the company’s founders and executives. Therefore, business managers should also find a way to regularly measure and identify the extent to which values ​​are practiced, emphasize their importance in various ways, and even give rewards to reflect the company’s core values.

Finally, the author believes that culture and values ​​are living things and should be more flexible and open to their development. A corporate value that applies to 50 employees does not necessarily apply to 50,000 employees. Similarly, when a company is at a disadvantage, the places that customers, media, or politicians love will turn into disadvantages when the company grows.

Think about the “move fast and break things” advocated by Facebook. This is refreshing when the company was small, but in recent years, as the company has become involved in privacy and security, etc. Scandal, this slogan sounds a bit anachronistic. Facebook later adjusted this statement, leaving only “move fast.” After all, no matter what you think of Facebook, this is it.

Take some time now to formulate the company’s core values, because it will lead you forward for many years to come.