Mission statements are a key element of determining your company's identity and direction.

 

The Big Questions:

• Why does my company need a mission statement?
• What elements make up a successful mission statement?
• How do I go about drafting one?

It might seem redundant. After all, you know what your company does, and your customers know what it does, so why put it down on paper? It might even seem pretentious. Making high-minded statements about your company is something only the big guys do, isn’t it?

However, it’s something that experts say all businesses should have on their walls, for the benefit of both the company and its customers. It’s a mission statement, of course, and although you may think it’s no more essential to your company than a motivational poster, it is a key element of determining your company’s identity and direction.

Why is a mission statement necessary? “The short answer is that companies are asked to do so many things that if we can simplify and provide focus, that is something we should do more and more of,” explains Dr. Todd Dewett, associate professor of management at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Dewett is a consultant formerly with Andersen Consulting and Ernst & Young, and is the author of the forthcoming book Leadership Redefined.

“The mission statement is important because it really serves to define the organization’s purpose and give its employees a sense of its targeted direction,” says Richard Chang, CEO of performance-improvement firm Richard Chang & Associates and author of more than 25 books on business and personal development.

Without a clear mission statement on paper, Chang says, a company could find itself rudderless or, worse, without a moral or ethical center on which to base its decisions. “Sometimes it can lead to maverick leadership, if you will, meaning you can find a justification for going after all kinds of opportunities that may look good in the short-term but can really suboptimize what your company is all about,” Chang says.

Dewett says having a mission statement in place can provide everyone involved in the company with a definitive answer to one of the most important questions: “What do we do?”

Keep It Simple
Having counseled dozens of organizations on developing their mission statements through the years, Dewett says there is not much consensus about what a mission statement should include. However, he says a few characteristics are not only a constant presence in the majority of mission statements, but are also required to make a mission statement successful.

“Short is a huge characteristic of what a successful mission statement is,” Dewett says.
“One element is that they are brief and to the point, meaning that they are not three paragraphs long or a lot of bullet points,” Chang reiterates. “I’ve seen mission statements that are two sentences with five bullet points, things that you’re not going to remember.”

The reason for making your mission statement short is because, although you’ll hang it on your walls or put it on your stationery, employees and executives need to keep it in mind all the time, not just when they’re looking down at their letterhead. “Human memory is really, really limited,” Dewett says. “If you say to a group, ‘Show of hands, how many people can repeat to me the mission statement for your organization,’ and I’ve done this 100 times, I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than 5 percent say that they can do that.” This creates a dangerous situation because it means there are employees and possibly executives within the organization who do not have a clear idea of the company’s goals and values.

Blue-Sky Statements
The other essential element of a successful mission statement, according to Dewett, is inspiration. “If you’re going to make them remember something, it might as well be inspiring,” he says.  
Examples of mission statements that Dewett says exemplify his “short and inspiring” template are ones such as Mary Kay’s, which says its mission is “to give unlimited opportunities to women,” and Disney, which states its goal simply as wanting “to make people happy.”

“I’m always for short and inspiring, which I guess would not make the consultants in this business very happy, but at least it’s honest,” Dewett says.

Indeed, Chang says such big-picture, dreamy statements are better described as vision statements. He says a vision statement should describe the larger calling for the company, but a mission statement should detail concrete goals for achieving that bigger purpose. A vision statement, he says, should be more like “what I want to be when I grow up” for a company.

Dewett argues keeping a mission statement big-picture-oriented gives a company flexibility procedurally but not idealistically. “The idea that how we do things can change is OK; what needs to stay the same is the core message.”

Inspiring Examples
Richard Chang provides examples of some of the best mission and vision statements he’s come across while consulting. He says these examples combine brevity with clear goals.

In Entertainment:
Vision: “To be a world-class family entertainment destination that provides the ultimate Hollywood experience exceeding all guest expectations.”
Mission: “To bring fun-filled Hollywood experiences to life to a worldwide audience while providing unparalleled quality, value, and service to our guests.”

In Transportation:
Vision: “To provide leadership in creating transportation choices which enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve.”
Mission: “We create, coordinate, finance and deliver an easy-to-use transportation network that keeps the community moving and meets the public’s needs.”

In Technology Products:
Vision: “We will be widely recognized as the leading supplier of innovative technology solutions to home office customers worldwide.”
Mission: “We are a supplier of quality imaging and computing products and services that deliver superior value to customers in the home office market.”