Vision Revisited

Abstract

Organization vision has been a topic much discussed and written about over the past couple of decades. Yet, confusion still exists regarding what it is and how it is most effectively conveyed. Vision is often confused with the similar constructs of organization mission, philosophy and values, strategy, and goals. This article examines the key differences among these frequently confused constructs and the inherent weaknesses of traditional vision statements to provide the sense of meaning and motivation for organization members. A different concept of organization vision is presented—vision as a descriptive story of the desired future in action. Several examples of such vision stories are presented. A case example is used to illustrate how to develop the vision story and deploy it through-out an organization to gain shared commitment to it.