1. Tell me again- what’s the difference between Vision, Mission and Strategy?
- by Andy Scantland, Managing Partner, Upside Partners
It’s a question I hear again and again: “how do I keep it straight between my mission statement and my
vision statement and my strategy?” Leaders often are asking as they approach a planning period or just
prior to the ‘management retreat’.
The request is really valid: executives want to create clarity for their teams and want to start at the top
with a review of the organization’s purpose. According to James Kouzes and Barry Posner of Harvard,
research tells us that only 3% of the typical business leader’s time is spent envisioning and enlisting.
Since the company’s vision isn’t visited frequently, it’s tough to remember how the terms differ and how
they’re applied. A good boss wants to be sure she is crafting the right tool for the right purpose.
Further, some want to know how critical having a Vision or Mission statement really is.
Let’s start with definitions.
An organization’s Vision is the Aspiration, the Why, the North Star, how you want the world to be
different. An organization’s ideal future, a future which may never be achieved but is continuously
sought.
The Mission of an organization is the Purpose, the What, how this organization will operate on a broad
and long lasting scale in order to make this world a different place. The Mission answers four questions
about an organization’s existence:
o WHAT we do;
o WHAT value does we bring?
o WHOM do we do it for; and
o HOW we do what we do.
Many ask, then, what’s the difference between Mission and Strategy? Strategy is the How, the
Roadmap. The Strategy explains how resources should be allocated to accomplish the mission. The
Strategy is more concrete, more specific and typically covers no more than a five year timeframe (and
often in the one to three year range).
Below is a table comparing Vision, Mission and Strategy side-by-side:
Vision Mission Strategy
Also
known
as…
Our Aspiration / The Why /
The North Star
Our Purpose / The What Our Roadmap / The How
Definition The optimal desired future
state; a statement of where
the company is headed and
what values are guiding that
journey; an inspiring portrait
of what it will look and feel
A statement of how we will
accomplish our vision; what
and how the organization
wants to accomplish.
How resources should be
allocated to accomplish the
mission.

2. like to pursue and achieve the
organization’s mission and
goals.
Attributes Shapes our understanding of
why the organization exists
and what role it plays in the
world.
• Focus is on an ideal; a
future which may never
be achieved but always
sought
• Defines where you see
the organization some
years, maybe decades,
from now.
• Inspires the team to give
its best.
Answers four questions about
why an organization exists :
WHAT it does;
WHAT value does it bring?
WHOM do we do it for; and
HOW it does what it does.
• Broad goals for which the
organization is formed.
Prime function is internal;
• Defines the key
measure(s) of the
organization's success;
• Defines the market(s) to
be served.
• Prime audience is the
leadership, team and
stockholders.
• Concrete, goal-oriented
language
Individuals can see how their
contribution supports the
strategy.
• Short- and long-term
goals and should
explain how those
goals will be achieved
• The guardrails that
define prioritization,
resource allocation and
decision-making
• Specifically, who we
serve and how we will
reach them.
• Creating the Strategy
typically follows the
delineation of Vision
and/or Mission.
Examples are often helpful here.
Caremark is a good example of distinguishing between Vision and Mission:
Caremark’s Vision: We strive to improve the quality of human life.
Caremark’s Mission: We provide expert care and innovative solutions in pharmacy and
healthcare that are effective and easy for our customers.
Steve Jobs noted that Apple’s vision has nothing to do with boxes or bytes. In this video, Jobs explains
that Apple’s Vision is to help people with passion to change the world for the better; note Jobs’ Vision
for Apple is not around computers or graphics or improved user interfaces. It’s around the value
delivered to the world.
Ikea provides another good example. They use slightly different language but the content works well in
this framework:
Ikea’s Vision: To create a better everyday life for the many people. (Yes, the wording is awkward
for our American ears but you get the point.)
Ikea’s Mission: The business idea: we shall offer a wide range of well-designed home furnishings
at prices so low that as many people as possible are able to afford them. The HR idea: to give
down-to-earth, straightforward people the opportunity to grow both as individuals and in their

3. professional roles so that together we are strongly committed to creating a better everyday life
for ourselves and for our customers.
Do I need a Vision or a Mission statement?
Many organizations succeed without one or both. I doubt you could find a correlation between financial
results and the existence of a mission statement. However, good reason exists to spend time thinking
about this.
First, providing a vision is a big expectation of Leadership. When Harvard’s Kouzes and Posner surveyed
many thousands of people and asked “What do you look for and admire in a leader (defined as someone
whose direction you would willingly follow)?”, 72% said the leader should be forward looking. Only
honesty was a higher rated trait for leaders.
Next, Vision and Mission provide essential clarity. People doing the work need to understand the basis
for how major decisions are made and the values that support those decisions. By developing and
communicating Vision and Mission, people understand how their contribution fits into the overall
organization’s performance. According to Gallup, the highly-regarded research organization which has
studied thousands or organizations and teams, understanding how your individual contribution fits into
the organization is a core driver of employee engagement and performance.
Further, team members and customers can align and evangelize to your values much more easily when
they can point to a well-communicated vision. People can talk about it much more easily and
enthusiastically when they understand and believe in it to their core.
Finally, Vision and Mission grease the skids of decision making. Executives and middle managers are
called upon to make resource allocation decisions on a daily basis: how to invest capital, who to hire,
which strategy to pursue. When Leadership has established a clear aspiration and purpose for the
organization, those decisions are based on the overarching values for the organization and create
consistency of purpose. Managers can rely on a set of guardrails on which to frame discussions, make
thoughtful recommendations and deliver investment decisions.
Is publishing a Mission or Vision statement the special sauce for improving performance of your
organization? Probably not, but it can certainly contribute to building better, more enthusiastic and
driven teams.
Andy Scantland is a principal at Upside Partners, which provides leadership development and executive
coaching for growing businesses. Andy can be reached at ascantland@upside-partners.com.
Copyright 2015 Upside Partners