Post 2.2 The characteristics of a Vision Statement?

1. What is Vision ( from The Power of Vision)

• Vision is clear
• Vision is preferable to the current state
• Vision concentrates on the future
• Vision is from God
• Vision is a gift to leaders that is tailored to the circumstances
• Vision reflects a realistic perspective
• Vision is dreaming the most possible dream
• Vision is built on reality
• A Visionary pastor is a successful pastor

2. Chip Ingram uses these words in the "How to grow a High Impact Church" series.

A vision:

• Must be Dynamic
• Must be simple & focused
• Must be Clear
• Must be Compelling
• Must be Measurable

3. A vision statement should therefore be:

• A short sentence
• Describing the vision
• Able to recreate a picture in people's minds
• Desirable to the listeners
• A stretch
• Possible, but not necessarily on the current resources
• A leading of God

Please comment:

1. Do you agree with the above definitions and explanations of Vision
2. Can you think of something else you would add to the list

Post 2.1 Does Vision really mobilise people?

I've seen Graeme's "Mind the Gap" presentation twice now and both times the highlight for me has been when he explains the "Bosberaad" and the emphasis on Visioning, Mission statement, Strategic objectives and so on. Whilst this part is very funny he does make the point that the Boomers used these techniques to change the world. I've never managed to catch up with him to find out what he really believes about this topic, I'm sure it can't be as bad as he makes it out to be. With Graeme you never know.

A few years back I learned a lot from a my cousin and Rene Horacks who both worked for the Pacific Institute and facilitated business courses that included Vision setting as a core part of the curriculum. They tell many first hand accounts of companies that have been turned around from losing market share and making losses to being leaders in the industries. Virtually every success story starts with the leadership creating a vision and then rallying their staff to contribute.
It's funny but people love change if it benefits them somehow and most people on the ground get fired up when they understand the strategy of their organisation and understand their own personal role in realizing the vision. When people at the coal face understand and like a vision, they somehow remove the obstacles without being told

More recently I have been reading George Barna's books on vision:

1. The Power of Vision
2. Turning Vision into Action

I will unpack some of the key issues from these 2 books in Post 2.3.

Today I was chatting to Atholl Tomlinson about how our company is changing.

• Our customers requirements and spending patterns are changing all the time;
• Our business models for how we mange the business are changing
• Our IT systems, business processes are being replaced, resulting in further change
• Human resources demands and socio-political forces also causes constant change

2 Observations we agreed on:

1. The right way to change a business is to begin with a vision of what you want the business to become.
2. Changing a business incrementally (based on opportunities that present themselves) is very difficult to mange through as you don't really know the final outcome. Keeping the people motivated becomes very challenging.

I personally am goal-driven and have found over the years that my biggest personal achievements (perhaps they would not be seen as successes for everyone) have all started with a clear picture of a desired outcome. The pictures were always vivid but only lasted a few seconds. I would then try and work out in detail what needed to be done to achieve the vision. Unfortunately a vision does not give the answer it simply gives you hope and energy to keep at it.

The bottom line is that a Vision (within the context of good leadership) is a very powerful tool in mobilsing organisations and people changing their world for the better.

Please comment:

1. Do you think a clear vision is key to changing an organisation?

Step 2.0 - The basics of a vision

This post consists of the following 5 topics:

1. Does vision really mobilise people?
2. Characteristic of a Vision
3. Differences between our Mission , Vision, Values, Strategies, Goals, Plans etc?
4. Biblical examples of Vision
5. Secular examples of Vision

Although the focus of this process has changed from trying to formulate a BBC church vision to the "Bringing-in Ministry" vision, we still feel that it is a worthwhile step as we would want the vision for this ministry to be clear and enticing.