How do you assess a Vision statement?

 Vision is about zooming into the future as if it were closer.

Vision provides guidance about what core to preserve and what future to stimulate progress toward. Vision is part of the answer to the following questions...What Business are we in, and Why? Looking at it that way, the vision is where the ultimate goal is set. As such, if working out the vision isn't the hardest thing, you're not doing it right.

Vision is crucial to your strategy. It will give direction, so your vision is your first step in creating your strategy. Then "baking in" your Vision into your DNA (culture) will be the second step of your strategy. Therefore, the strategy should always be incepted by a strong vision, a vision that makes a difference, not a mere tactic for temporal gains. 

A vision is an integral part of any company’s strategy: As you cannot plan your strategy if you do not know what your vision for the company is. Furthermore, no vision and strategy will ever be successful without the input from ALL staff in the total company. So often vision and strategy are treated as confidential and no "buy in" from shop floor level is achieved. Thereby negating complete participation at all levels.

Vision is a destination, and strategy is the roadmap: Vision Statement is very difficult to establish if the Company (and Executives and Shareholders) doesn't have a Strategic Analysis, a Strategy and the most important thing...a Purpose of Business. As the vision is like a journey you want to embark on, but you would need the knowledge to implement, this journey roadmap is "strategy."

The unified view of the future: Building a change vision is often difficult as it requires the alignment at the most senior levels and needs to link to the overall strategic imperatives of the company. Given that a change vision includes a coherent and powerful statement of what the desired future state can be and focuses on common goals, everyone must have the same definition of the future state. Only then can you develop a compelling change story that all employees can relate to. So assess vision statement thoroughly, and review the project portfolio based on the clarified vision and crafted strategy: 
• the objectives and key elements of the project/program/ initiative; 
• clarity around what it means for the program/transformation to be successful, and can lead to discussions on some specific implications for groups and people; 
• clear statements on the desired performance and improvements that will result from the change/transformation; 
• prioritization and integration of the program with other ongoing (and potentially competing and/or duplicating) company programs/initiatives

Vision coming from the intuition, it comes from the experience and looks at the reality with curiosity. Vision comes from the heart and must be discovered, not developed. Vision is required at any given stage of an organization’s life span, so do economies. Without a continuous envisioning of a better future, society is doomed. 

Posted in: Strategy,Vision