Make Your Mission Statement Ring
An extract of today's Monday Morning Memo by Roy H. Williams
“The fundamental shortcoming of most mission statements is that everyone expects them to be highfalutin and all-encompassing. The result is a long, boring, commonplace and pointless joke. Companies are all writing the same mediocre stuff.”
- Guy Kawasaki
Most organizations try to define themselves by telling us what they believe in, what they stand for. But self-definition isn’t believable until you tell us what you stand against.
Do you want your mission statement to be read, quoted, cussed and discussed? If so, don't tell us what your corporate culture includes. Tell us what it excludes. Tell us what you’re fighting against.
Most mission statements are pointless for the same reason most ads are pointless:
1. They're not written to provide focus or clarity.
2. They're not written to separate you from the pack.
3. They're not written to persuade.
They're written not to offend.
My first book, The Wizard of Ads, was named Business Book of the Year 10 years ago. Do you remember the subject of its very first chapter?
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