Vision? Yes!

Dear Mark, Christina, Melissa, Robbie, Keith and Tiffany -

I believe in the Visioning process: identifying strengths and weaknesses; working from a 3-5 year plan with strategies and identifiable goals. Many of you would agree. At least you would agree that a vision is good for a business. Fewer of you would agree that a visioning process is good for a church and even fewer would agree that a personal vision is necessary.

I believe that all business need a vision. All churches need a vision. All people need a vision. Today, economic power belongs to consumers; the old days of a manufacturer having a successful strategy of "you buy what I make" are long gone. The days are long gone when a church can say, "Come visit us Sunday"and really expect visitors to show up.

Three reasons for a visioning process:

The past might not predict the future

An inability to anticipate the impact of trends on businesses and individuals can lead to outdated products or services that are no longer required by customers. The lack of an up-to-date analysis of business capabilities may generate a false sense of security when change is undertaken. Misapplication of management principles causes complaints that continuous improvement or business process re-engineering "don't work" and leaves stakeholders dissatisfied.

Without vision, people perish

A vision must focus on the future and serve as a concrete foundation, an enduring promise. Unlike goals and objectives, a vision does not fluctuate from year to year. A successful vision paints a vivid picture, and though future based, is written in the present tense as if it were being realized now. It illustrates what the organization will do in the face of ambiguity and surprise. A vision must give people the feeling that their lives and work are intertwined and moving toward legitimate goals.

Without a vision that clearly defines the future, people will perish and businesses will fail.

Without action, vision dies

Visions are only accomplished through operating plans - actions.

A business is defined by the wants the customer satisfies when buying a product or service.

In the business world, all customers in the supply chain must be satisfied.

All stakeholders should be able to readily see that the actions of the company are directly related to the vision.