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We have spent a
lot of time at work lately trying to come up with a revised mission statement for the
small company I work for. I think these mission statements are all a bunch of bulls**t and
we are wasting our time. What do you think of mission statements? Is there a way to direct
a mission statement so that it helps the company rather than consumes valuable time by
strapping me into a long meeting once a week?
Every nation has a
flag and every organization wants a mission statement that backs up its logo. Too often a
top executive assigns someone under her or him to write one that is in turn rubber-stamped
by a board. The opposite of that approach is to solicit input from those at lower levels.
The opportunity to create a statement is more than the composition of a general direction,
it is an opportunity to think aloud with others about the directions of your organization
and how it is living up to the values important to profit, its customers, its employees,
and the wider community in which it is housed. So don't complain about wasting time in
meetings. Use that time to talk shop, talk business, and talk about how your workplace
should behave honorably.
-- Doc Gorden