The Science of Marketing

Today’s post by Drew McLellan asks how marketers can create mission statements that avoid the ambiguous and vague Dilbert version and actually define an organization’s reason for being. Being movie buffs, we just can’t resist drawing inspiration for a follow-up from the blockbuster franchise: Mission Impossible.

Did you ever wonder why Tom Cruise’s missions were impossible? Maybe the IMF’s vision was too grandiose or Mr. Phelps’ goals were too ill defined to take meaningful actions. As it turned out, at least in the first three movies, our hero defied the odds and accomplished his impossible missions. But, that’s Hollywood. In the real world of high tech, visions must be insightful and relevant, goals must be specific and measurable, and both must be tied together with missions possible.

A corporate mission statement is developed for one main purpose: to drive a company’s actions. Since a company lives and dies by its actions, it is crucial to get the mission right and make sure that every employee is aligned on it. Getting the mission right seems easy enough, but entrepreneurs often fall into some common pitfalls when developing a mission.

Mission is confused with vision – More often than not a mission is crafted to sound like a vision (and vice versa). Remember that a vision is about thinking and mission is about doing. Both are needed, but without an action orientated mission, an organization has no fundamental direction.

• Vision: In five years, every cell phone will be sold with an ultra-long life battery
• Mission: To bring ultra-long life cell phone batteries to 60% of consumers in five years

Mission is too broad or unfocused – Entrepreneurs are known to be aggressive and zealous. These are fundamentally valuable traits, but they may need to be reigned in when it comes to formulating a mission statement. If a mission statement is too broad, it may not be achievable in a meaningful time frame, or it may be open for various interpretations and, possibly, conflicting actions.

• Too broad: To be the world’s leading software vendor
• Focused: To be the number one enterprise security software vendor in the United States

Mission does not align with corporate goals – Perhaps the worst faux pas is a mission that does not align with corporate goals. For example, consider a corporate goal of selling $50M in wireless networking infrastructure in the North American residential market.

• Does not support goal: To be the worldwide wireless networking vendor of choice to residences and businesses
• Supports goal: To be the North American wireless networking vendor of choice to the residential market

Getting the mission right is essential to getting your company moving in the same direction – toward success. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to craft a mission statement that is actionable, focused and aligned with corporate goals, and to ensure that employees are aware of, understand and are executing on the mission.

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