The following is Scott Berkun’s view of what needs to come together to make up a good vision. These points have been taken from (p74-75) his book “Making things Happen”, which has been separately reviewed.
This is the 7th draft. I am adopting an iterative approach to this post, utilising feedback (both internally and externally) in order that I can improve how I communicate this Vision such that it is clear and compelling. Hence, if this draft is not either, then please let me know!
By “Vision” I am taking a looser interpretation of the word – others might interpret the following (and the associated pages all marked as “Vision”) as part of all of these:
Vision, Strategy, Goals, Objectives, etc
I have bundled all of these concepts under the broader label “where this bus is headed”, which I have adopted from the book “Good to Great”. I recognise that some of the linked pages are perhaps more like “how we’re going to get where we are headed”.
I posted, early in January, about where our bus is headed (you might refer to this as our Vision). I have progressively refined this, since then, to improve the clarity of this core message.
For those who are interested, I have also started posting more details about some aspects of this Vision – as falling under any of these core headings. Posts that have preceded this one are:
1) I posted about my vision for growing clients (and revenues) 20x.
2) I also posted about how we’d deliver this growth in clients with only a 3-4x growth in employee numbers.
It does not take a rocket surgeon to realise that we become much smarter if we are to achieve these growth targets. Specifically we need to:
1) do more of the right things;
2) do the right things more efficiently and effectively, and
3) stop doing the wrong things.
Our Systems, Process and Culture will be the keys to getting us there…
I posted on the main page that we will make the electricity market understandable, across many different locations around the world.
Here are some further details about what we will be like in reaching that “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG).
I posted, early in January, about where our bus is headed (you might refer to this as our Vision). I have progressively refined this, since then, to improve the clarity of this core message.
For those who are interested, I have also started posting more details about some aspects of this Vision – as falling under any of these core headings. Posts that have preceded this one are:
1) I posted about my vision for growing clients (and revenues) 20x.
A key prerequisite for this to happen is that our team of employees also grows (in numbers – but more importantly in competency).
Based on the experience we have gained in the past 10 years, we think that our growth in client numbers can be achieved with an increase in staff numbers of only about 3-4x our current levels.
We have some work to do in the next couple of years in this respect, as follows:
I posted, early in January, about where our bus is headed (you might refer to this as our Vision). I have progressively refined this, since then, to improve the clarity of this core message.
For those who are interested, I have also started posting more details about some aspects of this Vision – as falling under any of these core headings. This post provides more details under the first heading.
As part of the navel-gazing we have been doing recently (to coincide with our 10th birthday, which is rapidly approaching) we have been contemplating this question. For us, there are plenty of opportunities (some mutually exclusive – at least for a company our size).
Being New Year’s Day, I thought it would be of interest to you to post a few comments about where our bus is headed into the future. Call this our very own New Year’s resolution.
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Here’s an interesting video (runs for an hour) promoting a new book “Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, and Maybe Even the World” by Warren Berger (and Bruce Mau).
Seems like an interesting book, so have thrown it in our shopping cart, and will review it sometime in 2010.
Here’s another back-dated post, with a date chosen shortly after Joel’s post to which it refers. I’ve done this to ensure that these comments are read in context.
My apologies to those for whom this practice offends – as noted before, I believe ICT is an enabler, not an ends in itself (or, to put it another way, I am not interested in form without substance).
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Back on November 1st, Joel Spolsky made a post for Inc magazine entitled “Does Slow Growth Equal Slow Death?”.
One of the guys in the office found this, and it stimulated a bit of discussion internally about where our bus is headed (on a restricted post). This was good, as we had commenced our Autopsy 2 process. read more »
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Back on 29th July, I had the good fortune of attending an event provided by the IIB entitled “Building the Resilient Company”. I posted some comments about this at the time here.
During this event, I heard a presentation by Evan Fortune (one of the founders of Vision 6) and was impressed with his story.
In his presentation, Evan mentioned a couple of consultants/coaches they had utilised to work through some of the muddle in which they had found themselves as a result of the growth they had experienced over several years. One of these was Shirlaws.
I met with Evan on a couple of occasions following from this, and (based on what Evan told us of their successes with his firm) opted to give Shirlaws a try – calling them in as one of several external resources during the Autopsy 2 process.
Stay tuned to this blog for more details about how much value we gain from Shirlaws!