Writing business fiction

Visualize your mission

I just read an interesting blog piece by Tom Foster at www.managementblog.org. He wrote of someone who was having a tough time figuring out the mission statement for their company- a bread bakery. Gentle questioning eventually set off a light bulb.

“In the hallway is our mission statement, only it’s just a picture, of a steaming loaf of bread emerging from an oven door.”

I worked for a time as a defense contractor and the walls of our offices had many images of soldiers and high tech military hardware. However, the strongest statement of our mission occurred when I had an opportunity to visit an Army base and see Moms and Dads in their camouflaged uniforms with their families shopping at the Post Exchange. Nowhere else was the mission of what I did more clear. Sometimes a mission statement may be a picture or video. Include that in your briefing materials. It may prove as powerful to your company as it was to you.

posted by Joe @ 8:07 PM