Vision is closely related to purpose, which we discussed yesterday. But while purpose is fundamentally utilitarian, telling us what we are doing now, vision is forward-looking, struggling to discern how and where we will be doing it in the future.
Vision properly comes after purpose is established, after an entrepreneur has determined to form an enterprise to undertake something important to him or her. It may appear in the instant after the business concept is born, or it may require some time and thought – even some work – to come to light. This latter possibility is common, and is the most interesting thing about vision for the purposes of our discussion here; we will return to it in a moment.
But first, let’s note briefly what vision does for an organization. Many believe it infuses the firm with an inspiring view of their endeavor. This is a popular approach to the idea that is widely supported by the modern leadership movement, even generating multiple thriving mini-niches.
My personal favorite is the notion of the “edge-walker,” who treads daringly at the very threshold of the future, seeing what we can’t see, and communicating the opportunities and dangers ahead, which we fail to perceive and can even only dimly comprehend once they are pointed out to us. We rely utterly on such edge-walkers to guide us, since we are lost and confused without their special senses and insight. This idea describes we followers as people who can’t see past our Friday paychecks, and who need others – to us impossibly, even irritatingly, enlightened – to protect us from the rapidly approaching future.
This sort of thinking may have seemed plausible in the midst of the chaotic, “new-economy,” dotcom world that gave it birth, but today, as much from that era, we can see that it is nonsense. Grand visions have a role in imparting inspiration and energy to an organization, but focusing on this aspect to the exclusion of its more fundamental importance quite rapidly makes a mockery of the corporate and collaborative value of the whole exercise.
Vision is, at bottom, a planning tool. It helps us anticipate what we are capable of, explore the present and potential limits of those capabilities, and prepare steps to reach them. In this sense, vision is an intermediate stage between purpose and strategy. It is intimately related to both, at the same time that it, properly conceived and developed, connects them in an organizationally fruitful way.
But if it has leadership functions, is it necessarily distinct from management? Is it something that managers cannot, or should not presume to, do?
Whether vision is, as mentioned, a by-product of the inspiration that led to the formation of the business enterprise, or needs to be developed later, management is exceedingly well positioned to inform its elaboration. Managers know what is possible, and what obstacles and opportunities can be manipulated to shape and expand those possibilities as the endeavor proceeds and grows. From market segment and scope to organizational shape and reach, management can help define strategically viable vision that offers an organization both the impulse for forward motion and the logic for engaging in it.
What’s more, the intelligently managed organization will not rely solely on its own professional managers for this, but will draw inspiration and ideas from everyone within and without the firm, from staff to customers to competitors.
It’s true, then, that vision is a big deal. Far too big to leave to an individual visionary leader. Moreover, managers have a natural role – both direct and indirect – in informing, if not themselves shaping, it.
So, here’s a function that may appear to straddle the leadership and management categories. But I think if we look a little closer, we’ll actually see that it is a leadership function that is not so much distinct from management as managed – or at the very least, informed – by it.
We will consider this idea from another angle when we examine strategy, which is next. See you tomorrow!
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Today’s tip: The world of women at work continues to confront us with dismaying news. Sometimes we think we are seeing progress, and sometimes it seems as though things haven’t changed at all. While employment and demographic dynamics will ultimately improve matters, obstacles – including seemingly petty and essentially irrelevant ones – can delay the clearing of this particular market for some considerable time. Please see this article from Management-Issues for more evidence on how this happens.
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