BUILDING YOUR COMPANY’S VISION

Core values and a core purpose are the foremost requirements for a company to sustain
and adapt to the rapid dynamic world, and these core beliefs of any company determine
what should change and what should not. This ability of managing changes is linked with the
ability to develop the company’s vision.

An ideal company vision consists of two things: core ideology and envisioned future.

Core Ideology

The core ideology determines the enduring nature of the organization which means its
identity, technological breakthroughs, management fads, and its leadership. Core ideology
consists of core values and core purpose of the organization.

Generally, a company has about three to five core values that they deeply hold and which
are central to the organization. They mostly come from the founder’s inner beliefs and are
passed down within the organization. Core values can be in the form of innovation, being a
pioneer, CSR initiatives, honesty and integrity and many more.

Core purpose, which is the second part of the core ideology, reflects people’s idealistic
motivations for doing the company’s work and captures the soul of the company. However,
the purpose is seldom realized because a company never stops growing and keeps changing
for the good and progressing. Core purpose could be to solve problems innovatively, or to
improve the living standard of the world, and the like.

Core ideology has to be discovered, and it cannot be created or faked. The question that
needs to be asked before determining core values is, what core values do we passionately
hold that guide and inspire us? Core ideology has to be meaningful within the organization
firstly instead of being attractive to outsiders because the people within the organization
have to commit to the ideology and have a compatibility with their personal values. Hence,
core ideologies are not mere statements, but are ideas or values that people follow truly.

Therefore, it is very essential to capture the essence of core values and core purpose to
create vision statements which will express the deeper understanding of the organization.
At the same time, core ideology should not be confused with core competence. Core
competence is that which defines the organizations capabilities, which means what you are
good at, while core ideology captures what you stand for and why you exist. However, both
core ideology and core competence should be aligned.

Envisioned future

Envisioned future consists of two parts: a 10-30-year BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) plus
vivid descriptions of what it will be like to achieve the goal. It defines something that’s real
or visible and yet unrealized with its dreams, hopes and aspirations. They stimulate progress
and are challenging at the same time.

A vision requires these 10-30 years of effort and applies to the entire organization. A vision
also needs vivid descriptions that are vibrant, engaging, and yet specific descriptions of what
it’s like to achieve goals.

Core ideology should not be confused with envisioned future, and similarly core purpose
should not be confused with Big goals. Identifying core ideology is a discovery process but
setting the envisioned future requires creative efforts. Vision or mission statements need to
be translated into effective context for building companies’ visions.