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
founders 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 peoples
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 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 its 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.