how to define your vision and mission
It is easy to get lost in all the branding terminology. The mission and vision are notoriously confusing. Sometimes the terms are misinterpreted, used the wrong way around, or end up generating bland statements.
What is the definition of a vision?
A vision paints a picture of a future world you are working towards.
What is the definition of a mission?
A mission describes how you are going to get there. Kevin Starr of the Mulago Foundation wants it to be eight words or less. “Mission statements in the social sector are often the same kind of word-salad, but there isn't a common raison d'etre. We […] don't want to wade through a bunch of verbiage about "empowerment," "capacity-building," and "sustainability"—we want to know exactly you're trying to accomplish. We want to cut to the chase, and the tool that works for us is the eight-word mission statement.”
Starr describes the ideal mission statement as
a verb
a target population
an outcome that implies something to measure
You could replace population with habitat or sector.
“And we want it in eight words or less.”
Why eight words? Starr: “It just seems to work. It's long enough to be specific and short enough to force clarity.”
He shares these examples:
Rehabilitate coral reefs in the Western Pacific
Prevent maternal-child transmission of HIV in Africa
Get Zambian farmers out of poverty
Starr: “These statements tell us exactly what the organization has set out to accomplish. Once we've got it, we know whether they are working on something that fits our own mission, and we have a useful starting point for any subsequent conversations.”
What is the difference between a mission and a vision?
Think about a mission and vision statement as a climb up the mountain.
The vision is the top of the mountain, the mission is your way there.
We’ve illustrated this in our tool, The Climb and illustrated it with examples from existing, inspiring brands. It's one of the 20 tools and exercises in Brand The Change, the guidebook. We use it in all our workshops and it works wonders.
download our free mission vision writing tool
Download the tool for free from our resources section.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PURPOSE, MISSION AND VISION?
There are many different definitions of purpose, mission, and vision. This makes it hard to say what the difference is because everyone has a different idea of what each is.
The truth is, there was not a global meeting of wise people who designed a perfect system of clear definitions and how they all should fit together. ‘Purpose’ is often used as a replacement for the slightly out-of-fashion terms mission and vision.
If you want to keep it simple, we advise creating one clear purpose statement instead of a combination of the three different concepts.
A purpose captures your reason for being beyond your self-interest. Depending on how you phrase your purpose, it often combines the mission and the vision (what you do, and what you are trying to achieve).
Do you need a purpose statement if you have a mission and vision - or vice versa?
Some organizations like to get granular and want to have them all. Some people prefer to work with one simple statement. Whatever works for you is the way to go.
More Resources
Read more in our guide to writing a Purpose Statement
Find examples of mission and vision statements in the book, Brand The Change