Clarify Your Mission

Strategic success begins with the clearest of mission statements of the type that JFK articulated in 1961 – “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”  Or take Disney’s mission, “To make people happy.”  Or Merck’s, “To preserve and improve human life.”

Unfortunately, many missions offer no basis for differentiation.  Take General Motors’ for example, “…dedicated to providing products and services of such quality that our customers will receive superior value while our employees and business partners will share in our success and our stockholders will receive a sustained superior return…”  This mission could apply to any business; it was not a foundation for competitive differentiation.

Waypoint’s strategic assessment process begins with confirming your organization’s mission or helping you recast it to provoke discussion about how you can differentiate yourself, and to excite and bind together your stakeholders around success as you have defined it.