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to the barricades when the chips are down”. You have defined, refined and
committed your team to your Ideal Future. Your task now is to encapsu-
late that future in a short, pithy, meaningful, inspirational phrase that will
excite and motivate everybody from employee to customer to come to the
barricades when the chips are down. This is by no means an easy task and
many strategic planning sessions have seen top businesspeople sweating
well beyond midnight on a simple task that they started early that day. A
couple of questions might help.

n What is it about our Ideal Future that genuinely excites and
inspires us?

n How can we express that, preferably in words of not more than two
syllables so that others will share our excitement?

n What do our people like to do that is implicit or explicit in our
Ideal Future?

– Do they like to “kick ass”? (A Japanese earth-moving
competitor has the vision statement “Surround Caterpillar”.
This may not sound important, but it does two key things. It
exploits the employees’ desire to be aggressively competitive
and it channels that aggression against the competitor that
must be beaten if Komatsu is to enjoy market dominance.)

– Do they want to protect the environment?

– Do they want to serve their neighbours and their
neighbourhood?

– Do they want to be respected as the best of the best? (A banking
client has “Ultimate in Service – Anywhere”.)

n What will make all our stakeholders determined to support our
progress and proud to be part of what we truly are?

n How will we test what we develop to ensure that it is truly
inspirational?

– How will we know that it will “get people to the barricades
when the chips are down”?

n How will we communicate it to all those who have a part to play in
making our vision reality?

Communicating the vision and mission in such a way that they promote
action is a tough task. It is a task that demands as much consideration as
the writing of either or both. Be careful to avoid anything that has failed
in the past. If the video of the chairman fell on deaf ears, do something dif-
ferent this time.

Ensure that the words used in both the vision and the mission state-
ment are carefully checked to ensure that ambiguities are excluded. Go a
step further and assure yourself that, where necessary, definitions are
agreed. When you communicate, try to ensure that everyone receives the

12 Key management questions