Just start walking.

How efficiently do you achieve your goals? Do you walk straight forward or do you just stumble ahead?

Here is the difference:

If you walk, you can calculate the energy consumption for each step and plan contingency measures in case you stumble and fall. You can do this and perfect it until you are not able to take a step any more.

The alternative: you choose a direction, estimate your walking capabilities, make provisions, and then just WALK! As simple as that!

Guess who achieves the goals faster.

There are organizations (and even cities) with a vision and those without one. We can see the difference: the former demonstrate a consistent way forward. The latter suffer from indecisiveness and inefficiencies around each corner.

The issue is that “leaders” of non-visionary organizations in many cases complain about tight budgets, difficult competition, and find other excuses for underperformance.

It is important to understand that a vision is not a nice catch phrase, but rather an inspiring goal that everybody can easily understand and commit to.

An easy way to identify the “visionability” of an organization is the “business case test”: If you need a business case for each and every action and decision, you have neither a vision nor a strategy (n.b.: business cases are not the substitute for a strategy.)

Look at your organization: Can it pass the “business case test”? How free are you and your co-workers to walk, with a clear idea of where you are headed?

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This post is from our Friday noon memo #94. Interested in regular updates? Sign up here.
© Copyright by New Pace Consulting SA, 2011. All rights reserved.