Focus And Your Personal Mission Statement - Corporate Lesson #2
In lesson #1 I examined how one famous corporation's mission statement changed to meet the bigger vision the owners had created for it's future.
And you can do exactly the same thing with a personal mission statement - start with something and then edit the mission statement as your vision of what is possible expands with time and experience.
Remember that the premise of an optimal personal mission statement is that it includes the following three attributes: Vision, Focus and Brevity .
In this article (lesson #2) I will examine the published mission statements (as of Jan 2002 and Aug 2007) of another very well known technology corporation with the above three qualities in mind.
My intention in writing these articles is that you can learn from the changing mission statements of large, successful multinational corporations - and apply the knowledge gained to creating or improving your own.
Also, to make things more 'interesting', I will not identify this corporation in the main body of the article.
If the mission statements are concise and relevant you should be able to name who it is.
(The corporation's name is at the bottom of the article.
No cheating!) I made use of the internet archive 'wayback' machine to check out the mission statement from the year 2002.
http://www.
archive.
org/ The August 2007 mission statement was located on the corporation's public website.
1- Corporation 'B' 2002: 'B's mission is to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
2007: 'B's mission and values are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.
Notice how they have linked together mission and values in their mission statement.
This is a great idea - as long as a critical mass of the employees know what these are.
And buy into them.
If you are going to do something similar, spend some time on identifying your top 5 values.
Corporation 'B' has actually identified more than 5.
Here is an extract from their values statement: integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect.
What are yours? From Software To ? Perhaps you have guessed who this corporation is? Their Jan 2002 mission statement certainly hints at it! At that time they were already very successful for many years creating software products used by individuals, institutions and corporations worldwide.
Their mission statement as of Aug 2007 suggests an amalgamation of vision and mission concepts.
It certainly looks like they are about more than just software.
This may rankle with some mission statement purists who believe that 'B' may perhaps have created something with less focus than before, but with a much greater vision.
That may be technically correct but such is the brand name of 'B' that it is implied that software is at the heart of what they will continue to offer.
You can get more detail on how to write a personal mission statement by reading this article: Mission Statement So, did you deduce the identity of corporation 'B'? Answer: This is the mission statement of the Microsoft Corporation.
(www.
microsoft.
com)
And you can do exactly the same thing with a personal mission statement - start with something and then edit the mission statement as your vision of what is possible expands with time and experience.
Remember that the premise of an optimal personal mission statement is that it includes the following three attributes: Vision, Focus and Brevity .
In this article (lesson #2) I will examine the published mission statements (as of Jan 2002 and Aug 2007) of another very well known technology corporation with the above three qualities in mind.
My intention in writing these articles is that you can learn from the changing mission statements of large, successful multinational corporations - and apply the knowledge gained to creating or improving your own.
Also, to make things more 'interesting', I will not identify this corporation in the main body of the article.
If the mission statements are concise and relevant you should be able to name who it is.
(The corporation's name is at the bottom of the article.
No cheating!) I made use of the internet archive 'wayback' machine to check out the mission statement from the year 2002.
http://www.
archive.
org/ The August 2007 mission statement was located on the corporation's public website.
1- Corporation 'B' 2002: 'B's mission is to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
2007: 'B's mission and values are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.
Notice how they have linked together mission and values in their mission statement.
This is a great idea - as long as a critical mass of the employees know what these are.
And buy into them.
If you are going to do something similar, spend some time on identifying your top 5 values.
Corporation 'B' has actually identified more than 5.
Here is an extract from their values statement: integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect.
What are yours? From Software To ? Perhaps you have guessed who this corporation is? Their Jan 2002 mission statement certainly hints at it! At that time they were already very successful for many years creating software products used by individuals, institutions and corporations worldwide.
Their mission statement as of Aug 2007 suggests an amalgamation of vision and mission concepts.
It certainly looks like they are about more than just software.
This may rankle with some mission statement purists who believe that 'B' may perhaps have created something with less focus than before, but with a much greater vision.
That may be technically correct but such is the brand name of 'B' that it is implied that software is at the heart of what they will continue to offer.
You can get more detail on how to write a personal mission statement by reading this article: Mission Statement So, did you deduce the identity of corporation 'B'? Answer: This is the mission statement of the Microsoft Corporation.
(www.
microsoft.
com)
