And wondering why so many just suck. Stumbled onto these two posts over at MiniMicrosoft and ProudlyServing which are thoughtful perspectives from employees…
First… “Our mission statement: “Create experiences that combine the magic of software with the power of Internet services across a world of devices.” Ba-roo? Everytime I think of it, all I see is a grinning Doug Henning tossing a handful of confetti sparkles into the air, gasping, “…the magic of software!” and conjuring up a glittering world full of devices. Mr. Adam Barr works over the mission statement and comes up with something far more direct.”
Then… “So what do I think the vision statement should be? I like something that describes how often somebody interacts with Microsoft software. If we make the time frame short enough, we will have to cover all devices, because the person has to be within reach of a Microsoft device that often. Of course it has to involve the Internet, no duh…. So let’s start with a vision statement like “Every person on earth will have an interaction with Microsoft software every TIME-PERIOD.”
I always viewed the one from Dilbert as the reference model: “We will have all the wealth in the world while everybody else dies in the gutter wishing they were us”
These often are too generic, aren’t they? Schwab’s was (still is) to ‘provide the most useful and ethical financial services in the world’. They meant it, but of course it wasn’t very useful in guiding priorities or decision making…