Why I Hate Mission Statements
Actually, I don’t dislike mission statements; it’s just that so many of them are meaningless, high sounding words that don’t give a clue to what the organization is really about. “Provide superior return for our stakeholders” — What does that mean? Better ROA than average? Top quartile performance? Better stock performance than peers? Which stakeholders are we talking about: community, employees, investors? What is our obligation to each? And anyway, doesn’t every bank claim to have similar goals: superior return, superior service?
I’ve been in planning meetings where management has spent hours honing every word. Then they posted the mission statement on the wall of their branches and included it in their Annual Reports. I wondered – when people read this, will they really understand what this company is all about?
That’s why I’m so impressed with Frost Bank. They have made their mission statement – their philosophy – a tangible and integral part of their business and it has helped drive their very impressive success.
Take a moment to read the Frost Philosophy. Note how they turn the lofty aspirations often found in corporate mission statements into specific descriptions of what they’ll do: “this means….” And in the process, they describe how their employees should interpret these actions, how they should interact with each-other and with their customers.
And as the accompanying article in the ABA Banking Journal explains, they live their philosophy. I can attest that managers at all levels will often stop in the middle of a planning meeting and suggest, “let’s review how this fits with the Frost Philosophy.’
When you are updating your strategic plan, stop for a moment before you re-visit your Corporate Vision and think about the words you are putting on paper. What do they really mean?
August 14th, 2008 at 11:58 am
very interesting