Mission statements: the good, the bad, and the ugly
How To Get an Organization Mission Statement That Works Well
Just a few days ago, I was on a Zoom meeting with a client organization. Maybe seven or eight leaders of the organization were in the conversation. Somehow the topic of mission statements came up.
One guy said, “They’re pretty useless. Nobody does anything with them.”
Another said, “Hardly worth the ink they’re written with.”
Yet another said, “Written and forgotten.”
Whoa. Hey. I thought mission statements were supposed to inspire and guide the whole team. I thought they were supposed to bring alignment and unity among all stakeholders. I thought they were supposed to clearly, concisely tell everyone, both inside and outside the organization, exactly what the organization is about.
A good mission statement can do all those things. It can be powerful and wonderful. The problem is, there are a lot of bad mission statements out there. I have in hand a directory of 800 nonprofits in a certain field of work, with mission statements included for most of them. Some of these statements are better than others, but most have glaring weaknesses.
To get a good mission statement that serves well:
1. It’s usually not best if it comes only from the mind and words of one person, the top leader. This happens a lot. One person might form the actual wording, but it’s better if more people contribute to the thinking behind it. Teams outperform individuals.
2. Nor is it good if written by a committee, where many different people get to include their favorite word or phrase. Too many mission statements look like Christmas trees.
3. Cut away the favorite buzzwords of the day. Write it to be simple, plain, and direct.
4. Keep it brief. Eight words is a good guideline. (Did he just say EIGHT WORDS?! Yes he did).
5. Make sure it delivers what is distinctive about your organization. It’s not a good mission statement if it could serve just as well for 50 other organizations that do work similar to yours.
6. Keep working at it until the CEO loves it. Keep working at it until the other top leaders love it. It’s only going to serve the organization well if the leadership uses it, repeats it, brings it up often, and inserts it into many, many conversations, events, and documents.
7. Make sure it works for people outside the organization. Make sure that when they hear it they easily know what your organization is and does.
8. Re-assess it every year, as part of your annual strategic planning. Discuss it again. Most years everyone will still feel good with it – but that re-discussion gets the planning process off to a healthy start. Eventually the year will come that people will see it needs to be updated.
love, joy, peace … Michael
www.michaeljaffarian.com. Michael is a freelance consultant to nonprofits, with an emphasis on research. Contact him for a free, one-hour consultation. emichaeljaffarian@gmail.com.
Vol. 1 No. 41