A mission statement focuses on what the organization does. It answers these questions: What do we do? Who do we serve? How do we serve them?
A vision statement focuses on what you want the company to become. The intention being to give the team clarity about where the business is headed.
It’s supposed to inspire people who read it.
But as Cameron Herold shared in the book Vivid Vision:
“Vision statements tend to get written by getting a whole bunch of corporate people in a room pulling together the words that best describe their business. Then they create a one-sentence vision or mission statement for the company that no one cares about or reads ever again.”
A Vivid Vision is a document that differs from regular mission or vision statements by painting the picture of what your company will look like in the future as if it’s already happened, so anyone you share it with can literally see and feel the vision.
You can use it to inspire your team, attract top talent, and get partners/vendors/customers enrolled in where you’re headed.
(You can see examples below.)