The Progress Paradox: Are Visions Effective? (Podcast)
Effective organizational visions are more than clever slogans or meticulously crafted statements that get jotted down and forgotten. Too often, however, company visions are poorly done—if the organization has a vision at all.
In this latest edition of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, podcast hosts Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer take on the topic of visions, discussing what makes for an effective vision and what mistakes lead to failure.
The podcast duo delves into the necessity of inspiration as a component of vision, with Saleh saying that inspiration without clarity and guidance isn’t enough. Still, a vision “needs to be something exciting, something that really gets the blood pumping, that when people see that vision, they're, ‘Wow, I want to be a part of that,’” adds Dyer.
He also proposes that visions don’t have to reside only at the enterprise level, but can also exist at the value stream level or departmental level.
Dyer and Saleh discuss the need for employee input in developing a vision and employee buy-in once the leadership team has crafted a vision.
They also address:
- How visions provide leadership focus. “…vision allows you to say ‘no’ to certain things. It eliminates a lot of distractions. It's a blessing in disguise,” Saleh says.
- Why it’s important that every level of the organization can articulate its priorities.
- Why vision without appropriate action is ineffective, and that includes leadership’s own behaviors.
- How vision impacts decisions in areas such as hiring and budgeting.