The days of Mission Statements might soon (and thankfully) be a thing of the past.
There was a time, not so long ago, when every company you came across had a mission statement. It was the thing to do; companies wrote them, framed them and stuck them up or engraved them on the walls. Maybe some people were impressed with them for a while, but now they’re fairly ignored or, worse, quietly scoffed at.
What more and more businesses are starting to pay attention to is purpose: a difference that the organisation wants to make in the world; a reason to go to work beyond just for a salary; a calling.
Unlike mission statements, purpose may actually change the way businesses do business. And purpose will probably put mission statements out of business.
Here are some reasons why.
Mission statements are egocentric, purpose is geocentric.
Most mission statements are inward-looking and self-centred; they’re about “me, myself, I” or us, ourselves, we. They are, in a word, vain. Purpose is outward-looking; it’s about our place in the world, and the contribution we’re making to it. It speaks to people’s desire to contribute to something bigger than themselves.
A mission statement is something businesses think they need. Purpose is something they want.
You get the sense that businesses feel they have to have a mission statement because it’s expected. But once written, many feel they can get on with their “real work”. That kind of mission statement has little resonance.
A purpose, on the other hand, is articulated because the company has a genuine desire to pursue it, for the betterment of the world and of the business.
If you’ve seen one mission statement, you’ve seen them all.
Mission statements are overwhelmingly generic. As a CEO friend of mine said: you can take any company’s mission statement and use it in your company.
Most of them are different versions of the same thing: we want to be the best (and, often, the biggest).
There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to be better or bigger, of course, but it is not a worthy end in itself. It is a means to an end. Or, at least, it should be.
Purpose is a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Directors and shareholders may like the grandiose sound of their mission statement, but it probably leaves 99% of salaried employees cold. For most people, there is very little that is inherently rewarding about grinding out 8+ hours a day to make other people in the business rich.
On the other hand, spending those hours in pursuit of a meaningful purpose, knowing that your efforts will help to improve something about the world – that’s a reason to feel good about doing your work every day. And it goes a long, long way.
Purpose gives direction.
When there are difficult decisions to make, companies seldom turn to their mission statement for help. That’s partly because mission statements just aren’t that helpful. They’re usually long-winded, generic, and aren’t habitually put to practical use.
In similar circumstances, and even in small, everyday ways, a purpose is extremely useful. It’s usually expressed in a short line, so it’s simple and accessible. And it is very much conceived as a guide: when companies have tough decisions to make, they can simply and quickly ask: will this help us fulfil our purpose? The decision, then, is usually quite obvious.
It’s true that these observations about mission statements are generalisations. Obviously, not all missions are created equally poorly. For example, Tesla says that its “mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy”. They call it a mission, but it has all the characteristics of what others would call a purpose.
The semantics aren’t the point – the intent is. So is the impact.