It's Not Rocket Science: 4 Simple Strategies for Mastering the Art of Execution

Chapter 24The Mission Pillar

The Challenge

In many organizations, team members and sometimes entire departments unwittingly work against one another because they're not united behind a common purpose—a mission. They have different ideas of what the team's mission is, or, in the absence of it being clearly established and communicated, they conjure up their own. These out-of-sync behaviors create numerous potholes on the road to executing an organization's ultimate few objectives (TUFs). Just as with core values, in the absence of a clear and unifying mission, team members aren't sure enough about what to say yes or no to daily, what to engage in or withdraw from, what is a priority, and what shouldn't be done at all. The resulting chaos in the cubicles divides a team's power, breaks its momentum, squanders its resources, lowers its morale, and sabotages its results.

Mission's Role in Vision

Mission and vision are frequently confused more often than they should be. Vision is a specific direction. It comprises your TUFs and is most likely synonymous with your TUFs. It is a specific and quantifiable outcome that you desire to attain. Mission is your organization's purpose. Living your mission should take you to your vision. Mission is defined as “any important task or duty that is assigned, allotted, or self-imposed. An important goal or purpose that is accompanied by strong conviction” (Dictionary.com, n.d.). For example, at LearnToLead we have new TUFs each year, but our mission ...