A clear and concise vision that illustrates where the organisation will be in the future. It should describe the big picture as it will be in 3-5yrs. It sets the direction in which the whole organisation will move.
A clear vision inspires teams and helps them to:
- Understand where they need to go
- Define actions they need to take
- Align with other teams
It will also reduce conflict between teams by offering a guiding light as to the way forward.
The Vision is vital to the success of digital transformation. It is at the top of the framework guiding all other factors. It guides all actions and has a significant impact on the ability of Resources to accept the transformation required.
The vision will need to:
- Drive the company strategy
- Create a sense of need, and urgency
- Enable specific goals to be identified on the journey
- Describe the core change(s) needed by the organisation
- Be shared with your partners (customers & suppliers)
If the vision is:
- Unclear the lack of clarity will confuse teams leading to competing projects & work streams.
- Overly complicated it will prevent well-defined actionable initiatives from being established.
- Too restrictive it will prevent teams from finding their own successful path to achieve the transformation desired.
A poor vision will actively prevent the organisation from changing.
Examples of good Vision statements:
- Google:
To provide access to the world’s information in one click - Amazon:
To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online - Walmart:
To be the best retailer in the hearts and minds of consumers and employees