Comments on: Stop Sign: Defining Your Organization’s Vision in Terms of Your Organization http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/ Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:17:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Hildy http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Hildy Mon, 07 May 2007 14:32:55 +0000 http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/#comment-33 Nathan: Yes! As long as we are seeing organizations as the means to the end - not the end themselves, then yes, having that internal statement is fine, and yes, it is the route to the mission. We get so used to thinking about either/or - either the vision is for the world or for the organization. But of course you are correct, that we have a vision for all sorts of things. As I consider your note, I'm realizing that this is the approach we have used in our planning - starting with the community, working back to the organization, then drilling down function by function. What is our vision for our staff? What is our vision for our facilities? What do all these things need to be for us to accomplish what we need to accomplish? I guess I just hadn't thought of it as an "internal vision" - but we do get so stuck on semantics sometimes, now don't we!? As I am deep in the middle of writing "The Book," this is a helpful distinction for me. As always, your wisdom is so welcome!! Hildy Nathan:
Yes! As long as we are seeing organizations as the means to the end – not the end themselves, then yes, having that internal statement is fine, and yes, it is the route to the mission. We get so used to thinking about either/or – either the vision is for the world or for the organization. But of course you are correct, that we have a vision for all sorts of things.

As I consider your note, I’m realizing that this is the approach we have used in our planning – starting with the community, working back to the organization, then drilling down function by function. What is our vision for our staff? What is our vision for our facilities? What do all these things need to be for us to accomplish what we need to accomplish? I guess I just hadn’t thought of it as an “internal vision” – but we do get so stuck on semantics sometimes, now don’t we!?

As I am deep in the middle of writing “The Book,” this is a helpful distinction for me. As always, your wisdom is so welcome!!
Hildy

]]> By: Hildy http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/comment-page-1/#comment-32 Hildy Mon, 07 May 2007 14:25:59 +0000 http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/#comment-32 Deborah: Thanks for your note - and sorry, it got lost in my still-learning about blogging! Yes, sometimes it is hard to define things in simple language, but you will find it is critical to be able to talk about your work to others. You will also find it gets easier! Your thoughts about being a mom, though, make it easy to see how you can indeed create a vision statement for your organization. As a mom, we want to see our kids grow to become strong, happy, healthy adults - that is our vision for them. Our vision for our kids isn't for us as their parents, but for them as individuals, and the part they might play in the world. It really is the perfect analogy - thanks for sharing it! Hildy Deborah:
Thanks for your note – and sorry, it got lost in my still-learning about blogging! Yes, sometimes it is hard to define things in simple language, but you will find it is critical to be able to talk about your work to others. You will also find it gets easier!

Your thoughts about being a mom, though, make it easy to see how you can indeed create a vision statement for your organization. As a mom, we want to see our kids grow to become strong, happy, healthy adults – that is our vision for them. Our vision for our kids isn’t for us as their parents, but for them as individuals, and the part they might play in the world. It really is the perfect analogy – thanks for sharing it!
Hildy

]]> By: Nathan Garber http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Nathan Garber Mon, 07 May 2007 12:51:11 +0000 http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/#comment-30 I've noticed that some nonprofits are writing two vision statements: an "external vision" is their picture of the world as they want it to be while an "internal vision" is their idea of what they want their organization to look like. Personally, I am okay with this approach as long as the question we ask about the internal vision is "What will our organization have to look like in order to achieve our "external" vision. Indeed, the question is another way of getting to the issue of "mission" (i.e. what will we have to DO to achieve our vision). I’ve noticed that some nonprofits are writing two vision statements: an “external vision” is their picture of the world as they want it to be while an “internal vision” is their idea of what they want their organization to look like.
Personally, I am okay with this approach as long as the question we ask about the internal vision is “What will our organization have to look like in order to achieve our “external” vision. Indeed, the question is another way of getting to the issue of “mission” (i.e. what will we have to DO to achieve our vision).

]]> By: Deborah Gardner, One Heart Bulgaria http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/comment-page-1/#comment-27 Deborah Gardner, One Heart Bulgaria Wed, 02 May 2007 23:28:12 +0000 http://hildygottlieb.com/2007/05/01/stop-sign-defining-your-organization%e2%80%99s-vision-in-terms-of-your-organization/#comment-27 As co-founder and executive director of a non-profit I know first hand how difficult it can be to create a vision statement, tag line, and mission statement. There is just so much you want to say in a matter of a few sentences or words. And it has to be extraordinarily creative and inspiring, right?! It has to be unique and captivating too, right?! My organization focuses on giving aid to Bulgarian orphans, yet we do it in so many ways that it was hard for us to narrow things down to one sentence and create an official "statmenet." The one we came up with was not necessarily creative, but it was accurate. By the way, my personal vision satement as a mother of five and executive director of a non-profit is: "Mothers are divine tools in God's hands, with the power to change the small corners of the world, starting in their own home." As co-founder and executive director of a non-profit I know first hand how difficult it can be to create a vision statement, tag line, and mission statement. There is just so much you want to say in a matter of a few sentences or words. And it has to be extraordinarily creative and inspiring, right?! It has to be unique and captivating too, right?!
My organization focuses on giving aid to Bulgarian orphans, yet we do it in so many ways that it was hard for us to narrow things down to one sentence and create an official “statmenet.” The one we came up with was not necessarily creative, but it was accurate.

By the way, my personal vision satement as a mother of five and executive director of a non-profit is: “Mothers are divine tools in God’s hands, with the power to change the small corners of the world, starting in their own home.”

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