Two essential elements of your organization’s foundation are its mission and vision statements.  I get a lot of questions about these statements but the question I most often hear is,”What’s the difference?”  Here are my definitions.

Mission statement: the purpose for your organization’s existence.  For example, PDS Group’s mission is: We equip organizations and their people to achieve their full potential.  How?  By diagnosing alignment challenges, evaluating competencies, designing learning experiences, administering practical performance guides, teaching evidence based coaching and offering executive coaching.

Vision statement: the ultimate result of fulfilling your organization’s purpose.  For example, PDS Group’s vision is: We want to become the thought leader and resource of choice for addressing organization alignment challenges.  How?  By building an extensive database of expectations between individuals across the widest range of strategic and tactical challenges, organizations, and industries.

A clear mission statement will define the individual or collective need your organization serves, and drive your business plan, budget, and daily operations.  A vision statement will define the expected result of serving that need, and will provide focus for long range planning and a yardstick for measuring progress.

Within an industry many organizations could have virtually identical mission statements.  But each organization should have a unique view of what it will ultimately achieve by delivering on its mission.

Think about the business that produces injection molded plastic parts.  Its purpose may be to fill a need for superior quality long lasting plastic components in durable goods.  There may be many injection molding companies that have the same purpose.  So what distinguishes this particular company?

Its vision will distinguish it from its competition.  This company’s goal may be to be the preferred supplier of household appliance parts in the Upper Midwest United States.  It may want to be the biggest injection molding company in North America, or perhaps in Europe.  It may want to be the sole supplier of certain automotive components for General Motors (perhaps not the wisest vision).  It may want to become a philanthropic leader in its community, county or state.

Think of the vision statement as defining the goal or setting the bar for organizational achievement.  The mission; this is what we do.  The vision; this is what we hope to achieve.  Try those definitions on for size, do they work for you?