The governing ideas of an organization are:

1.  Mission or purpose--Why doe we exist?
2.  Vision--What is our desired future?
3.  Values--How do we want to act along the way?

Together these form the AIM of the organization.  
They link to each other, in that the Vision is the 
Purpose extended into the future; and the Vision is 
the Values expressed in action.  

How would you describe a good vision? 

A good vision creates a picture of the best possible 
future, your hoped-for destination.  Peter Senge (1994)
says that good visions capture hearts, inspire people,
uplift and bind people together in a sense of greater good. 
A successful vision, say Kouzes and Posner (1995), 
releases the energy needed to motivate an organization 
to action.   Visions are our deepest expressions of 
what we want to create, a product of the head and 
heart working together (Parker, 1990).

Consider the "creative tension" of a vision--it 
is always out there.  It is a Pull strategy, not a 
Push strategy.  Focusing on problems or limitations 
or on the competition does not have the same uplifting 
or enduring effect.

How do you get commitment to a vision? 

In a prior issue, we discussed creating 
a "shared vision," rather than  developing 
a vision and sharing it (Volume 48, March 2005 - 
"The Strategic Plan."   Build vision through 
ongoing interactions and conversations with staff.  
People will support what they helped to create.

In our Planning Conferences, a critical step 
is to get everyone in the room.  After their
Collective Visioning process, it is useful to: 

a) write down the elements of the vision; 
b) identify key themes and build consensus; 
c) ask people to identify areas of personal interest;
d) have them help draft a plan; and 
e) enroll by taking responsibility for making
the plan happen.  

The commitment is thus built through a voluntary, 
consensus process (see Key, 1999).

Margaret Wheatley (2001) has a concept of 
vision as a "field"--like electromagnetism.  By 
its permeating the entire organization, we take 
advantage of its formative properties.  All 
employees who bump into it will be influenced 
by it.  Stephen Covey (1991) says that the act of
visualizing something organizes the abilities to 
bring it about.   In this way, a vision is self-
organizing. 

How do you reinforce a vision? 

• Stories
• Sayings
• Shared activities
• Model the way
• Personally report on your progress toward the vision
• Mark passing of the "old way"
• Ceremonies
• Symbols, artifacts
• Teachable moments
• "Field Meetings" (see Volume 48, March 2005 - The Strategic Plan)

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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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Curriculum for Circles of Change
http://www.spiritinaction.net/ezpublish/index.php/spirit/circles_curriculum

Visionary Leadership Training and Workshop
http://www.visioncoaching.it/visionary_workshop.php

Former Keyzines on related topics:
Volume 4, July 2001- Change
Volume 37, April 2004 - Dialogue: Thinking Together
Volume 40, July 2004 - Building Community
Volume 48, March 2005 - The Strategic Plan

Processes known to work for collective visioning 
http://www.omidyar.net/group/showcase/ws/processes_known_to_work_for_collective_visioning/

Methodology for Visioning Scenarios
http://www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Tools/Toolkits/Communication/Visioning_scenarios.html

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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS                              
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Block, Peter.  The Empowered Manager.  
San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass, 1991, 109-115.

Collins, James C. and Porras, Jerry I. 
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary 
Companies. New York: HarperBusiness, 1994.

Covey, Stephen R.  Principle-Centered Leadership.   
New York:  Fireside, 1991.

Kouzes, James M. & Posner, Barry Z. 
The Leadership Challenge:  How to Get 
Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations.   
(Chapters 5-6).  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass, 
1995.

Key, M. K. (Ed.) Managing Change in Healthcare: 
Innovative Solutions for People-based Organizations. 
Chicago: McGraw-Hill, 1999.

Pascarella, Perry & Frohman, Mark A. 
The Purpose – Driven Organization:  
Unleashing the Power of Direction and 
Commitment.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass, 
1989.

Parker, Marjorie.  Creating Shared Vision.  
Oak Park, IL: Dialog International, 1990.

Senge, Peter.  The Fifth Discipline:  The Art and 
Practice of the Learning Organization.  New York:  
Doubleday/Currency, 1994.

Wheatley, Margaret.  Leadership and the New Science:  
Learning About Organization from an Orderly Universe.  
(Chapter 2).  San Francisco:  Berrett-Koehler, 2001.

Weisbord, Marvin (Ed.)  Discovering Common Ground:  
How Future Search Conferences Bring People Together 
to Achieve Breakthrough Innovation, Empowerment, 
Shared Vision, and Collaborative Action.  San Francisco: 
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1992.  

Weisbord, Marvin & Janoff, Sandra.  Future Search.
San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2000.