Introduction

Not long ago, I wrote about what I call “The New Business” in a series of articles arguing, essentially, that if businesses want to “win” they need to differentiate based on something other than price, location, or local hegemony due to the flattening of barriers to entry. I said in the first article that to succeed a business needed an experience for the customer and a story for the employees. This series is about the story.

Burn Your Mission Statement

I don’t know when it was, but sometime before I reached adulthood every business became convinced it should be spending hours of executive time in a small room creating a Mission Statement. This, prima facie, may seem like a good idea, and it may have been in the distant past. But Mission Statements have become an absurdity.

Every mission statement I have ever read says something like “We want to be the premier provider of Widgets and Widget Accessories” or “We strive to fulfill our customers’ objectives.” Lofty goals, certainly, but wholly meaningless and a waste of time. These Mission Statements, admittedly abstracted–but not much–fail to guide employees in decision making and serve only to demonstrate to customers that you really have no idea how to help them.

Who Are You? What do You Want?

If a mission statement like those above is the best your business can do, then you should probably quit. If you’re the owner, president, or CEO you should close this window, turn off your computer and cash out now. A combination of the demands of New Business and the tough economic climate mean you’ve already hit, or just haven’t yet seen the iceberg. It may take years to sink that ship, but trust me, it does not pay to be the last one off the boat.

If your business has more potential than your cobwebby Mission Statement, or you’ve lost your way and are willing to sacrifice to find your compass then I’ll talk a little more about story in the next article.