W. H. Murray once said, ”Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”

We’ll state it as fact: If the people of an organization can state with absolute certainty what they intend to accomplish together, odds are good they’ll be able to get there.

So, knowing this, why do leaders moan and groan when faced with the assignment to develop or redraft an organizational mission statement?

We’ve thought a lot about this at The Canoe Group these days, as we undertook the discussions to fine-tune our own mission statement and core values. We’ve led hundreds of such sessions for client groups, usually at the start of strategic planning. Form follows function is one of our planning mottos.

If the function of a mission statement is to establish and align the intentions of those committed to an organization, what ”form“ should be followed in the discussions used to craft those words?

Here are the six rules of mission statement development we recommend:

1. Mission statement discussions should never involve brightly colored dots.
2. The group of leaders who – right now – are ultimately responsible for the success of the mission should all be around the table, and they must agree upon and frame the final draft.
3. Several discussions will most likely be necessary and individual reflection in-between sessions is crucial if you’re going to get down to it.
4. Those who will be asked to help pursue the mission should have a voice.
5. Learning from the past, and learning about the present, leads to insight and clarity about the future.
6. You are writing it for yourselves.

We’ve created a ”Canoe Group White Paper“ about mission statements that’s posted on our website (see the top right column of this page). It outlines the essentials of great mission statements, and offers some examples that will blow your mind. Download it, pass it out, use it to head off the moans and groans, or file it for use the next time your organization starts strategizing about your future. Let us know what you learn!