About Mission Statements

Years back when I taught strategic planning, I had this debate with one of my consulting colleagues. He was adamant that a mission statement should be brief so that it could be committed to memory and therefore engrained in someone’s mind. He felt the same way about vision statements, though he felt they could be somewhat longer.

My position was, and still is, that mission and vision statements should fit your organization, its culture, and if that can be done in a dozen words, great! But if it takes more than that, so be it. After all, the value of a mission statement should not be if it fits on a t-shirt, but rather if it is compelling enough to motivate both employees and customers/clients.

This implies that there are some criteria that a mission statement should meet or at the very least a series of questions to be asked as you craft or review a mission statement. Here is a list of criteria we have developed for your consideration, phrased as questions – in no particular order: