In Agile ways of working, you’ll often hear conversations about having a vision and a mission.
But what is the difference? For me personally, a vision is a long-term objective that is something we want to achieve; it might take years or months and may never actually be achievable. However, striving for it is really valuable and still a great goal to work towards.
Having a mission, on the other hand, looks more at “what are we doing now?”
It compels us to question what our current state is telling us to do so that we can move forward towards our vision. What I really like about missions is that they are really narrative-driven; meaning that it requires a great deal of introspection on what is achievable within our available competencies and resource availability.
So, in summary, a good way to look at the difference is to see it as balance; the vision is the idea and the mission surrounds the actions that need to happen in order to achieve that vision – compelling us to take action.
If you’d like to learn more about how to strike a balance between having a vision and a mission, then get in touch with Ralph today!
