❯ Principles for Crafting Vision

Vision is the great multiplier. It can make or break companies and initiatives. People, careers, and impact are often determined by the ability to articulate a motivational vision. Yet, it's elusive: the mechanics are much more art than science. Here, we take steps towards understanding the mechanics behind vision in order to craft a great vision—every time.

Planning this post out, Kirk Perry and Sachin Rekhi hit my radar. Both recommended the same thing: learn by osmosis through watching past leaders sharing vision for products, brands, and businesses. I took Sachin's starter list of ten and handpicked five others to get a broader, cross-industry view. For the curious, the full list is below. Let's get to the good stuff.

SYNTHESIZED PRINCIPLES:

• Tension-Intention
  Name the tension we are currently facing (as a company, brand, product, team, or person). Then, highlight the intention: by solving the tension, what will it enable for the organization, team, or consumers? Anchoring your tension in a real and present event gives a sense of urgency and meaning. Often, founders will also give a sense of scale to impart significance and comprehension.

• Direction Without Digression
  Keep your vision directional, and resist oscillating between strategic and tactical. It's hard for readers or listeners to juggle multiple, switching contexts. Think of tactical or anecdotal examples as food spice: enough to keep the vision interesting without overpowering it. The more connected the ideas, and less detours you make, the better your vision will be.

• Strategy Said Simply
  Provide the basic outline of your strategy. Keep it as short and simple as possible. If Google can explain their strategy in a sentence, yours can be brief, too. Brevity amplifies vision; it's easier to recall, repeat, and execute. Blockchain, for example, has this problem. Growth is erratic partially because the vision is not easy to recall, repeat, or execute. An actionable vision is critical. As a friend once said, vision without execution is a hallucination.

• Provocative Phrases
  Use words, pictures, and phrases to evoke specific reactions: intrigue, understanding, or insight to name a few. Amazon's "Day One" motto develops a specific culture, and is reinforced through other copy choices in their shareholder letter. Provocative phrases, like LinkedIn's "global economic graph", set the foundation for the culture and work ahead.

• Match the Culture
  Your vision is only as valuable as your readers find it. Match the delivery of your vision against the audience's cultural codes. Design is core to Apple's code, so it is no surprise Apple's product announcements are visually stunning. Codes come in all shapes and sizes: Google started with a research paper and prototype, while Crossroads has excellent physical experiences as core to their DNA.

It's one thing to know the principles, but another to then structure your vision. Reviewing the list of fifteen, the most captivating outline looked like: (1) Name the Tension-Intention (friction and direction), (2) why it matters right now, (3) what our goal is, and (4) how we plan to get there. Sandwich the outline with an attention-grabbing start and appreciative conclusion.

Reference List:
Amazon.com - Shareholder Letter, 1997
Google - The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine, 1998
PayPal - Speech to Employees, 1999
Tesla - The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan, 2006
Apple - iPhone Introduction, 2007 [Video]
Bitcoin - A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, 2008
Slack - We Don't Sell Saddles Here, 2013
LinkedIn - The Economic Graph, 2015 [Video]
Lyft - The Third Transportation Revolution, 2016
Blue Origin - Going to Space to Benefit Earth, 2019 [Video]
Disney - Vision for Disney's 2nd Century
Crossroads - I'M IN Campaign
Netflix - Q4 2022 Earnings; Hastings Steps Down
P&G - The McElroy Brand Teams Memo
Starbucks - The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience

Snapshot:

Each moment is a memory I work to keep. A snowy morning in January of '23 was the first time you counted—garbage cans, of all things. One garbage can for the neighbors, and "one, two" garbage cans of our own. You make it easy to be proud of you, kid.

Striving for better,

Justin Pichichero