Steven: Here are are few thoughts...
Steven Malamud wrote:
> I am at an impasse in the development of our corporate website. In the
> process of developing our corporate web site, we have created a mission,
> vision, and values statement.
I 'm led to wonder if your organization would have developed statements of
organizational mission, vision and values if there had been no web-site
initiative. If your answer to this is yes, then I would suggest the
company has missed the point: these are the basis one refers to in order
to help them sort out the day-to-day ambigiuities of business life in a
meaningful and organizationally coherent way. They are not advertising
copy, although on occasion thay can and should be used as such.
> It was created by a small committee of people, including our CEO.
Vision, values and mission are not created by a committee, regardless of
who that committee involves. The best that such a committee could hope to
do is to draft these items. It then becomes the role of the
organization's leaders to facilitate their adoption and to guide their
evolution.
> The site, in the eyes of many here, is a sales tool and they contend that
> customers don't care about how we do business, they
> just want the best product and services.
Web sites can serve many important functions, sales being one of the most
obvious. Nevertheless, I would recommend that your organization become
very clear about what your web site is supposed to do--no amount of
argument can resolve your question satisfactorily until this issue is
firmly addressed.
For what its worth, customers do care about your vision, mission and
values, but not in the way you might imagine. What most customers seem to
care about, especially in the world of e-commerce, is that your company
can be trusted to deliver on its promise. If you have any doubt that
posting your corporate mantra will lead to the setting of false
expectations, I suggest you rethink your strategy.
> Vision and value statements are
> meant for an internal audience, and do not belong on the web. Creating a
> mission, vision, values statement represents a very large step for some of
> us who would like to deal with our problems productively and proactively.
Keep in mind that many (if not most) corporate executives perceive
mission, vision and values as a nuisance they must tolerate to keep the
little people in line. I'm not trying to be cynical here, just objective.
True leaders understand them as powerful and important tools, however.
Sadly, few executives can effectively claim to be great, or even merely
good, leaders. The consequence is nothing more than posterware, filled
with cute but empty slogans that fail to capture anyone's imagination or
spirit, especially that of your cuustomers.
> Our intent is cultural change.
No meaningful and effective change can occur unless you (as an
organization) are clear about where you are starting from. Getting that
stuff out on the table and commonly understood is probably the most
difficult step in any change program. My instincts suggest to me that you
might want to revisit this question within your organization before
setting out on any particular change path.
> We need to get this web site done and my
> concern is that what we put on the web ought not become a bunch of
> claptrap to our somewhat resigned and cynical employees.
I doubt that putting vision, mission and values on a web site is going to
affect this significantly one way or the other.
> One vice-president (who chose not to participate in our process) already has
> plans to post the mission statement throughout the building.
You might want to check whether there is something in the mantra about
teamwork and cooperation. If there is, look for subtle ways to
demonstrate to this executive just how falacious his actions will be
perceived as..
> So, to clarify:
>
> * Do vision and values statements belong on a corporate web site and why?
> * How do we communicate the mission, vision, values statement to
> employees in a way that might be meaningful, given the process we have
> experienced?
What about trying this out on an Intranet site and engaging the
organization's employees in an open forum designed to evolve and solidify
the vision, values and mission?
> I am very frustrated. I have very good intentions and feel like I must
> continually compromise the original intention of my actions.
>From one INFP to another, I sense that frustration is part of our lot in
life. The challenge is in finding ways to turn our frustration toward some
useful purpose.
-- Cheers, Arnoldarnold@originalthinking.com ________________________
"Greatness cannot be achieved in half an hour; it takes at least forty-five minutes." Lucy, to Charlie Brown. _________________________________________________________
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