“Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman

There are simple ways to spice up your day.  This is a simple, but powerful loop that you can practice everyday as part of what you already do.  It will add zest and light your fire while you make things happen as you go about your day.

This is actually a follow up to Change Your Why or Change Your How, but makes it more actionable and takes it a bit deeper.   I met with one of my mentees yesterday, a developer at Microsoft, and after taking her through a simple loop on how to add juice to her day, she suggested I share the approach more broadly with others.  It connects a lot of dots and puts positive psychology into action.

By using simple stories, connecting to values, and changing your language, you can turn an ordinary day into extraordinary results.

Your Thoughts Create Your Feelings
The first thing you need to know is that your thoughts create your feelings.  Note that it’s not a one-way trip though, your feelings can inspire your thoughts too. However, if you know that your thoughts change your feelings, then the empowering part is knowing that if you change your thoughts, you change how you feel.  Of course, then the trick becomes how do you change your thoughts?  To change your thoughts, you change your focus.  How do you change your focus?  … You change the question.  It’s as simple as asking yourself, “What’s the favorite part of my day?” or “What’s great about this?” or “What can I enjoy about this?”

Change Your Words to Change the Feelings
The next thing you need to know is that your words have “feelings.”  They mean something to you.  Some words “feel” differently than others.  If you change your language, you change how you feel.  For example, words like productivity or time management or mission might be boring, dry, or corporate speak for you.  On the other hand, words like effective or success or adventure might lift you up.  For me, results is a powerful word.  I prefer to do things that get results.  I’m a believer that results talk while B.S. walks.  You can’t argue with results.  Another word I like is adventure.  Adventure juices me for a key reason.  It’s one of my values.

Connect to Your Values
Connect to your values. Of course, first you need to find your values.  When you know what your top values are, you can find simple ways to connect to your values.  For example, I’m a fan of adventure, so at the start of one of my projects I asked the team to create a movie poster for the project to help envision the end in mind.  Who’s the villain? … who’s the hero? …  What will be a memorable scene?  It was a quick exercise, but it  inspired everybody to imagine an epic adventure before we even started the project.

You can connect to your values each day in a simple way.  For example, first identify your three outcomes for the day or your three key results.  For example, today my three key results are:

1. Have a draft of a key document in hand for an upcoming review.
2. Take away three insights from my training.
3. Share a distilled set of insights on being a PM at Microsoft with a colleague.

Those are really the key results I need to accomplish today.  They are a bit different today because I’m going to be in all day training, and then I meet with a colleague for a brain dump.

Turn Your Results into Simple Stories
Now it’s time for the juice part.  I need to connect these results to my values.  I can do so with one-liner stories:

1. Create the ultimate collection of baseline scenarios for customer success.
2. Take away three insights that change my game.
3. Empower my colleague with new insights to get her best results for work and life.

What I’ve done is connected my three outcomes to a few of my values (achievement, results, helpfulness) using very simple stories.  I’ll use these stories to drive my day.  If I find myself nodding off during training, I’ll challenge myself whether I have three new ways to change my game that I can apply to my work.
Conquer Your Day and Pave Your Way a Story at a Time
I love the fact that this approach puts you in control and you write the story of your life, a story at at time, a day at a time, using the words and metaphors that empower your for your best results.   A way to remember this is that one-liner stories can save your day.  It’s a simple way to go from victim to victory or from zombie to zest.

May you conquer whatever the day throws your way!

Photo by yellowblade67.

“Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” – Satchel Paige

Chances are you have tasks each day, that you just don’t want to do.  Talk about un motivation.

You can’t always change the “what” you have to do, but you can always change the “why” or “how.”  If you change your “why” or change your “how”, you can find your motivation, even for tasks you don’t normally want to do.  This approach for motivation works because instead of rely on external motivation, you make it intrinsic or internal.  You basically find your drive from the inside out, rather than wait for it, or react to external pressure.

By motivating yourself with skill, you can actually enjoy the things you already have to do or get them done faster and easier.  You can also use this approach to take on new things.

3 Ways to Change Your Why
Here are three ways to change your “why”:

1. Find a higher cause (e.g. “I’m doing this for the greater good vs. just for me.”)
2. Make new meaning (e.g. “I don’t want to take out the trash” becomes “taking out the trash helps do my part around the house.”)
3. Tell yourself a compelling story (e.g. “I write the code that brings good ideas to life” or “I write the songs that make the world a better place.”)

6 Ways to Change Your How
Here are six ways to change your “how”:

1. Use deliberate practice to master your craft (i.e. use a disciplined approach to improve a routine activity.)
2. Make it a game (against time, against yourself, …)
3. Pair up with somebody (somebody might enjoy sharing the load or teaching you their ways.)
4. Change when you do it — you’ll find you have different energy levels (i.e. you can get more done during your power hours or creative hours.)
5. Link it to good feelings (e.g. play your favorite songs.)
6. Set a limit (e.g. chunk it up or timebox it.)

While there’s a will there’s a way, but I find that finding my will is a skill that gets better with practice.

My Related Posts

• Find Your Drive – The Keys to Motivation
• Is Will a Skill?
• My Favorite Motivation Quotes

Photo by Capture Queen.

“The best mirror is an old friend.” – George Herbert

The more you know about yourself, the more you can skillfully motivate yourself, play to your strengths, limit your liabilities, and make the most of any situation. Socrates taught us to “Know thyself” … but how?  What are some of the more effective ways we can learn about our patterns for thinking, feeling, and doing.

Here are some of the tools, lenses, and techniques that I’ve found to be helpful for self-awareness:

1. Abstract, Concrete, Random, Sequential.  – Are you comfortable learning abstract concepts or do you prefer concrete examples?   Do you prefer to follow information sequentially or do you prefer a more random approach?   Dr. Anthony F. Gregorc identified 4 learning styles: Abstract Concrete, Abstract Sequential, Concrete Random, and Concrete Sequential.   Think about how you can use this for structuring your own learning approach or how you can tailor your approach when you interact with others.    See Links on Abstract/Random/Concrete/Sequential.
2. 5 Thinking Styles –  How do you make sense of the world?  Your thinking style can help explain why you think or act the way you do.  In Coping with Difficult Bosses CST , Richard Bramson identified five thinking styles: Synthesist, Idealist, Pragmatic Thinker, Analyst Thinker, Realist Thinker .  Synthesists are creative thinkers that thinks in terms of opposites. Idealists believe in lofty goals and high standards. Pragmatic thinkers are interested in practical, short-term results.  Analyst thinkers are methodical, and pay attention to accuracy and detail.  Realists thinkers are doers that base reality on whatever their senses – sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch – tell them it is.
3. Satir Categories – The Satir Categories explain how you use language.  Virginia Satir was one of the most effective family therapists ever and  NLP adopted the Satir Categories for improving communication effectiveness.  The Satir Categories are: Blamer, Placater, Computer, Distracter, and Leveler.  The Blamer blames other people.  The Placater wants to make everybody happy and avoids conflict.  The Distracter distracts people from the issue and uses generalizations instead of specifics.  The Leveler stays congruent and is focused on the facts.
4. 7 NLP Meta-programs – Metaprograms are simply your default patterns in strategies or thinking styles  In Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement , Tony Robbins identifies 7 NLP Meta-programs: Towards or Away, External or Internal, Sorting By Self or Sorting by Others, Matcher or Mismatcher, Convincer Strategy, Possibility vs. Necessity, Independent, Cooperative and Proximity Working Styles.
5. 6 Styles Under Stress –  When you know your style under stress, you can recognize it and choose a more effective approach. In Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High , Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, identify 6 styles under stress: Masking, Avoiding, Withdrawing, Controlling, Labeling, Attacking.  Masking is understating or selectively showing your true opinions.  Avoiding is shying away from sensitive topics.  Withdrawing is existing a conversation or exiting a room.  Controlling is coercing others to your opinion.  Labeling is putting a label on people or ideas so you can dismiss them as a stereotype or category.  Attacking is belittling or threatening.
6. The Lens of Human Understanding – Do you tend to focus more on task or people?  Do you tend to act more aggressively or passively?  In Dealing with People You Can’t Stand: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst , Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner offer a simple model for understanding behavior: Task Focus, People Focus, Aggressive, and Passive.
7. Johari Window – The Johari Window, created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is a model for knowing and sharing yourself with skill. It consists of four quadrants: Open Self, Blind Self, Hidden Self, Unknown Self.  The Open Self is what others know about you and you know too.  Blind Self is what others know about you, but you don’t.  Hidden Self is what others don’t know about you, but you do.  Unknown Self is what others don’t know about you, and you don’t either.
8. 10 Types of Difficult People – What are some difficult behaviors that might cause others to think of you as a difficult person?  If you know what these patterns are you can change them or respond more effectively.  In Dealing with People You Can’t Stand: How to Bring Out the Best in People at Their Worst , Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner identify 10 types of difficult people patterns: Tank, Sniper, Know-It-All, Think-They-Know-It-All, Grenade Person, Yes Person, Maybe Person, Nothing Person, No Person, Whiners.
9. The 16 Myers-Briggs Type Indicators – The Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI) is a lens for understanding your behavior based on four pairs of preferences:  extraversion vs. introversion, sensing vs. intuition, thinking vs. feeling, and judgment vs. perception.  Extraversion and introversion are where you draw energy from.  Sensing and intuition are how you gather and perceive information.  Thinking and feeling are how you make decisions.  Judging and perception are how you relate to the outside world.
10. Discover your “Why.” Why do you do what you do?   When you know your purpose, you know when you’re on path or when you’re off and it’s easier for you to summon your inner strength and live your values.  It’s also a way to keep your thinking, feeling, and doing congruent.  See Discover Your Why.

Photo by Tina Keller.

Here’s a simple model I’ve been using lately to help some friends think about the infamous passion vs profit question.  I actually like to think of it as a passion AND profit … and value question.  It really is a simple model, but it helps highlight a couple of key points.  For one thing, the saying do what you love, and the money will follow, is misleading.  I have a passion for driving my Jeep with the top down on sunny days, playing my favorite songs.  It doesn’t create much value, except for me, and I don’t expect to make a profit.  Some things really are just for fun.

Sweet Spot – The Intersection of Passion, Profit, and Value
Passion, profit, and value is the key to sustainable results:

• Passion.  Your passion is your fuel for making things happen.  In today’s skill-for-hire economy, one of your most important assets is your passion.  It’s you’re staying power, and your get up and go, especially when you get knocked down.  It’s how you get up again.  Passion is also a proxy for your values, strengths, and purpose.  Strengths can be skills, but in this case, I’m also thinking about your natural strengths … the stuff that comes easy for you, but might be tough for others.   We tend to love what we’re awesome at, and, our passion tends to help us get awesome to begin with.
• Profit.  This is about how much you can make.  Just because you create tons of value, doesn’t mean you can make a profit, especially in an economy where free is the new price, and your competition gives away what you try to sell.  How do you know what’s making a profit?  You ask.  This is where your network comes in.  Also, your friendly neighborhood accountant might be the perfect source for knowing what’s making money, and what’s not.
• Value.  The idea here is that if you’re creating value, you have a better chance of getting rewarded.  Value is in the eye of the beholder.  This means staying aware of what the market values and knowing that the market doesn’t always drive the right thing.  This also means being aware of intrinsic vs. market value. Intrinsic value is what something is really worth, while market value is what people are willing to pay, which could be wildly inflated.  Personally, I like to optimize around providing value for basic needs, and I’m cautious when market value and intrinsic value are out of whack … market corrections can be painful.

To give you an example of the passion, profit and value intersection, I have a passion for making others great.  There’s a certain market value to that.  I already do it for free, but if I wanted to profit from it, I would take on certain clients.  For example, if Obama wanted me for his results coach, I’d give him my special presidential discount, but I would still expect to profit from the value I create.  OK, fine, I’d do it for free, so it’s not a great example.

Cutting Questions
Here are some cutting questions to help find and test your paths …

• What would you do for free?
• What’s the minimum you need to make?
• What’s your minimum and ideal life style?
• How much do you need to fund your ideal life style?
• Who has the job that you want that you can model from?

Getting Results
Some guidelines for results …

• Find the intersections of your passion, profit, and value.
• Passion, profit and value are sliding scales … this gives you a lot of flexibility as well as trade-offs.
• If you’re creating all value, and no profit, that’s a charity, and that won’t pay your bills.
• If you’re playing to your passion, but creating no value, that’s a hobby.
• If you do what you hate, you’ll suck your life force dry.
• Find the job you love, or love the job your with.
• You can love the job you’re with, by changing your why or changing your how.
• Some hobbies can be turned into profit, if they create value.
• Sometimes the key to unleashing your profit potential, is simply finding the right channel or platform.
• Be careful what you get paid for, because if you externalize your reward, you can kill your passion.
• Knowing the market demand and the profit potential can help you follow the money.
• Money is a means, not an end.   When you’re below the line, it means everything.  Once you’re above the line, happiness is doing what you love and service to others … you know, the stuff Maslow taught us.

One important point here is that life’s not static and neither is the market.  One strategy is to follow the growth.  This includes following the growth in the market (think biotech, green, … etc.) as well as following paths that lead to your own personal growth.  It’s one way to keep the skills that pay the bills.

You 2.0 is a way to unleash a version of your best self.  It cuts to the chase to help you quickly find your purpose, your why, your how, your values, your strengths, and your personal success patterns.  Once you’ve mapped these out, you have a firm foundation to be your best in any situation.  By finding and living your process, you lead a life by design, not by default.

I call it You 2.0 because it’s about renewal and taking yourself to the next level.  A few years back, a friend of mine broke his back.  You can imagine the extreme scenario.  Rather than focusing on trying to get back to where he was, he focused on rebuilding himself to be better and stronger than before.  A version 2.0.

Why You 2.0
Here are a some key benefits:

• Success by design.  Rather than luck into success, you’ll know your personal combination for results.
• Living your purpose.  Nothing fuels life like knowing what you want.
• Living your values.  Living your values help you enjoy more moments in your life, a moment at a time.
• Playing to your strengths.  When you play to your strengths, you improve your energy, and you amplify your results.  It’s the simplest way to get more impact each day.
• Improved results.  You’ll improve your results.  A little self-knowledge goes a long way.  You’ll be a better, faster, stronger you for whatever you want.

The real secret is life gets better once you have your personal map.

Download the Free You 2.0 E-Book
The You 2.0 E-Book is a very short (25 pages) guide to help you be YOUR best.

• Download the You 2.0 Free E-Book

My Related Posts

• The Zen of Results Free E-Book
• Finding Your Process
• Living Your Process

Photo by aeter.

It’s hard to live your values if you don’t know what they are.  My dictionary defines a value as “something (as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable.”  That sounds about right.   Clarifying your values is one of the first steps towards knowing yourself.  You would think you know yourself after all these years, but a lot of things get in the way.  For example, maybe you never took the time to write down your top five values.  Or maybe, you got caught up in what you think you “should” value or what other people scripted for you.  Either way, now’s the time to figure out your values.  if you know your values, then you know what you want, you who you are, you know where you stand.    You know your values when you have a list of five you can rattle off.

List of Values
To find your values, start with a list.   This is one of my favorite lists of values from one of my training sessions, but I haven’t finished comparing.  It’s good enough for now:

If that list doesn’t work for you, there’s plenty of lists on the Web.  Some are overwhelming and some have lists of values that are too fine-grained.  The key is to have a list of big values that really shape your life decisions as well as your day to day.  Think macro vs. micro.

Find Your Top Values
To find your top values, you can chunk down the list.  Make multiple passes:

• Find your top 10.
• Find your top 5.
• Find your top 3.
• Find your top value.

Remember that it’s not finding what you value.  Chances are, you value a lot of the items on the list.  It’s about find what you value most.  You need to know your top most values so when you have to prioritize or make trade-offs, you have some gauges.  A simple way to think of it is that value are your gauges in life.  For example, my top five gauges are: Adventure, Family Happiness, Health, Integrity, Personal Development.  I think.  It’s tough since freedom is important to me too, as is loyalty.  So is helpfulness.  I like to help.  Some values I can’t trade-off.  Luckily, I don’t need to, except in certain scenarios and decisions.  (Scenario-based values is something I also need to explore.)

Be Willing to Be Surprised
I was surprised the first time I explored my values.  I didn’t realize how important adventure is to me.  It was like my life flashed before my eyes: “Go west young man,” “lead an epic adventure,” “it’s a SWAT mission,” cross-country road-trips, my Jeep, my motorcycle, a dream to go to Australia … etc.

I remember that when I first joined Microsoft, the very first though in my mind was, “Go West young man.”  If for no other reason, it would be an adventure.  I realized that since I’ve been at Microsoft, a work adventure into my daily life.  When I lead a project, I try to build the dream team to go on an epic adventure to take on some big problem.  I would inspire the team by talking in terms of SWAT missions and taking on big challenges.  A lot of my metaphors are about adventure.

That’s the beauty of knowing your values.  You can work more of your values into your day to day, even if it’s as simple as using more metaphors.  You can live you values in lots of ways, large and small.

Testing Your Values
Just having your list of values from the top of your mind, might not be enough.  To get more clarity, you can test your values:

• Is it truly YOUR value?  (i.e. is it internally motivated or is it external … a “should”)
• Is it a means or an end?  If one value is simply to accomplish another, then look to the value you want to accomplish.  If you want economic security because you think it leads to freedom, then freedom is the one you value most.  This is important because there’s multiple ways to accomplish a goal and flexibility is key.  Know what you want, but be flexible in your approach.
• Do your actions show your values?  Actions speak louder than words.
• When were you happiest or most excited?  What was your proudest moment?  These highlights are a potential showcase of your values.
• What do you regret the most?  Again, this is a way to figure out what’s most important to you.

It’s an Ongoing Exercise
Finding and living your values is an ongoing exercise.  Life-changing events can shift our values. (think Scrooge.)  Finding ways to live your values can help you find fulfillment as well as improve your energy and ignite your passions.

Feel free to ask questions, share your thoughts and share your values below.

My Related Posts

• Vision, Mission, and Values
• Meta-programs and Intrinsic Values in NLP
• Questions and Answers on The Top 10 Leadership Lessons

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” –  Carl Gustav Jung

In Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), meta-programs are the keys to the way you process information. They’re basically how you form your internal representations and direct your behavior. In Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement, Tony Robbins writes about meta-programs that people use to sort and make sense of the world.

Key Take Aways
Here are my key take aways:

• Use meta-programs to understand yourself and others. Meta-programs helps you understand how people sort and make sense of the world. They also help you understand your own values, beliefs and behaviors.
• Remember that people use a blend of meta-programs. It’s not this or that, it’s a spectrum of possibilities. It’s a tool for understanding how or why people behave and adapting your own behaviors to improve communication. They aren’t a tool for stereo-typing or pigeon-holing.
• Change your own limiting meta-programs. If you have a way of processing the world that’s limiting your success, find a way to consciously adapt. Identifying your own meta-programs you use is a start. Once you have awareness, you can see how this shows up.

Ultimately, I think knowing how people work, helps bridge gaps.   It can also lead you to self-understanding and the better you know yourself, the better you can drive yourself.

7 Meta-Programs

1. Toward or Away
2. External or Internal Frame of Reference
3. Sorting By Self or Sorting by Others
4. Matcher or Mismatcher
5. Convincer Strategy
6. Possibility vs. Necessity
7. Independent, Cooperative and Proximity Working Styles

Meta Program #1 – Toward or Away
Robbins writes:

“All human behavior revolves around the urge gain pleasure or avoid pain. You pull away from a lighted match in order to avoid the pain of burning your hand. You sit and watch a beautiful sunset because you get pleasure from the glorious celestial show as day glides into night.”

You can use this lens for understanding whether somebody drives from pain or gain.  You can also use this for looking at yourself.  Do you find that you move towards pleasure or away from pain?

Meta-Program #2 – External or Internal Frame of Reference
Robbins writes:

“Ask someone else how he know when he’s done a good job. For some people, the proof comes from the outside. The boss pats you on the back and says your work was great. You get a raise. You win a big award. Your work is noticed and applauded by your peers. When you get that sort of external approval, you know your work is good. That’s an external frame of reference.  For others, the proof comes from inside. They ‘just know inside’ when they’ve done well.”

If you ever give a compliment and it seems like somebody doesn’t believe you, it might be because they are using an internal frame of reference.  You also can check this in yourself.  For example, do you put more stock in how you rate your performance or do you look to feedback from others?

Meta-Program #3 – Sorting By Self or Sorting by Others
Robbins writes:

“Some people look at human interactions primarily in terms of what’s in it for them personally, some in terms of what they can do for themselves or others. Of course, people don’t always fall into one extreme or the other. If you sort only by self, you become a self-absorbed egotist. If you sort only by others, you become a martyr.”

In this case, do you first think about what’s in it for you, or do you think about what’s in it for others?

Meta-Program #4 – Matcher or Mismatcher
Robbins writes:

“This meta-program determines how you sort information to learn, understand, and the like. Some people respond to the world by finding sameness. They look at things and see what they have in common. They’re matchers. Other people are mismatchers — difference people. There are two kinds of them. One type looks at the world and sees how things are different … The other kind of mismatcher sees differences with exceptions. He’s like a matcher who finds sameness with exceptions in reverse – he sees the differences first, and then he’ll add the things they have in common.”

If you ever find somebody that always seems to have to disagree with you, now you know why.

Meta-Program #5 – Convincer Strategy
Robbins writes:

“The convincer strategy has two parts. To figure out what consistently convinces someone, you must first find out what sensory building blocks he needs to become convinced, and then you must discover how often he has to receive these stimuli before becoming convinced.”

This meta-program involves what it takes to convince someone of something.

Meta-Program #6 – Possibility vs. Necessity
Robbins writes:

“Ask someone why he went to work for his present company or why he bought  his current car or house. Some people are motivated primarily by necessity, rather than by what they want. They do something because they must. They’re not pulled to take action by what is possible. They’re not looking for infinite varieties of experience. They go through life taking what comes and what is available. When they need a new job or a new house or a new car or even a new spouse, they go out and accept what is available.  Others are motivated to look for possibilities. They’re motivated less by what they have to do than by what they want to do. They seek options, experiences, choices, paths.”

You might know some people that are minimalists or you might be a minimalist yourself, and focus on just what you need.  On the other hand, you might be a seeker and always looking to expand your opportunities and possibilities.

Meta-Program #7 – Independent, Cooperative and Proximity Working Styles
Robbins writes:

“Everyone has his own strategy for work. Some people are not happy unless they’re independent. They have great difficulty working closely with other people and can’t work well under a great deal of supervision. They have to run their own show. Others function best as a part of a group. We call their strategy a cooperative one. They want to share responsibility for any task they take on. Still others have a proximity strategy, which is somewhere in between. They prefer to work with other people while maintaining a sole responsibility for a task. They’re in charge but not alone."

By understanding this pattern, you can figure out where your most enjoyable work environments would be.

Additional Considerations
Robbins provides the following suggestions:

• All NLP metaprograms are context-and stress-related
• There are two ways to change NLP meta-programs. One is from a significant emotional event.   The other way you can change is by consciously deciding to do so.
• Use NLP meta-programs on two levels. The first is a tool to calibrate and guide your communication with others. The second is a tool for personal change.
• Constantly gauge and calibrate the people around you. Take note of specific patterns they have for perceiving their world and begin to analyze if others have similar patterns.
• Through this approach you can develop a whole set of distinctions about people that can empower you in knowing how to communicate effectively with all types of people.
• Become a student of possibility. NLP Meta-programs give you the tools to make crucial distinctions in deciding how to deal with people. You are not limited to the meta-programs discussed here.

My Related Posts

• Meta-Programs and Instrincis Values in NLP
• Satir Categories
• Generalization, Deletion, and Distortion
• The Lens of Human Understanding
• Five Thinking Styles
• Six Styles Under Stress
• The Entrepreneur, The Manager, and The Technician
• The Fat Guy and The Skinny Guy
• 10 Distorted Thinking Patterns
• 13 Negative Motivation Patterns
• Six Thinking Hats
• Coping with Bulldozing Expert Know-It-Alls
• Coping with Power-Clutchers, Paranoids and Perfectionists
• Stallers, Wafflers, and Super Delegators
• Ogres and Fire-Eaters
• Master My Stories

Photo by Amirul Hilmi Ariffin.

Creating Your Mission and Vision
The key steps to creating your mission and vision are:

• Identify the values of the organization. You find these by observing how employees spend their time, how they set priorities and how they allocate their time and energy. Actions are more revealing than words.
• Create the mission statement. The mission answers “who are you?” It should consist of one or two sentences max. It should quickly communicate the company’s purpose. It should be an original and unique purpose. It should encapsulate the philosophy, beliefs, values and principles. It should be unique, exciting and inspiring. It sets the foundation for priorities, strategies, plans, and work assignments. The company should derive strength from the mission rather than react to outside influences.
• Create the vision. The vision statement answers, “where do you want to go?”

Example Mission and Vision
Grady provides an example of using a vision statement and mission statement to communicate the philosophical foundation of an arts organization to its stakeholders:

Court Theatre – Strategic Plan

• Mission – Court Theatre exists to celebrate the immutable power and relevance of classic theatre.
• Vision – We share a collective aspiration to create a National Center for Classic Theatre.

Example Values
Grady provides an example statement of values:

Strategic Decisions Are Guided by the Following Statement of Values

• We believe theatre satisfies an innate human need for communal acts of
  imagining.
• We believe works for the stage that reveal timeless themes and illuminate
  universal truths are classics.
• We believe in the primacy of language in theatre.
• We believe in an artistic process that is venturous, collaborative, grounded
  in thorough research and dynaically evolving.
• We believe in an artistic process that is venturous, collaborative, grounded
  in thorough research and dynamically evolving.
• We believe in an environment of trust, generosity, and shared vision enables
  risk-taking in the artistic process.
• We believe the artistic process should inform all aspects of the threatre’s
  operations including leadership, governance, and administration.
• We believe classic theatre is a valid participant in American culture, its
  survival and maturation.
• We believe artists make significant contributions to their communities.
• We believe learning is a life-long journey, and classic theatre has a unique
  ability to teach and inspire its creators and patrons.
• We believe in freedom of expression, and embrace a plethora of artistic
  voices and styles.
• We believe in diversity across all definitions.

Key Take Aways
Here’s my key take aways:

• Use  a vision statement, mission statement and statement of values to communicate the foundation of your group to stakeholders.
• The mission statement answers who are you.
• The vision statement is where you want to go, once you know who you are.
• Figure out the real values by actually observing the group.  This is more accurate than just thinking them up.  Otherwise, people say one thing, but do another.

Additional Resources

• Man on a Mission – a blog dedicated to mission statements.

My Related Posts

• Measure of Success
• Mission Statement
• Corporate Culture
• Organizational Values

In A Simple Statement: A Guide to Nonprofit Arts Management and Leadership, Jamie Grady writes about organizational values:

Key Take Aways
Here are my key take aways:

• Define what matters.  I think the reason the values are so important for an organization is because it’s really about defining what matters and where people will spend time and energy.
• Actions are louder than words. I’ve seen first hand when an organization states one set of values, but operated under another. I don’t think it’s on purpose. I think it happens when people write their values down without really first observing .
• Use dimensions to frame and understand the values.   Consider the following dimensions: prosocial, market, financial, achievement, and artistic.

I find the dimensions particularly helpful as a way to frame out values in core areas that matter.

What are Organizational Values
Grady writes the following on organizational values:

• Organizational values are abstract ideas that guide organizational thinking and actions.
• Organization values represent the foundation on which the company is formed.
• Defining an organization’s unique values is the first and most critical step in its formation and development
• While difference in opinion and skills may be beneficial to the success of an organization, a unity of purpose must be maintained.
• In order for the institution to be successful, the values on which the company is built must be appropriate for the time, place, and environment in which the organization will operate.
• A company’s organizational values let others know what it is, why it has been created, and how it is different from other companies.

How Do You Find Organizational Values
Grady writes the following point on finding the values:

• In order to understand and identify the values of an organization and to gauge their influence on the company, managers must carefully examine how that organization operates.
• While it may be helpful to listen to people describe what they believe the values of the organization are, it is far better to observe those people in their day-to-day activities.
• Note how employees spend their time, how they communicate within the organization and how they go about their daily job responsibilities and tasks.
• Although values are often difficult to define, they are usually revealed by employees’ actions and thinking, how they set their priorities, and how they allocate their time and energy. An employee’s actions are more revealing than their words.

Dimensions to Understand Values
Grady writes the following dimensions help to understand organizational values and how those values drive an organization:

• Prosocial dimension. Not-for-profit theatres have a responsibility
  to provide community access to their performances, remove economic and cultural
  barriers to attendance, and educate audiences in theatre arts.
• Market dimension. Theatres struggle between creating art of art’s
  sake and meeting customer needs and expectations. A purely
  market-orientated philosophy is typically the mark of a commercial theatre, with its complete reliance on ticket sales for revenues, but all theater managers recognize the realities of the marketplace.
• Financial dimension. Although all theatres must content with the
  reality of financial demands while pursuing creativity and artistic excellence,
  fiscal stability is a particularly high priority for some theatres.
• Achievement dimension. Public recognition and acclaim can affirm
  an organization’s creative activity, and some theatres particularly strive for
  external recognition.
• Artistic dimension. For many theatres, the top priority is
  internally focused creativity, innovation, and artistic dependence.
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