The Power of Vision!

Vision is a potent business tool.  Paraphrasing Henry Ford, “Whether a man thinks he can or thinks he can’t, he’s probably right.”   Walt Disney, an amazing visionary, is quoted as saying, “If you can dream it, you can make it happen!”   In my experience, both Ford and Disney are right.  Ford speaks to the art and fickleness of intention when dealing with Vision.  Disney offers the critical need to shift dreams into tangible action steps.  My work with clients has shown me that art and science must integrate to realize Vision!   Attaining Vision is never a passive act.

If vision in business is a goal realized, what’s the difference between having a dream and achieving a goal?  On its own the dream, the vision, is passive.  Vision is a noun.   At the same time, without the dream, the initial vision of what could be, there is no ability to imagine action steps leading to active vision.  Taking the steps to achieve Vision demands action, this is the essence of being: a very active verb.    Welcome to paradox.  

Imagine back to the days when day dreaming in school got you into trouble?  How many of us as leaders and business owners would be where we are without that day dreaming question, “I wonder?” 

When it comes to business, for my money, the dictionary definition falls short.  You and I have to go beyond planning and get very, very good at implementation.   How?

If Vision is potent on its own, it serves even more effectively when supported by two other tools: the active use of both defined Purpose, and Values.   The integration of Purpose, Values and Vision at work (at all times) is, I believe, the three-legged stool of business.

My buddy, Nick’s Pizza in Crystal Lake, Illinois offers us a great example of Purpose, Values and Vision, at work.

Vision:   We are fiscally sound, and continually growing.  We lead our team through purpose and values, and we make an impact on the communities in which we operate.  Our numbers make the restaurant industry gasp!  Nobody does the restaurant business like Nick’s!

Purpose: Our company exists for one reason:  The Nick’s Experience

Our dedicated family provides this community an unforgettable place to connect with your family and friends; to have fun and to feel at home!

Values:  There are 12 values defined at Nick’s, I share 5 with you here:

·       We treat everyone with dignity and respect

·       We communicate openly, clearly and honestly

·       Health: We are a profitable and fiscally responsible company.  We support the physical and emotional well being of our guests and our team members.

·       We are dedicated to the learning, teaching and ongoing development of each other

·       Our team works through support and cooperation

The sense of Purpose provides the foundation. This IS who Nick’s is. Values guide conscious decision-making like handrails daily, hourly, monthly as they move toward Vision.  Vision provides the functional tension, the tangible pull into the future!   On any given day at Nick’s tough choices are made on schedules, purchasing, discount programs and training by consciously holding and aligning all three legs of the stool.  This work and exploration is constant, always in support of the Vision, hence the company, the community and the team.  What’s the outcome?

In these economic times, when much of the restaurant industry is down in sales by 25% or more, Nick’s is down less than 10%.  Food cost is 19%, labor turnover is 20% per annum. Inventory is maintained against budget and flows with sales, instead of being a static dollar number.  Doing so, Nick’s is able to carry under $7,000 in inventory while doing $65,000 a week in sales.  Let’s see, one of the vision components was, “our numbers make the industry gasp!”  These examples are Vision in action.  I still sit in awe.   

Costs are tracked daily and budgets anticipated accrued to the week and period to date.   At Nick’s training is constant, but team members earn the right to go to training on leadership and communication skill development.   Another example is that Nick’s pays fitness club memberships for all its team members who want it.  However, if a team member doesn’t use the fitness club at least twice weekly the paid scholarship is dropped.  This is Vision, Purpose and Values, fiscal responsibility, at work.  

Nick’s is unique, and not.   What sets Nick’s apart is the conscious choice to make their business culture and performance expectations explicit instead of left implicit.  Vision is actively supported at Nick’s by daily work done “on Purpose”, and guided discussion that is constantly Values based.   Nick had the dream and made it come true by taking action steps that supported his Vision.  More than 2/3rds of his 10-year vision have been realized in less than 6- years of work, even with national economic crisis.    

Vision: supported by 3 legs or 4?

Using Vision as a tool to create functional tension is simple.  Support from Purpose and Values is, in concept, simple as well.  It is in no way easy.   Three legs are stable, but not rock solid. 

Does Vision provide the possibility for a fourth leg on this simple stool?  Yes.  This is where tangible work is derived from conceptual framework.   If a Vision mandate is to be fiscally healthy and profitable, with positive cash flow, are you?  Vision (along with Purpose and Values become a contract with you and your team.)  If the answer above is, “no.!”, actions are warranted to be taken now to begin the journey to answering,  “yes!”   Implement proactive management systems to make values driven choices on a daily basis.  Look at costing daily so you’re looking off the bow of vision instead of the autopsy of old information from the past, like a 3 week late financial statement.  Anticipatory systems that track whatever you choose as important to track  provides the solidity of the fourth leg of the stool.   As tough as the economy is when team training is listed as an HR function to be cut, you have an opportunity to re-evaluate the sales opportunities of training supporting higher sales, thus a marketing or human performance investment in sales generation!  I’m not suggesting vocabulary spin here.  I am suggesting that Vision provides an opportunity to really define why we train and what we get from training when it’s done effectively.   Anticipatory costing systems track inventory against a purchasing budget.  There’s no way I know of to get to active positive cash flow in tight economic times if all our money’s tied up in inventory sitting on shelves.

Vision provides context.

Instead of the loudest or fastest opinion offered being the direction to head, Vision provides a common understanding of defined goals.  This context is the foundation and reason for vision in the first place and values support and keep us on course in the heat of tension.  

Vision and timeline

A well-defined sense of Purpose is likely to have no need to change for decades, perhaps ever.  Values well defined can stay equally true over time, and regardless of economic or political stress.  Vision on the other hand gets to be achieved and evolve thanks to Purpose and Values! 

We get to redefine Vision once accomplished.  A Vision cycle might be 1 year, 3 years, 5 years?   When achieved we get to move to the next level of business.  Stretch takes place.  The ride of new ideas and possibility ride again.  I use the term “ride” choicefully.  Welcome to the actual fun of business!   Having a picture of what can be, building action steps to accomplish the goal, regardless of economy there is a dance of challenge and opportunity.

Some of us love this ride, love the game… call us crazy, we tend to be business owners.  What a vision!