Larry's Corner

The Value of Mission Statements: the Impossible Dream or Doable Objectives?

By Larry Di Ianni
(posted November 2, 2007)

All great organizations have mission statements that galvanize its workers, its customers and the world at large. There are many examples in the private sector of great mission statements and corresponding catch-phrases. Locally, I have always felt that Dofasco’s was the best: “Our product is steel; our strength is people” tells us so much about the company, what it does and who is responsible for its success. The effective juxtaposition of the word ‘strength’ to describe Dofasco’s employees and by extension its product, completes the cleverness of the statement. How much did Dofasco pay some P.R. firm to come up with that gem? I am not sure. What was it worth to the company over time? Invaluable, probably!

The City of Hamilton is going through a process now to come up with a vision statement. They have hired Dr. Chris Bart from McMaster University to lead Council through the exercise at an untendered cost of $50,000.00. Set aside the fact that Hamilton’s procurement policy has been circumvented, probably for good reason since Dr. Bart is an expert at what he does, the question some critics are asking themselves concerns the value for money that such an exercise produces. Is the expenditure worth it? Is it a waste of time and money? Time will tell; but if Council is skilled enough to hit the right notes, residents will be quite supportive, I’m sure.

An internet tour of some of Canada’s major cities looking for mission statements reveals something quite startling. There are none to be found. Look at what Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton and Regina have to tell us.

Toronto : there is no evidence of a mission statement readily available on the site. Clicking for information, I found this ‘ Toronto: highest, best, longest, greenest.’

The Vancouver website tells us that this city stands out among others in the world because of its liveability, innovation, sustainability, diversity /inclusivity /accessibility.

Edmonton simply tells us that it is Alberta’s capital city.

Calgary boasts that it is a city of big ideas, big dreamers and big opportunities.

Regina appeals to civic pride by featuring prominently its “I Love Regina” campaign.

I may have looked in the wrong places on these sites, but one would think if there was a mission statement with an intended measurable goal to define the collective effort of the community, it would have been prominently displayed.

So, what does this say about the Councillor’s efforts to find a mission for themselves and the community? And what does it say that, according to the reported outcome of the meeting, Councillors ‘agreed to disagree’ on the wording of the mission? In fact, Dr. Bart has given the group some time to think the exercise over before coming to a conclusion.

Here are some observations.

Firstly, it is important to know where you are going in order to actually achieve some results. If Councillors cannot agree on a path forward, God help us. It either means they don’t know how to move forward; or it means they are marching off in multiple directions, never a good way to move an organization forward.

Secondly, stated goals will allow leadership at the Council, staff and perhaps community level to emerge as goals are worked on.

Thirdly, a mission statement needs to be measurable and achievable. Pie in the sky statements might sound good, but won’t be believed if they are not practical. Pushing the envelope to grasp higher than one’s reach is important, but setting unattainable goals is as bad as not having goals at all. To put it another way, going for the brass ring as a community is difficult but doable; striving for the moon is an exercise in frustration at best and delusion at worst. Be ambitions, but stay grounded would be my advice.

Finally, having a mission statement that can galvanize Council and the community is laudable. But it has been tried before. What is commensurately important is to build the indicators of success into the process that allow for an honest assessment of success or failure. What is also wise is to set up an independent group of citizens to provide regular feedback to Council on how it is doing with its goals. A term report card of sorts. This would show courage and commitment. Anything less might be perceived as window dressing!

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