Kim Woods Only (602 2.2 Personal Mastery)

250-300 words     

Respond to each post (include 2 references)

Post #1

Mission (Purpose) vs Vision in Organizations

Mission (or purpose) statements are statements about why an organization exists and what it’s purpose is. Senge (2006) describes purpose as “similar to direction, a general heading” (p. 138). For example, the purpose of community college is to “provide academic and vocational instruction, through but not beyond the second year of college” (California, 1999). The community college’s mission is to transform lives and communities by providing higher education. A higher education provides students with the knowledge and skills to improve their futures, which in turn improves the communities in which they work and live (the vision).

Vision on the other hand is “a specific destination, a picture of a desired future” (Senge, 2006, p. 138). Vision is how an organization would like to see the future, “it is the goal pulling you forward that makes all the work worthwhile” (Senge, 2006, p. 138). Vision statements should “provide guidance and direction for action” (Cawsey, Deszca, & Ingols, 2016, p. 120). For example, the University of California Office of the President envisions “continuous work force improvements” and thriving and educated communities that contribute to “California’s economic growth and global competitiveness” (California, 1999).

Resources for Mission and Vision Statements

Senge and his colleagues (1994) provide useful exercises and questions in The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook that help to describe and clarify personal and organizational visions (p. 201-206). Masen (2013) provides a great blog on LiquidPlanner.com that helps distinguish mission and vision statements and provides steps to assist with writing them. Vozza (2014) describes personal mission statements and provides the mission statements of five well-known CEOs as example.

References

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Cawsey, T. F., Deszca, G., & Ingols, C. A. (2016). Organizational Change: An action-oriented toolkit (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

California Community Colleges. (1999). UCOP.edu. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from http://www.ucop.edu/acadinit/mastplan/cccmission.htm

Masen, S. (2013, December 16). How to create a personal mission and vision statement for the year. LiquidPlanner.com. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/create-personal-mission-vision-statement-year/

Senge, P., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R. & Smith, B. (1994). The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. New York, NY: Currency/ Doubleday. ISBN: 0-385- 47256-0

Senge, P.M. (2006). The fifth discipline: the art and science of a learning organization. New York, NY: Currency/ Doubleday. ISBN:0-385-51782-3

Vozza, S. (2014, February 25). Personal Mission Statements Of 5 Famous CEOs (And Why You Should Write One Too). Fast Company.com. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from

https://www.fastcompany.com/3026791/personal-mission-statements-of-5-famous-ceos-and-why-you-should-write-one-too

Post #2

In my first master’s degree program, we studied DuFour’s work extensively on Professional Learning Communities. Within this work, we spent a great deal of time unpacking the difference between mission and vision. DuFour’s work revealed to me and my cohort that mission really is the purpose and reason for the existence of an organization whereas vision is a projection or forecast into the future (DuFour et al., 2016). Studying this work really helped me in understanding the difference between these two terms. Even after reading The Fifth Discipline one time through, I was still confused to a degree when it came to these two terms. I was very clear on the idea of personal mastery and creative tension, but mission and vision still escaped me. In summary, mission really involves the purpose or reason for existence of an organization, where vision is a futuristic description of where an organization wants to be. Both mission and vision require routine visits and updates as needed, especially in the work of public education and school management.

While my understanding of mission and vision remained a bit blurred by The Fifth Discipline, I gained incredible stride in my mindfulness after learning about “personal mastery” from Senge (1990, p. 132). I really connected with Senge’s statement about individuals with a high degree of personal mastery: “People with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode. They never ‘arrive’” (p. 132). He also refers to personal mastery as a “lifelong discipline” (p. 132). This type of narration from Senge really began to help me carve out my personal vision, although I did not have a term for it at that point. Ironically, I really learned or began to distinguish mission from vision in terms of vocabulary and denotation after Senge, but the concept and essence was instilled in my during my reading of The Fifth Discipline.

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T., & Mattos, M. (2016). Learning by doing: a handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, Indiana: Solution Tree Press.

Senge, P.M., Roberts, C., Ross, R. B., Smith, B. J., Kleiner, A. (1994). The fifth discipline fieldbook, NY: Doubleday.

Post #3

In an organization, a mission statement explains the reason for existence. It describes the organization, what it does and its overall intention. It communicates the purpose and direction to employees, customers, vendors, and stakeholders (“Society for Human Resource Management,” 2012). It is based on correct principles that provide a basis for making everyday decisions (Covey, 2018). The vision statement, on the other hand, says what the organization wishes to be like in some years’ time. It is usually drawn up by senior management, in an effort to take the thinking beyond day-to-day activity in a clear, memorable way (Kenny, 2014).

Medtronic’s mission statement is to contribute to human welfare by application of biomedical engineering in the research, design, manufacture, and sale of instruments or appliances that alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life (“Medtronic,” 2018). This statement clearly describes the intention of the company as it is a medical device company that develops products to improve health and extend the lives of their patients. Their vision is to establish Medtronic as a world-class corporate citizen by mobilizing our collective resources, achieving measurable social benefit and reducing the global burden of non communicable disease (“Medtronic,” 2018). This aligns with the mission statement and shows the future state of the company as a world-class medical device company, focused on achieving results, innovating sustainable changes, and responding nimbly to changing social and business landscapes.

References

Covey, S. (2018). The Community: Mission Statements. Retrieved from https://www.stephencovey.com/sample-mission-statements.php

Kenny, G. (2014). Your Company’s Purpose Is Not Its Vision, Mission, or Values. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2014/09/your-companys-purpose-is-not-its-vision-mission-or-values

Medtronic (2018). Retrieved from http://www.medtronic.com/us-en/about/mission.html

Society for Human Resource Management. (2012). Mission & Vision Statements: What is the difference between mission, vision and values statements? Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/isthereadifferencebetweenacompany%E2%80%99smission,visionandvaluestatements.aspx