Businesses and companies today use vision statements to create an atmosphere at their company and get their employees to buy in to their culture. This strategy however is quite outdated and ineffective. This is because a one or two sentence mission statement is usually open to interpretation. Vague mission statements cause drastic misinterpretations of where you, the leader, want the company to go. A new tool called a Vivid Vision that was developed by entrepreneur and author Cameron Herold eliminates the vagueness of mission statements. In Herold’s book Vivid Vision, he goes over just how to construct your vision so that everyone on your team or in your company understands your clear trajectory for the future. It is a simple yet powerful tool that I myself am working on for multiple aspects of my life right now.
Frame of Mind
In his book, Herold recommends to go to somewhere in nature that brings you peace so that your mind can wander and come up with your vision. This may be a park, a beach, or even your backyard on a nice sunny day. There is something about nature that provides a calming effect on the brain that is necessary for deep thought. Being in an office space is full of distractions and hampers the innovation that comes from a more open and natural environment. When writing the Vivid Vision, the intent is to project three years into the future and write down every aspect of how you see your company operating, what accomplishments you have achieved, what kind of people work with and for you, and so on. Herold uses the acronym BHAG for his goals in his Vivid Vision or “Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals”. These goals are supposed to push the limits of your company and get people excited to be a part of your vision and bright future. Another intention is to vet the people who really want to be a part of what you are building from those who just are looking for a job and whose values don’t align with yours. It works as sort of an automated vetting process when looking to hire so you manage to get the right people for the job who buy into your vision right off the bat.
Writing the vivid vision
Writing your vision should be fun and exciting. It should be fulfilling to put your pen to paper and get what is in your head into a position where you can look at it, hone in on it, and live it. It should go over every aspect of your company in detail and how it should look, feel, and operate in three years’ time. Included should be employee culture, media coverage, what customers are saying about you, innovative goals you have achieved, and just about anything else that is important to you. A great way to brainstorm is by using what Herold calls a “Mind Map”. The idea here is to put your company name in the center of a page and then extend branches out. Then make bullet points of any ideas you may have for all the aspects you come up with. This makes it easier so that later you may put everything into paragraph format so that your thoughts are conveyed clearly and concisely.
Figure out the how later
In your vision, the how is not important. Worry about the goals themselves, and then figure out how you and your team will achieve them down the road as the three years goes by. If your employees buy into your vision, they will likely find ways to be a part of the success of your company. You are not responsible for the how, you are responsible for the vision and getting the right people to figure out the how with you.
“But I don’t have a company, why should i make a vivid vison”
The Vivid Vision is for people who are just starting out (such as myself), and those who have been in business for a long time and are looking to get to the next level. A Vivid Vision is a strong foundation for the growth of your idea as an entrepreneur, and will help fuel you to build what you seek. In order to build a successful business of any size, there must be groundwork set and goals in mind. If there isn’t there is no clear path for your business to take which can leave your meandering around for years.
Vivid Vision for every day life
A Vivid Vision is a powerful tool to enhance your life as well as your business. You can and should make visions for your regular everyday life outside of your business in order to ensure you achieve the things that are most important to living a fulfilling life. Herold recommends you base your personal Vivid Visions on what he calls The Five F’s. These are fitness, faith, finance, family, and friends. All of these are major aspects of everyday life, and should be take into consideration when trying to envision your future.
Read the book
If you take one thing away from this blog post, it should be that Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold is a must-read. In the book, Cameron goes deeper into how to write your visions for business and life, why it is so important to do, and gives you real examples of past Vivid Visions from both his companies and his clients’ companies. Do yourself a huge favor and check the book out for yourself!
Vivid Vison by Cameron Herold (link to book here).