Don’t create a vision by committee
When you mention that you are working on a vision for your organization, it is almost inevitable that some helpful wag will say that you need buy-in on the vision and that the only way to get that is to have a committee help you form the vision. This sounds like a good idea.
The case for committee
The reasoning is that by having representatives from your whole organization on a committee that sets the vision, you have built in ambassadors for the final product who will go out and evangelize the new direction. You will have automatic buy-in from everybody, because nearly everybody was involved in making it.
I say horse feathers!
Actually, I’ve never said horse feathers. But I do disagree with that argument.
In my experience, and I’ve been through committee-driven vision exercises three times, the final product of committee visions needs a lot of work just to become mediocre. The three exercises I have been through each took many talented, excited people and produced a bland, lifeless, meaningless “vision” with the added bonus of having wasted at least two weeks of “real time” in vision exercises and two months in documenting and break-out meetings that never came to anything.
What does work? A picture from the mind of one creative individual
The visions I have seen work have been visions that were created by the leader.
The leader listens, judges, coalesces, tests ideas, and draws out opinions. Then, he creates a vision. The picture from the mind of a single person can be bold and inspiring; a stretch goal for the entire organization. This is the kind of vision that’s really a vision.
The down side? It’s all you, baby
A vision created this way starts as the property of the leader, and is completely identified with him or her.
Having a vision identified solely with the leader takes a lot of leader courage. If the vision fails, everyone will remember it was the leader’s (your) idea. The failure becomes yours.
I think the fear of this public failure is one of the primary psychological drivers that cause so many people to use committees to create visions. If the vision fails, no one can point at the leader, because he can point at the committee.
Suck it up and do the right thing
This is weak; torturing an entire organization with a lifeless vision because you are afraid of failure is inexcusable (the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and all that). If you are the leader, lead. Sometimes it’s really fun, and sometimes it’s stay-up-all-night scary. Good or bad, it’s your job all the time. Suck it up, and do the right thing.
Next time…
…we’ll talk about how to get input from everyone and make this something that everyone understands and believes in when you aren’t doing it by committee. You still can’t do it on you own, even if it is your picture of the future.
