Don't know what I am talking about? Here's the sort of thing that companies enjoyed to hang on their walls - "To deliver the best possible service, in the most efficient time to our customers in the best possible blah blah blah".

The first problem with mission statements was that they were so filled with generic rhetoric that they could have been written about any company. They sat proudly on the wall as if someone knew what they meant and as if someone cared. They looked great and looked purposeful.

Management fell in love with mission statements. After they had been to a management seminar, managers became convinced that a mission statement was the key to success "Our employees need the statement. They give everyone a purpose. They make sure that we are all working for the same goals". What a bunch of rubbish that all turned out to be.

I was in a medium sized corporation and I was horried to hear one day that the CEO had decided that not only was it important for us to have a mission statement, but it was important that the employees decide what it was going to say!! Umm, that to me said "Hey, I don't know where this ocmpnay is headed so you tell me!!!". So, at the annual conference we were all split into groups to decide that the mission statement for the company should be. Then, we were all going to get together at the end and combine the best ideas from each group.

You can guess what the mission statement became. Yep, a generic waste of time. It of course was full of "best service", "customer focus", "striving to achieve" etc. I think there was even a bit of environmental consciousness thrown in!

If you're looking for direction, then the direction in a company comes from the top - from the CEO. Mission statements are no subsitute for strong leadership. What the company is about can usually be summed up in a few words. Where a company is going is best articulated from the General down through to the troops. Hanging a sign on the wall just aint going to cut it.

If the rank and file of the company doesn't know why we're here and where we're going and what part an individual plays in the overall plan, then the captain isn't doing his job. Mission statements are dead.

Fortunately now I work for a bus hire company and we're small enough that the liklihood of someone deciding we need a mission statement is low. Bus hire companies aren't immune though - I will always be on the lookout for the warning signs and tactfully defuse anyone who has been to a management seminar pushing mission statements!