I was asked to come observe because the team was making no headway and had been stalled for months, going around in the same circles. Because of a simple fundamental breakdown they spent much of the meeting arguing- there was no agreement on the business model... and there was no agreement because the business's Vision was a tangled mess.

How did this happen? This is a business, so how could it possibly be operating without a clear inspiring Vision? Poorly!

In businesses, whether solo, small firm or large corporation, the lack of a Vision results in continuously wasted resources. I bet you've experience these at some point: great ideas mixed in with bad ones, lots of busy work and duplication and people marking time commingled with focused efforts.

People dream of doing great work!

They're hungry for someone to give them a clear direction with a Vision they can sink their teeth into. You can't make a loaf of bread anyone wants to eat if there's chaff in it... What do I mean by "chaff?" At some point in the past 10 years I expect you saw a television show or cable program from a developing country that showed a woman ankle deep in grain. With a light breeze blowing from behind her she was systematically scooping up the grain and tossing it into the air.

Toss the grain in the air and the breeze blows the outer inedible shell, the chaff, to the side while the weight of the edible core drops it to the ground. Presto! The makings of a great pita, or loaf of bread, or strip of pasta. In developed countries, large machinery does the same thing. Millions of tons of grain taken from a confused mass of unfiltered wheat to immediately usable product in a simple, systematic way.

You'd think that if people had been doing this for centuries, actually for millennia, that we'd all know how to apply the principle to other areas of life.

In fact, we don't. Just as that woman sifting the wheat had to learn how to do that, the same holds true in creating productive, profitable business efforts. And the starting point is the same for mega corporations, family owned businesses, professional service firms, or technology start-ups.

You can't get people to step up and produce effective results if your Vision is a mess!

I've seen Vision statements that were 150 words long on plaques on the wall, listened to business leaders drone on from the podium as listeners eyes glassed over, and had CEO's tell me their company was in business, because it was in business.

Don't get me wrong. The business doors are open, products and services are being delivered and money is changing hands. But the employees aren't motivated to do their best work, management is arguing about whether sales or accounting set the business direction, and customers can pick and choose who they want to buy from this month.

Nothing compelling is at the helm - no idea that stirs the staff's juices, no product or service that keeps customers loyal, and no touchstone that reminds people wearing different business hats of the reason they're in a meeting to solve conflicts and make decisions.

Companies come into existence because at one point in time there was a customer for a specific solution, and someone decided to do 'whatever it took' to provide that solution.

And that motivation was a clear compelling Vision.

FedEx established a Vision that packages would be delivered "absolutely, positively, overnight" and that animated every activity in the company. Your success demands that you have a Vision everyone stands for in your organization.

So I'll be working with that client to get a compelling straightforward Vision that ties their efforts together. And it's now your turn!

Get the chaff out and create a Vision that aligns and inspires the efforts of your business! Ask yourself and your team

"What is the underlying Vision for this organization?"

If you don't hear that people have a clear understanding of the purpose for the business, you cannot clearly define the what success will look like for their roles and responsibilities. Your first order of business is communicating that Vision clearly.