Company Vision, Mission, and Values, What’s the Difference?

May 6, 2010 9320 Comments2010-05-06+15%3A49%3A32Ben+Nash

I was asked recently by a friend to explain the difference between a vision
statement, a mission statement, and a values statement. I must confess that
I struggled to answer the question as many organizations seem to use these
terms interchangeably. Then my parochial school education kicked in – I had heard a lot about people with a mission when at Catholic school – they
called them “Missionaries”. So what was their mission? It could be described as to carry out the “Vision of Jesus of Nazareth” (he was certainly a
visionary) and to do this in accordance with the values he espoused.

So a visionary (like Jesus) describes a future state and provides us with a
picture of what needs to be created. In a similar way an organization’s
vision is all about what is possible – about potential and what the future
looks like.

The mission, on the other hand, describes what it takes to make the vision come true (think the 12 Apostles and all those missionaries down through the centuries). The Mission Statement turns the vision into practice and describes the work that needs to be done to achieve the vision. The Values Statement describes the guiding principles as to how the mission and vision should be achieved.

Take for example Coca Cola’s Vision, Mission and Values Statements. Coca
Cola’s Vision can be summarized as:

“Be a great place to work, bring great beverage products to the world,
nurture customers and suppliers, be responsible citizens, maximize
shareholder return, and be lean and fast moving”

While their Mission is “To refresh the world, to inspire moments of optimism
and happiness, to create value and make a difference.”

So if Coca Cola carries out its mission effectively they will have a great
shot of achieving their vision.

Coke’s “Values Statement” describes how they will achieve all this through:
“Leadership, collaboration, integrity, accountability, passion, diversity,
and quality”.

Making a distinction between a “Visionary” and a “Missionary” and spelling out the critical guiding values seemed to help my friend clarify what he needed to do to write his own vision, mission, and values statements for his
organization. I am eager to see the results of his labors.