Douglas C Engelbart created many things in the world of the computer age. But one thing he created and demonstrated in 1968 was the computer mouse. This invention surely has outlived him. His vision was well beyond most businesses 3 or 5 year plan. No, his vision manifested itself in private homes within 20 years with Apple and Microsoft.
Recently I conducted a number of strategy sessions for clients. During that process, we identify a 10-20 vision. This sometimes is a hard stage because small business owners tend to limit their vision to what they think is reasonably attainable. This is a mistake in strategic planning. If you limit your 20 year vision to what is “reasonably attainable,” then you can do no better than reasonable success. As you develop your strategic plan, here are some pointers:
- Don’t look at your company and industy in their current state, but as the way you want them to be.
- Don’t look at an idealistic future and say, “But the problem is…” Leave that stage to the implementation.
- It is possible to have two visions, but they must be compatible to each other so as to not drain resources.
- Don’t limit yourself geographically unless you truly do not have the desire to operate outside a limited geographic area. There must be good reasons to limit yourself.
- Bounce crazy ideas off others during the session. If you don’t think differently than your competitor, you will never defeat them.
- Don’t let your vision copy current visions of your competitors. Try to leap-frog them utilizing trends and technology.
- Make sure you vision addresses the issues you identified at the beginning of the process. These issues are both strategic and financial.
- Once you set your vision, articulate your mission.
These tips work for not only a business strategy, but a personal career. Great visionaries do great things assuming they know how to impliment their visions.