Performance challenge
Orchestrating people, processes, and technologies to create the company's vision.
Best company response
Volatile markets, intense competition, and increasing pressure to grow have presented a challenge for companies to take visioning more seriously. More executives are mapping out long-term visions, ascertaining what is likely to happen in the next five-to-ten years. Yet for most, vision remains an abstract, mystical thing, a window dressing that bears little resemblance to daily reality. But for best practices companies, vision is an analytically derived instrument used to drive business forward in radical new ways. It functions as a road map, creating operational thrust, proactive strategies, and keener anticipation of customer needs. Leading companies know the best visions produce an idea so powerful that they call forth a company’s talent, energy, and resources to revolutionize its own future. These companies:
Success story
A manufacturer of diesel engines sets up advisory councils of key customers and distributors to ensure product designs match its vision. The U.S. company also sends designers and marketers to conduct on-site interviews with users of their engines as well as competitors' engines. And product managers and design engineers use an anthropological style of research called “camping out” or “day-in-the-life of”--interviewing truck drivers at truck stops and riding along with drivers to talk about engine preferences--to uncover unarticulated needs or new product opportunities. Such firsthand knowledge led engineers to realize that some product features they did not think were important were actually highly valued by customers, which clarified design goals, reduced conflict over product features, and aligned customer needs with vision and strategy.
Measures of success
Leading companies monitor the effectiveness of their vision creation efforts by tracking performance measures such as:
Orchestrating people, processes, and technologies to create the company's vision.
Volatile markets, intense competition, and increasing pressure to grow have presented a challenge for companies to take visioning more seriously. More executives are mapping out long-term visions, ascertaining what is likely to happen in the next five-to-ten years. Yet for most, vision remains an abstract, mystical thing, a window dressing that bears little resemblance to daily reality. But for best practices companies, vision is an analytically derived instrument used to drive business forward in radical new ways. It functions as a road map, creating operational thrust, proactive strategies, and keener anticipation of customer needs. Leading companies know the best visions produce an idea so powerful that they call forth a company’s talent, energy, and resources to revolutionize its own future. These companies:
- Incorporate a broad range of input through strategic visioning tools.
- Engage senior management in visioning workshops.
- Bring a finance perspective to the vision process.
- Enmesh vision planning in a customer-centric world.
- Put the vision to a test.
Success story
A manufacturer of diesel engines sets up advisory councils of key customers and distributors to ensure product designs match its vision. The U.S. company also sends designers and marketers to conduct on-site interviews with users of their engines as well as competitors' engines. And product managers and design engineers use an anthropological style of research called “camping out” or “day-in-the-life of”--interviewing truck drivers at truck stops and riding along with drivers to talk about engine preferences--to uncover unarticulated needs or new product opportunities. Such firsthand knowledge led engineers to realize that some product features they did not think were important were actually highly valued by customers, which clarified design goals, reduced conflict over product features, and aligned customer needs with vision and strategy.
Leading companies monitor the effectiveness of their vision creation efforts by tracking performance measures such as:
- Frequency of visioning tool exercises
- Percentage of employees that participate in vision exercises
- Percentage of senior managers who participate in visioning workshops
- Number of vision characteristics tested
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