Surviving Poor Management 2: Lack of Unifying Vision

This continues our series on how to survive poor management at work and grow

Lauren worked in a division of a global company that experienced 5 directors in 4 years. The company split the division between two departments and spun the domestic portion into a new another department. The division experienced three major strategic direction changes in four years. In this environment, nobody seemed to know where the organization was heading. Performance in the division  plummeted. The executives couldn’t understand why.

Importance of Management’s Vision

Management researchers all concur on the importance of management’s vision for the organization. Stephen R. Covey taught the effective people “begin with the end in mind.” Jim Collins described that level 5 leaders create disciplined thought around a hedgehog concept and a stop doing list.

Vision allows all workers to see what the organization will become and the path it will take to arrive at that envisioned  state. The clearer the vision, the easier to move the current reality to the desired reality. Moving the entire organization in the same direction toward the same goal accelerates change and enhances the probability the organization will achieve the desired goal.

Some companies use mission or value statements to verbally express their vision. Others create videos and downloads to visually generate the vision. Training, newsletters, posters, pictures, and web sites highlight the vision.

Consequences of Lack of Vision

Unfortunately, many organizations fail to create a clear vision for their employees. Many only define their “stop-doing” list without to-do’s. Eliminating efforts without defining the positive initiatives or actions creates a vacuum and can lead to lower morale or lower productivity.

A lack of vision, especially coupled with restrictive mandates, can also

• Create confusion
• Perplex the staff
• Drain energy from the organization
• Lose time, money, and results

Compensating for a Lack of Vision

You may use several tools or techniques to compensate for management’s lack of vision:

• Ask questions of managers and others to glean whatever information you can
• Review the corporate memory to find clues
• Create a vision yourself

Friday we highlight how confusing and cross-directed information creates misunderstanding

This blog will improve as you submit comments, questions, and experiences. We will answer your questions in future blog posts. Please submit your comments and questions so we can answer them.