in their stretch goals or BHAGs. Cumulatively these goals tell the story of the preferred future the association wants to create. Compared to this approach, a vision statement provides a more enduring picture of the preferred future, one likely to remain in effect during multiple strategic planning and goal-setting processes. Responses to “what matters most?” tend to be more expansive when considered through the lens of both organizational mission and vision regardless of whether the latter is a succinct statement or an accumulation of goals. The examination of current trends also becomes more robust when both their long-term and short-term implications are considered. Improving Mission and Vision Statements My #1 tool for improving the quality of missions or visions, reducing the verbiage only to what is essential, and unearthing the deeper meaning of any language used is the Five Why Method (also known as Root Cause). This methods asks you (and others) to answer the following questions for either your mission or vision statement. » Why does this matter? » Why is this important? » What is meaningful about this? » What value would this help create? These same four questions are then answered for the responses just given. This process is repeated up to five times. Digging deeper during these rounds of questioning unearths the meaning behind the initial statement and discovers more powerful and concise language to express it. For more on the power of Why, look to Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework as explained in his book, Start with Why. 3. METRICS Having evaluation criteria for individual programs and services is fairly pervasive; having relevant mission- and/or vision-related metrics is not. Why does this matter? Imagine you are an organization striving to eradicate illiteracy. All of your efforts receive strong evaluation scores and positive feedback. Yet illiteracy continues to increase. Successful programs do not automatically translate into moving the needle on the mission or vision. Lacking an overall metric to assess that vital progress, many organizations continue to allocate substantial resources to well-received efforts that may not advance meaningful progress. Some organizations build metrics right into their statements, particularly for visions. Example: By 2035, we will increase the number of certified professionals to 25,000. Choosing mission or vision metrics should not be arbitrary. Used appropriately, metrics help groups assess progress, allocate fiscal and human resources, and determine priorities for programs, products, and communications. They also provide meaningful ongoing benchmarks that can consistently guide the efforts of different volunteer corps and staff teams over the years. 4. STAKEHOLDERS What matters most can vary significantly when you add the all-important qualifier … to whom? Associations that lack clarity about the stakeholders they prioritize serving will struggle to determine what matters most. These discussions may prove contentious as staff or volunteers advocate for a wide variety of constituencies and personalities or politics may drive decisions more than principles or policies. To determine what matters most, an association’s leaders must know for whom they are replying and for whom they are not. This produces an expansive awareness and application of “that’s not who we are or what we do.” Absent this, an association may try to be all things to all or most people, resulting in providing little or inadequate value to anyone. What Matters Most Discussions Any efforts to facilitate better discussions, decisions, and results about what matters most for an association and those it serves should operationalize the essence of facilitation: making it easier. Represented in the word itself (facile • and ation) effective facilitation embodies the actions one takes to make it easier to achieve desired results. Making it easier to determine what matters most may begin by ensuring an organization has clarity around mission, vision, metrics, and stakeholders. A former association executive, Jeffrey Cufaude is a long-time friend of, participant in, and consultant to the association community. His current writing and speaking focuses on helping people facilitate better. Receive his weekly free essays meeting and workshop design and facilitation by subscribing at: facilitatebetter.substack.com. 28 Leadership
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