What’s the Difference Between a Mission Statement and Vision Statement

Whether you’re in a start up or a company that’s been around for decades, chances are you’ve thought about whether your company needs a mission statement or vision statement.

When many companies go to write these statements, people can become distracted by the definition of a mission vs a vision statement, which takes time away from writing the actual statements.

Definitions are important so it’s natural we argue about them – after all, in just a few short words a mission or vision will direct the future direction of a company.

A great place to start is to look at examples how many companies have actually written their mission statements.  Beyond these examples, it’s also important to think more deeply about the definitions and differences of mission statements vs vision statements.

This is how I define these terms…

Chances are you will not find these definitions in any text book. In my research I found it difficult to find a clear sentence outlining each one.  So these definitions are based on my own research, previous studies in strategy and experiences working with different organisations.

The trouble with many other definitions, is that they’re not specific enough to show the exclusivity of these two terms.  And it’s important to have a degree of exclusivity, so we can understand which of these statements are best suited to which purpose.

We can highlight the difference between mission and vision with a simple metaphor.

A helpful metaphor

Let’s say I wanted to climb mount Everest.

My vision is to ‘stand at the top of Everest looking out over the Himalayas on a clear day, knowing that I had just climbed to the summit’.  This provides a very strong mental picture of the vision for the journey I want to take.

Now let’s say I wasn’t going to Everest for another year.

My mission might be to “prepare myself in all senses to ensure that my path to the top of the mountain was as safe and enjoyable as possible”.  Here, ‘in all senses’ could relate to how I get ready physically and mentally, including sourcing the right equipment and team.

Here, both the vision and the mission are involved in the path to achieving my goal.  At the same time, both give me quite different points of focus.

Taking a deeper look

A useful way to think about the differences between mission and vision statements is to compare them along a variety of dimensions.  This simple table summarises some major points of comparison.

Examples How Leading Companies Use Mission Statements and Vision Statements

These four companies use these statements in different ways.  I’ve included some commentary for each example, which references some of the definitions we used earlier in this article.

Disney

Mission Statement: “To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.”

Vision Statement: “To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.”

Commentary: In Disney’s case, the mission statement provides a clear statement of purpose, including how the company will differentiate itself from the competition.  While this mission statement is longer than many others, it serves its purpose.

In my opinion, the vision statement is the weaker of the two statements, and could be made more specific to the company and its enduring purpose. 

For example, this vision doesn’t provide a clear or inspirational picture of the purpose that it is trying to create, other than to be ‘leading’, or how Disney’s vision is unique to the company or differentiated from competitors.

Reebok

Vision Statement: “We envision a future where humans return to their roots. A future where we recognize that each of us is a living, breathing, walking, talking, running, climbing, jumping, laughing, caring miracle—a miracle that happens only once.

Through tough fitness, we will push each other to honor the body we’ve been given, because we have only one body to honor. We will endure sweat, tears and even a bit of blood. We will flip tires, sprint hills, and do push-ups until we can’t do them any longer.  Why do we do this? We certainly aren’t flipping tires to be better tire flippers. We’re doing it to be better, period. Better leaders; better parents; better stronger, more determined humans—capable of anything. We do it to honor our bodies and sharpen our minds—to be more human.”

Commentary: Reebok’s vision statement provides a clear picture of a preferred future.  In a world overwhelmed by continuous change, Reebok reminds us of our enduring purpose – “to be more human”.  Both a call to arms and a return to the simple pleasure of hard training, this reminds us the journey is not just about being athletic, it’s about being better people in every walk of our lives.  

Nasa

Vision Statement: “We reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind.”

Mission Statement: “Drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality and stewardship of Earth.”

Commentary: Nasa’s vision identifies two eternal tasks which are likely to endure beyond any human life – ‘revealing the unknown’ and ‘benefit of human kind’.  The mission articles the domains of present exploration (science, technology, etc) and the benefactors of this research (education, innovation, etc).

Nike

Mission Statement: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.”
*If you have a body, you are an athlete.

Commentary: In contrast to Reebok, it’s difficult to find a vision statement for Nike.  Instead Nike’s mission statement is well documented and referenced. In this simple statement Nike defines its purpose (inspiration and innovation) as well as target market (every athlete). 

It is deceptively simple and yet at the same time is true to Nike’s purpose and provides enormous latitude for current and future activities.

Should you use Mission or Vision Statement?

The definitions and comparisons above will help you target the type of statement you would like to create for your organisation.

I’ve noticed many organisations will only write one statement, and sometimes this statement will be a hybrid of both mission and vision.  So which one should you choose?

Generally, I would say a single statement is better than no statement at all, because it will give a company a common goal.  This is important in aligning all aspects of an organisation – its people, its resources, its priorities.

I do feel two separate statements around mission and vision, that follow the guidelines above, will be even more powerful.  But if you have to select one, I would say that a mission statement tends to be the most pervasive choice among organisations.

Using Google Insights for Search, I took a sample of search patterns over the last 5 years for mission and vision statements.  I was surprised to find that companies look far more often for ‘mission statement’ compared to ‘vision statement’.

One theory why this occurs is that organisations are more comfortable planning for the ‘here and now’, instead of the future, and this is reflected in search patterns.  The term ‘mission statement’ may also be more popular in business language than ‘vision statement’. As a result, we could assume that if an organisation writes a single statement, it will likely reference it as a ‘mission statement’.

I hope you’ve found this information useful for yourself and your organisation.  You may also wish to take a look at my post 7 Rules of a Vision Statement That Lasts.  If you did find this useful, please consider sharing your own experiences by adding a comment.