Branding Myths - Mission Statements
Branding Myths - Mission Statements
Mission Statements don't inspire anyone or keep them accountable, regardless of how well they are written.
For anyone new here, I’m the founder of Woo Punch, a brand consultancy rooted in evidence-based brand design. I write about the evidence that debunks brand purpose, differentiation, brand love, loyalty marketing, customer personas, color psychology, mission statements, customer engagement, AdTech, and “hustle culture.”
Want to chat about your brand? Schedule a free intro call.
THE MYTH OF MISSION STATEMENTS
If written well, a mission statement will unify your staff toward your long-term goal while maintaining your values.
By investing in a sign or poster to display your mission statement in your offices, your employees will consistently be reminded of why they show up for work every day.
HUMANS FIND IT DIFFICULT TO ACT ON WRITTEN TEXT
While a mission is vital for your company, written communication is one of the crudest communication tools we have as human beings. Human beings communicated effectively for over 36,000 years before anything was written down.
Written communication was first developed in 3,500 B.C. by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. However, it wasn’t created for better communication but for long-distance communication.
Therefore, while written communication has its place, it isn’t as effective as older forms of communication. I.e., images (cave paintings), stories (fables/parables), questions, and demonstrations.
Furthermore, our brains aren’t wired to process written communication as effectively as those earlier forms of communication.
If processing written information requires significantly more effort than earlier forms of communication, you can only imagine how difficult it must be for human beings to act upon written information.
SYSTEMS 1 AND 2 THINKING
As humans, we have 2 systems of thinking, coined by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, that influence our decisions (System 1 and System 2).
System 1 is responsible for fast, intuitive, and emotional decisions, while System 2 is responsible for slow, deliberate, and rational decisions.
System 1 is capable of processing around 11 million bits of information per second, while System 2 is only capable of a meager 50 bits by comparison. 1
PASSIVE, IMPLICIT, AND ACTIVE LEARNING
Within Systems 1 and 2, there are three primary ways we learn. Passive Learning, Implicit Learning, and Active Learning. 2
Passive Learning is learning done quickly, usually using System 1, and is immediately forgotten. Passive Learning requires low attention and is very poor at analysis. Many of your essential functions were learned passively when you first discovered them. I.e., walking, talking, punching people in the face, and so on.
Implicit Learning is Passive Learning that, when done enough times, builds on itself and is stored in our long-term memory. Examples of Implicit Learning include learning to walk, talk, or associate specific colors with particular objects.
You briefly looked up at the sky on a sunny day at one point and passively learned it was blue. Over time, you implicitly learned that the sky was always blue on sunny days and stopped thinking about it (until now).
Active Learning is learning that requires ideas to be manipulated, evaluated, and often wholly reinterpreted. Active Learning requires high attention and isn’t stored long-term. An example of Active Learning is memorizing a phone number and forgetting it once you reach the phone. Active Learning lives entirely in System 2.
To process and act upon written information, you must Actively learn it. However, if you stop there, you will quickly forget what you’ve learned. Therefore, that information must be encoded passively and, over time, implicitly to be retained and inspiring for real change.
Stories, images, questions, and demonstrations are more naturally passive and implicit, to begin with.
This is why Mission Statements, Vision Statements, or Why Statements are so ineffective at inspiring anyone to act. It doesn’t matter how perfect the wording of your statement is; statements as a tool are the problem.
Many people spend thousands of dollars on consultants to write statements, and even those who do it themselves waste precious hours trying to write their own. It’s better to invest your time and money in communication that plays to the strengths of the human brain. That is unless you just need a statement because everyone else has one.
Let’s take a closer look at a few companies with the most respected mission statements but which have fallen short of the mark.
GREAT MISSION STATEMENTS, POOR ACTION.
PATAGONIA
“Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” I guess human trafficking is a “necessary harm.”
STARBUCKS
“To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.” Maybe start by paying taxes in those neighborhoods?
GOOGLE
“Do no evil.”*
*They have since changed this one. Perhaps because they were doing a bunch of evil, but that evil still made their money?
DO THIS INSTEAD. LEVERAGE IMAGES, STORIES, QUESTIONS, AND DEMONSTRATIONS TO ENACT REAL CHANGE OVER TIME.
IMAGES
Picture your company’s day-to-day life in 20 years, once it’s achieved its long-term goal. Be as detailed and visual as possible in your description. Pretend there are no barriers to your success, even if the solution hasn’t been invented yet.
Assign your mission to metaphors. This will help you get outside of System 2 and into System 1 and translate your mission visually down to the janitor.
What would it be if your mission were an image, a texture, a shape, a celebrity, a profession, etc.?
STORIES
Tell the story behind your company.
Tell a story of success.
Tell a story of a problem solved.
Tell a story of a great employee.
Tell a story of what might happen if you don’t fulfill your mission.
Get creative! Write a parable. Parables combine images with a story and have been at least partially responsible for countless religious movements.
QUESTIONS
Studies show that when you are asked a question, your brain can’t help but look for an answer. Therefore you are more likely to take action to find that answer.
One study with over 40,000 participants revealed that asking people if they would purchase a new car within six months increased their purchase rate by 35%. This study has been repeated several times and in a variety of contexts.3
Instead of a Mission, Vision, or Why Statement, consider a Mission, Vision, or Why Question. For example, “What do we need to do today to (insert long-term goal)?”
Just don’t stop there. While questions are far more effective than statements, no written-down communication will solve your mission problem.
It also helps to have a child-like curiosity in your questions. Don’t assume you know the answers to even the most basic questions. “Why do people want to eat at our restaurant?” The answer is almost certainly not just because “they’re hungry.” “Why do our customers complain about flight delays?” Because they hate waiting? Maybe. Or maybe they hate uncertainty.
DEMONSTRATIONS
This one is easy. Don’t just come up with metaphors, stories, and questions. Instead, do something every day to further your mission. Then tell everyone about it, or do it in front of everyone. This way, your co-workers have an example to follow.
BONUS
Get in front of your temptations. Studies show that when we are more aware of our potential vices, we cheat less.5 Tell past stories of when you and your employees cheated. Not to shame them but to become more aware of how you might be tempted to cheat in the future.
CONCLUSION
I worked for a non-profit for 8 years before starting Woo Punch. Yes, we had a Mission Statement, but no one knew it.
We got up every morning because we experienced first-hand the transformative power of our mission long before we wrote down our Mission Statement.
Mission Statements can’t replace first-hand experience. When hiring employees without that experience, images, stories, questions, and demonstrations are your best bet.
Want to chat about your brand? Schedule a free intro call.
REFERENCES
[1] Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman
[2] Seducing the Subconscious, Robert Heath
[3] Does Measuring Intent Change Behavior? - Vicki G. Morwitz, Eric Johnson and David Schmittlein, 1993