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Mission Statements

April 2009

Vision, Philosophy, Mission

OK, now that I have spent two newsletters bashing vague vision statements, I am going to go ahead and create one along with a philosophy and a mission statement. It won’t take very long. Please don’t pay a consultant $8000 for a three-day retreat. Just spend a little time answering the questions below.

You can use this structure to bang out one in a few minutes—if you don’t wordsmith or belabor each word. I recommend that you create the components of a vision/mission statement with your team members but let one person go back and synthesize the results in a few sentences ON THEIR OWN. It is never a good idea to try to write a sentence as a group. You usually end up arguing about single words and end the meeting with a mediocre bunch of gobbled-y gook.

Let’s review the strategic structure for a minute. The strategic planning structure has the following components:

• VISION: An inspiring picture of a preferred future not bound by time—represents a global and continuing purpose.
• MISSION: A statement of what the entity does, why they do it, and for whom they do it. Spells out the reason for the entity’s existence.
• PHILOSOPHY: The expression of the core values and operating principles of conduct for the entity in carrying out its mission.
• GOALS: The general ends towards which the entity directs its efforts.
• OBJECTIVES: Clear targets for specific action that quantify progress towards meeting a particular goal.
• STRATEGIES: Methods by which the entity seeks to accomplish its goals and objectives.
• PERFORMANCE MEASURES: Quantifiable results measuring whether the entity met its objectives and strategies.

So you drill down from the general (vision) to the specific (performance measures). And if you drew it, it would look like an octopus with arms upon arms upon arms with a very tiny head. Please see a past newsletter with more on this topic at www.happycashflow.com/archives/200902.html.

I am going to use this opportunity to develop a plan for my new business. It will serve as our example of how to do a plan that includes performance measures as well as force me to create a plan myself. It will be good for both of us.

Here is a little background to get started. I am starting a new business called yellowbook-cpe.com. I have a sweet logo developed by my brilliant webmaster Kirsten Nothstine of Tiny Empire Design:

It is a website where CPAs and auditors can go to get self-study manuals on government auditing topics. Yes, it is niche. Yes, it is a boring topic. But that is what I know the most about—governmental auditing. And governmental auditors who are following the GAO’s auditing standards—also known as the YellowBook—must get 24 hours’ worth of continuing education in governmental topics. This is where my site comes in.

The vision statement

Let’s start with a tongue-in-cheek version of my vision statement:
Yellowbook-cpe.com will take over the world, but in a fun, humorous way.
OK, I’m not really the Lex-Luthor-as-played-by-Robin-Williams type. It might be better if I go with the motto that I have been using for a few years for all my other businesses: Making Finance and Auditing Fun and Easy. I’ll just tweak it a bit:

Making Governmental Accounting Fun and Easy.

OK, I am done with that. Check!

The philosophy statement

And I have a philosophy statement:

Stuffiness be damned.

I am so annoyed by people who are smart and want you to know it by keeping things complex. Nothing is that hard. You just need someone with empathy and teaching skills to explain it to you. Here it is:

My writing has been rejected by CPA magazines because it is too fun. Check out these comments from a university professor/editor on one of my recent articles:

The article as written looks more like the text of a talk or CPE lecture (albeit an interesting one). It contains many first person pronouns (I, me) relating your personal experiences. While this is interesting and perfectly appropriate in an oral setting, it doesn't work in a professional article.

HA. If you would like to fall asleep in the middle of your CPE, this is not where you need to be. I throw in wacky little stories, references, and jokes—all in an effort to keep you awake and interested, just like I do in my live seminars.

I do my best to write as I talk. And I do know what I am talking about—usually.

So my goal is to inform, to educate, and to have a little fun. I don't think to be educated you have to be bored. As a matter of fact, I believe that you learn better if you are having a good time. It is easier to accept new information if you are comfortable and maybe even laughing.

All of my writers are interesting and I encourage them to fill their texts full of personal stories and humor.

Stuffy, stiff writing be damned! I am the editor at YellowBook-CPE and I have a different standard. I am looking for accuracy with a touch of fun. Let me know what you think—and if we caused a few chuckles.

Ok, it is more of a philosophical diatribe, but it is my business, right?

The mission statement

Now for the mission statement. This is where things get a little more interesting—it is taking my short motto and fleshing it out a bit.
In order to create one, I have to answer the following questions:

• Who are you? Identifies your organization
• What do you do? Identifies your products and services
• For whom? Identifies your customers
• Why? Identifies your customer requirements

Who are we? A web-publisher.

What do we do? We publish self-study continuing education manuals with an online quizzer that allows for immediate grading and credit.

For whom? Auditors following governmental auditing standards (the GAO’s Yellow Book) including CPA firms, internal auditors, and governmental auditors and monitors.

Why? Our customers want self-studies that help them:

• Stay current with standards and developments in governmental auditing
• Understand complex subjects
• Have a little fun (not having to wade through mind-numbingly boring text!)
• Work at a convenient time and pace (available any time)
• Get immediate results and credit (24-hour quizzer availability)
• Document that their CPE is certified by NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Public Accountancy) for CPE credit for CPAs.
• Select from a variety of relevant and interesting topics

If this list doesn’t come naturally to you, ask yourself what the customer expects as far as:

• Price
• Quality
• Availability
• Selection
• Functionality

Now I can weave most of these desires together into a mission statement:
Yellowbook-cpe.com is a web publisher of relevant, enjoyable, and convenient self-study continuing education manuals for government auditors seeking to earn their required 24 hours of government focused audit training at their own pace and on their own schedule.

Wow, I sure can stuff a lot of junk into one sentence! Never let perfection get in the way of getting it the heck done! (My English teacher would surely mark that as a ‘run on’ sentence!)

So now I have my vision, philosophy, and mission in place. What did that take me, 30 minutes? And it didn’t cost me $8000. (Are you saying to yourself, “You get what you pay for?” )

In the bestselling book Blink, author Malcolm Gladwell makes the argument that snap, gut decisions often better than decisions made with copious data and deliberation. Just get on with it, he urges.

Now what? Now I have to develop objectives and goals. And then we have to drill down to strategies and to performance measures. We will continue our journey in next month’s newsletter.

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Leita Hart-Fanta, CPA, CGFM
Resides in Austin, Texas and can be reached at www.happycashflow.com