Vision has come up a few times across all five groups and I wanted us to spend a bit of time on this concept.
Edgar H. Schein (pronounced “shine”) is another leader in organizational change and leadership. I used his Organizational Culture and Leadership, 5th Edition, 2017 as a textbook in other classes I teach.
When he focuses on “resistance to change,” he looks closely at the change leader and what he or she could do to combat that. He states “two crucial principles must come into play” including:
Principle 1. Survival Anxiety or Guilt Must Be Greater than Learning Anxiety
Principle 2. Learning Anxiety Must Be Reduced Rather the Increasing Survival Anxiety
We won’t get into the weeds on either of these Principles but under Principle 2 Schein says to “Provide a compelling position vision: The targets of change must come to believe that they and the organization will be better off if they learn the new way of thinking and working. Such a vision must be articulated and widely held by senior management, who must spell out in clear behavioral terms what “the new way of working” will be. It must also be recognized that this new way of working is nonnegotiable.” (Schein, Edgar H., Organizational Culture and Leadership, 5th Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, 2017, pp. 327-28)
Here is an excerpt from a Vector Group, Inc. concept paper on Vision:
Why Vision is Important to Managers
Organizational research is beginning to show that managerial skills are best understood as forming two complementary clusters: one set relates to goal setting, problem analysis, and effective decision-making; the other to providing a framework about organizational purpose and the employee’s role in accomplishing it. While the former is important for getting specific jobs done, the latter shapes the character of an underlying set of attitudes shared by a team of workers. Creating these more fundamental attitudes can make all the difference; they can cause enthusiasm and commitment on the one hand, or lassitude and a devil-may-care climate on the other.
It is in the combination of these two sets of skills that we can maximize the potential of ourselves and those who work around us.
“A task without a vision is mindless drudgery.
A vision without a task is an idle dream.
But a vision with a task is the hope of the world.”
(Anonymous, 16th Century.)
Visions are the future. Visions are of possibilities – the possibility of a better tomorrow. If we can combine our daily tasks with a corporate vision of a better tomorrow that will stir our hearts and souls, we can mobilize this company as companies, nations, and nationalities have been mobilized before us.
“Intellectual strategies alone will not motivate people. Only a company with a real mission or sense of purpose that comes out of an intuitive or spiritual dimension will capture people’s hearts. And you must have people’s hearts to inspire the hard work required to realize a vision.” (John Naisbittt and Patricia Aburdene, Re-inventing the Corporation)
Components of a Vision
A vision may include many elements – a grasp of business reality, a feeling of what customers really want; a sharing of the values and aspirations of fellow managers and staff, a personal commitment to a set of values and standards for working together. The envisioning process allows us to integrate many ideas into a single image, story, or metaphor.
“. . . a vision always refers to a future state, a condition that does not presently exist and never existed before. With a vision, the leader provides the all-important bridge from the present to the future of the organization.” (Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge)
Vision or Vision/Mission has become a critical element in the creation of new organizations and is the foundation stone for the development of strategy and tactics. Leaders of the future will not be robot managers who can recite the corporate creed but rather thinking, imaginative, empowered leaders who can cause their people to understand and do what is needed in times of great challenge and difficulty. Such a capacity cannot come from mechanical rules and procedures. It can only stem from strong personal vision and deep commitment. (© Vector Group, Inc., 1996, 2010, pp. 4-5, Used with Permission)
So, New Group 3,
What does vision mean to you and why is it so important in managing and leading change?
