Ryan, I thoroughly enjoyed this post. Here are my examples:
CORE VALUES (what I promise to deliver):
My NONFICTION books are positive, uplifting, constructive, and healing. They help the reader close the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
My FICTION books deliver a ticking time bomb of simmering tension that keeps the space between the pages and the reader emotionally taut.
MISSION STATEMENT
Stephen Covey defined a mission statement as: “Your constitution, the solid expression of your vision and values. It becomes the criterion by which you measure everything else in your life.”
My mission statement as an author:
I craft compelling and thought-provoking crime thrillers that captivate readers, provoke contemplation, and inspire a deeper understanding of the human condition.
My vision statement as an author:
Fiction or nonfiction, fans of my work love the human experience I bring to life on the page.
When my mission and vision statements intersect (purpose):
I take pleasure from the joy of writing and knowing that people love to read my work.
“My writing goal is simple: to leave you wanting more.” —Laurie Buchanan
Hi Laurie, how great to hear from you on this post in particular! I can say personally that your non-fiction books are certainly meeting their mission; THE BUSINESS OF BEING had a transformative impact on the direction of KYD Candle Co., and I've used it as a framework to better understand the role mission statements can play in my day-to-day work as a software engineer.
Have you uncovered any new nuances to the crafting of mission and vision statements in the time since THE BUSINESS OF BEING was published? If so, would you be willing to share?
I'll have a follow-up post to this one next week that discusses what I've found most useful in creating a mission statement for oneself. I believe you and THE BUSINESS OF BEING even get a shout-out in that post. 🙌
Ryan, you asked if I've uncovered any new nuances to crafting mission and vision statements since The Business of Being was published.
.
.
When my writing focus shifted from nonfiction to fiction, specifically crime thriller novels, my vision, core value (singular, I keep it simple), and mission statements evolved accordingly:
.
.
VISION STATEMENT (long-term goals and aspirations) — Fans of my work love the human experience I bring to life on the page. The following statement is posted on my website: “My writing goal is simple: to leave you wanting more.” —Laurie Buchanan
.
.
CORE VALUE (what I promise to deliver) — My books deliver a ticking time bomb of simmering tension that keeps the space between the pages and the reader emotionally taut.
.
.
MISSION STATEMENT (the solid expression of my vision and values) — I craft compelling and thought-provoking crime thrillers that captivate readers, provoke contemplation, and inspire a deeper understanding of the human condition.
.
.
For greater impact, I craft my statements in the present tense to convey a sense of immediacy and commitment and reinforce my dedication to delivering these promises.
It's great to see you embrace the present tense and strive for including a single core value.
I've found in corporate settings especially that it's necessary to insist on simplicity when mission statements are being crafted; far too often, working groups or organizations try to pack a bunch of supposed priorities and values into their statements. I find this makes them harder to parse and discourages focus—one of the very reasons I find mission statements to be helpful.
That you aim for a single core value parallels perfectly with my insistence that mission statements also feature a single priority! 🤝
I’ve written many mission statements over the years for work. Some were good and helpful, others not so much. They do tend to force clarity which is a positive. You know what you’re doing and why. This isn’t a guarantee of success but tend to lead to better outcomes.
Ryan, I’ve been following you for years and listened to your podcasts, remember you starting your candle company, and met you in person when you were a speaker at the big UW Madison writers conference that lasted 30 years before shutting down in 2020. You and I were also briefly in a critique group together. Your focus over the years has changed and it’s been interesting to watch you. I’ve enjoyed learning from you as a writer, though I was never able to connect to your writing. Your advice and feedback as a writing coach was spot on. Perhaps this was during times you focused there.
Success happens for many reasons and luck is part of it. We also need to decide what success looks like and this can change over time as we learn more. I’m still writing and plan on publishing but none of my books have made it out to the world yet. My goals have been scaled back both in terms of reality check and who I am today vs who I was 10 years ago when I started writing seriously. At one point I thought I would make money and run things as a business. Today my goal is to connect with an audience and I don’t expect to make a dime. I look at my writing as a hobby I enjoy which removes a lot of stress. I can just enjoy the process and see where it goes.
Thanks, Bruce, as always for your comments. Did the mission statements that weren't as helpful have anything in common that you noticed? Were they perhaps not well defined enough? Were they too rigid? Something else?
I agree that they're not a guarantee of success, but the focus they provide does seem to engender it more often than not, at least in my experience. In next weekend's post, we'll discuss the *what* of a good mission statement a bit more, including how we can create more effective ones for ourselves and for the teams we work on or with.
And I definitely appreciate you following along over time. I do remember meeting you and so many others at the UW Writers' Institute; it truly is a shame that it went the way of the dinosaurs during Covid.
It's funny, too: looking back at my own writing from that era, it does at times feel wooden to me as well, and I've wondered whether I was *too* engrossed in the minutiae of the craft to deliver as well as I could have. As I re-write the EMPATHY series, I'm trying to keep that in mind as I go. One of my many goals for it is to restore to it some of the life that I feel may have left it with me having focused overmuch on critique group feedback instead of letting my own voice shine.
I'm happy to know you're still at it, and I think you have the right attitude. I know coming back to writing with the primary goal of writing for writing's sake has made it a much more enjoyable endeavor than it was for those years I was focused on treating my manuscripts like deliverables in a pseudo-corporate setting.
I'll be curious to know how things progress for you, as well as your thoughts on the questions I sent your way above! Maybe they'll even help me make some tweaks to next week's post. 🙂
My mission statements were from my corporate experience on technology projects vs writing. A couple of things I learned is that they take multiple reviews with a group. Everyone needs to agree and this can sometimes take a lot of effort when working with different groups all with their own agendas. Keep things simple and focused. For personal projects do the work of figuring out why you are taking on a project. What drives you and what you want to get out of it. I think of mission statements as my true north compass. If something comes up that doesn’t align with the mission it’s time to pause and evaluate whether this new direction makes sense. Often it won’t. That’s why taking the time up front is so important. Also, even for personal projects often there are other stakeholders. Keep them in mind. I hope this helps.
Great tips, Bruce! The notion of needing multiple reviews with a group patterns well with a recent of experience of mine on a technology project, as a matter of coincidence. I led a focus group to test out several versions of a mission statement for an upcoming project, and the clarity provided by discussing in a group will make a huge difference in the direction we take going forward.
Ryan, I thoroughly enjoyed this post. Here are my examples:
CORE VALUES (what I promise to deliver):
My NONFICTION books are positive, uplifting, constructive, and healing. They help the reader close the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
My FICTION books deliver a ticking time bomb of simmering tension that keeps the space between the pages and the reader emotionally taut.
MISSION STATEMENT
Stephen Covey defined a mission statement as: “Your constitution, the solid expression of your vision and values. It becomes the criterion by which you measure everything else in your life.”
My mission statement as an author:
I craft compelling and thought-provoking crime thrillers that captivate readers, provoke contemplation, and inspire a deeper understanding of the human condition.
My vision statement as an author:
Fiction or nonfiction, fans of my work love the human experience I bring to life on the page.
When my mission and vision statements intersect (purpose):
I take pleasure from the joy of writing and knowing that people love to read my work.
“My writing goal is simple: to leave you wanting more.” —Laurie Buchanan
Hi Laurie, how great to hear from you on this post in particular! I can say personally that your non-fiction books are certainly meeting their mission; THE BUSINESS OF BEING had a transformative impact on the direction of KYD Candle Co., and I've used it as a framework to better understand the role mission statements can play in my day-to-day work as a software engineer.
Have you uncovered any new nuances to the crafting of mission and vision statements in the time since THE BUSINESS OF BEING was published? If so, would you be willing to share?
I'll have a follow-up post to this one next week that discusses what I've found most useful in creating a mission statement for oneself. I believe you and THE BUSINESS OF BEING even get a shout-out in that post. 🙌
Ryan, you asked if I've uncovered any new nuances to crafting mission and vision statements since The Business of Being was published.
.
.
When my writing focus shifted from nonfiction to fiction, specifically crime thriller novels, my vision, core value (singular, I keep it simple), and mission statements evolved accordingly:
.
.
VISION STATEMENT (long-term goals and aspirations) — Fans of my work love the human experience I bring to life on the page. The following statement is posted on my website: “My writing goal is simple: to leave you wanting more.” —Laurie Buchanan
.
.
CORE VALUE (what I promise to deliver) — My books deliver a ticking time bomb of simmering tension that keeps the space between the pages and the reader emotionally taut.
.
.
MISSION STATEMENT (the solid expression of my vision and values) — I craft compelling and thought-provoking crime thrillers that captivate readers, provoke contemplation, and inspire a deeper understanding of the human condition.
.
.
For greater impact, I craft my statements in the present tense to convey a sense of immediacy and commitment and reinforce my dedication to delivering these promises.
It's great to see you embrace the present tense and strive for including a single core value.
I've found in corporate settings especially that it's necessary to insist on simplicity when mission statements are being crafted; far too often, working groups or organizations try to pack a bunch of supposed priorities and values into their statements. I find this makes them harder to parse and discourages focus—one of the very reasons I find mission statements to be helpful.
That you aim for a single core value parallels perfectly with my insistence that mission statements also feature a single priority! 🤝
I’ve written many mission statements over the years for work. Some were good and helpful, others not so much. They do tend to force clarity which is a positive. You know what you’re doing and why. This isn’t a guarantee of success but tend to lead to better outcomes.
Ryan, I’ve been following you for years and listened to your podcasts, remember you starting your candle company, and met you in person when you were a speaker at the big UW Madison writers conference that lasted 30 years before shutting down in 2020. You and I were also briefly in a critique group together. Your focus over the years has changed and it’s been interesting to watch you. I’ve enjoyed learning from you as a writer, though I was never able to connect to your writing. Your advice and feedback as a writing coach was spot on. Perhaps this was during times you focused there.
Success happens for many reasons and luck is part of it. We also need to decide what success looks like and this can change over time as we learn more. I’m still writing and plan on publishing but none of my books have made it out to the world yet. My goals have been scaled back both in terms of reality check and who I am today vs who I was 10 years ago when I started writing seriously. At one point I thought I would make money and run things as a business. Today my goal is to connect with an audience and I don’t expect to make a dime. I look at my writing as a hobby I enjoy which removes a lot of stress. I can just enjoy the process and see where it goes.
Thanks, Bruce, as always for your comments. Did the mission statements that weren't as helpful have anything in common that you noticed? Were they perhaps not well defined enough? Were they too rigid? Something else?
I agree that they're not a guarantee of success, but the focus they provide does seem to engender it more often than not, at least in my experience. In next weekend's post, we'll discuss the *what* of a good mission statement a bit more, including how we can create more effective ones for ourselves and for the teams we work on or with.
And I definitely appreciate you following along over time. I do remember meeting you and so many others at the UW Writers' Institute; it truly is a shame that it went the way of the dinosaurs during Covid.
It's funny, too: looking back at my own writing from that era, it does at times feel wooden to me as well, and I've wondered whether I was *too* engrossed in the minutiae of the craft to deliver as well as I could have. As I re-write the EMPATHY series, I'm trying to keep that in mind as I go. One of my many goals for it is to restore to it some of the life that I feel may have left it with me having focused overmuch on critique group feedback instead of letting my own voice shine.
I'm happy to know you're still at it, and I think you have the right attitude. I know coming back to writing with the primary goal of writing for writing's sake has made it a much more enjoyable endeavor than it was for those years I was focused on treating my manuscripts like deliverables in a pseudo-corporate setting.
I'll be curious to know how things progress for you, as well as your thoughts on the questions I sent your way above! Maybe they'll even help me make some tweaks to next week's post. 🙂
My mission statements were from my corporate experience on technology projects vs writing. A couple of things I learned is that they take multiple reviews with a group. Everyone needs to agree and this can sometimes take a lot of effort when working with different groups all with their own agendas. Keep things simple and focused. For personal projects do the work of figuring out why you are taking on a project. What drives you and what you want to get out of it. I think of mission statements as my true north compass. If something comes up that doesn’t align with the mission it’s time to pause and evaluate whether this new direction makes sense. Often it won’t. That’s why taking the time up front is so important. Also, even for personal projects often there are other stakeholders. Keep them in mind. I hope this helps.
Great tips, Bruce! The notion of needing multiple reviews with a group patterns well with a recent of experience of mine on a technology project, as a matter of coincidence. I led a focus group to test out several versions of a mission statement for an upcoming project, and the clarity provided by discussing in a group will make a huge difference in the direction we take going forward.