Mission Possible

Last night Gary posted a few paragraphs about mission and vision statements. He points out the confusion that people have over what, exactly, is mean by the terms mission, vision and objectives. In my experience with community-based arts programs, I discovered how easy it is easy for people to get mired in the semantics and lose the sense of purpose that mission and vision statements are intended to reflect.

In the end, the statements of mission, value and objectives–regardless of how an organization chooses to phrase them–are supposed to accomplish two things: build consensus within the group and define the scope of what they will do.

A few years back I helped a choral ensemble create their mission statement. (You can see the legacy of this project on the website for the Utah Baroque Ensemble.) We approached it as a collaborative, reiterative exercise. Each member invested their thoughts into the project. As a result, the mission statement reflected the ensemble as a whole, not just the aspirations of a few of the officers. At the time, it built consensus within the group. Today, it anchors the group.

The ensemble’s mission statement also describes what they do in a way that suggests what they don’t do. That is key to helping the group maintain a focus on what makes them unique. They are an exceptional choral group because they know keenly what they do well, and they avoid expanding into areas that would distract from their strength. Their mission statement is a constant reminder of where they will devote their energy.

I created a mission statement worksheet that you can download from the arts management toolkit. The toolkit contains other worksheets and templates addressing how to set objectives, define operating policies, recruit volunteers, conduct meetings and other general management advice for artists who have fallen into administrative roles.

Mission, Vision, Values, Goals

Anyone who has spent any time on a non-profit board has been through the “Mission, Vision, Values, Goals” drill.  Your organization brings in a facilitator who over a couple of days helps the board craft language that is supposed to guide its future work.  While there is an emerging movement against such statements in the corporate world, the need for them in non-profits is almost unquestioned.

Last weekend I went through the process as a member of the Utah Humanities Council board.  We spent two days using “appreciative inquiry” to take a new look at our Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals.

I learned two things in the process. First, enough people have been through a similar process that any discussion about mission or vision or values or goals is bound to get bollixed up  in an argument about the “real” definition of any of the terms.  As soon as the argument breaks out, the 2/3 of the board who is not wedded to one or another definition is sorely tempted to check out of the conversation.

Second, while everyone has a pet definition, few people have thought about how Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals work together.  This is due in large part, I believe, to the fact that these things are always created as text and laid out top-to-bottom on a single page.

So while I was fighting the temptation to check out during our argument on the difference between mission and vision, I sketched out a chart that links the four in a sequence while dodging the use of terms like Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals.  It looks like this:

mission vision values

I am certainly not convinced that the use of a chart like this solves all of the problems built into contemporary discussions about Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals, but asking people to draw their idea of how the pieces relate to each other is certainly a way past arguments about the meaning of one or another of these contested words.

When It All Started

The convergence of art and leadership began for me in Newark, Delaware, in 1993. When the regular pianist for the Newark Symphony Orchestra (NSO) wasn’t available for a concert date, a violist and friend of mine asked if I would substitute. I joined the percussion section the following season.

As a community orchestra, the NSO relied heavily on volunteers. I was working full-time as a business writer at the time and lent my skills for publicity and grant-writing. It became evident that my professional skills were much more useful to the orchestra than my musical talent. Soon I was invited to join the board of directors to assist with managing the organization.

As a performer, I experienced the thrill of being on stage in front of an audience. As a producer, I got the satisfaction of staging the event. It was the best of both worlds, and I was hooked. I have been involved with community arts programs and arts administration ever since.

Although the particulars of this story are uniquely mine, the story itself isn’t very remarkable. Most arts volunteers could tell you something similar. They become involved with an arts group because they crave expression and creativity. They end up in some administrative capacity because it takes a lot of “kitchen work” to feed the craving.

Art and Leadership

I read a short article a few weeks ago in The New Yorker magazine (“Leaders-to-Be,” 2 August 2010). It described a series of seminars hosted at Columbia University for future global leaders. The theme was art and leadership, and the participants were young, rising stars from the worlds of banking, science and politics. The curriculum included such topics as the art of stage presence (“Voice is capitalism. The more you invest, the more you get in return.”) and Shakespeare’s insights into leadership (“Richard was pandering for popularity. I would say this is like us following the polls.”).

The art world has a lot to offer businesses and bureaucracies. Besides lending inspiration for creativity and innovation, art provides a model for collaboration: the ensemble. Regardless of the art form–a string quartet or a dance studio or a theater troupe, for example–the art ensemble brings individuals together to contribute their best effort for a collective project. I find this a nice alternative to the sports team analogy that is more often used in the business world. A sports team succeeds through competition and may win without truly performing well. An art ensemble, on the other hand, succeeds through collaboration and only by executing with competence and grace.

I think collaboration, competence and grace are better attributes in a leader than competitiveness. I don’t know whether the participants in the seminars at Columbia came to the same conclusion. But I hope they were inspired to find more value in art as something you do and less as something to consume.

Why Blog?

There are a few things I know worth saying. This is where I will say it, share it, for anyone who might be curious.