Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision, by Cameron Herold
Do you have a clear vision for the future of your business? I thought I did too until I read this book.
The Value-Add
Vivid Vision caused me to reflect on all the components of starting and running a business that must come together to create something truly special for everyone involved. This includes management, employees, customers, suppliers, investors and all other stakeholders and believers in your vision. The overarching principle of this book is that clarity as to your destination, in all facets of your business, is essential to reaching the heights you undoubtedly have set. Clarity creates alignment. Not just for you, but also for all the other people you will work with and rely on. Share this vision often and with everyone. Leave no ambiguity as to where you are headed. Without this concrete sense of focus and direction from everyone in your business, there are bound to be detours, setbacks and confusion. Do you know this quote?: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll.
The “How-To” for Preparing your Vivid Vision
Write. What will the next three years for your business look like? Get it on paper. Err on the side of being over-detailed. Here are some recommendations of things you should address in your own vivid vision. Use the book to supplement this list so you do not leave anything critical out.
- What products and services will you provide
- Financial goals for yourself and others
- Core values – what values will guide the decisions of your organization?
- Audience – who do YOU want as your clients? (emphasis on you)
- Culture & employee satisfaction – what will your employees say about where they work?
- Customer engagement – what will your customers say about you?
- Market and market position – what market will you dominate?
- Positioning for a sale, to run the business forever or another exit like an initial public offering – do you have an exit strategy?
Don’t be bashful either. In Vivid Vision, the author cites back to the well-known (and highly recommended) book by Jim Collins “Good to Great” where we were first introduced to the idea of “big hairy audacious goals (BHAG).” Simply stated, as you write your vivid vision, your jaw should drop a bit at the high standards that you will hold yourself to. If it does not, you just are not thinking big enough.
My vivid vision was five pages, hand-written, single-spaced. I consult it often, and I share it with as many people in my business, life, etc. that are willing to listen.
It is amazing to see how opportunities open once you have communicated your vision to others. Clients, friends, family, when they know what you are doing and hear of projects or investments (in my case, real estate and early-stage companies) that may be of interest, they now know to send them your way for a look. Simply by telling people clearly what you do, you have armed a whole network of people who can help your dreams become reality. Your goals are alive in their minds and great things tend to come your way as a result!
If you decide to grab the Audible version of the book, you will find a sample of a vivid vision at about one hour and ten minutes remaining. It is a great reference point.
What to do with your Vivid Vision
Work backwards. Once you know where you want to go, you can work with your team to reverse engineer the steps that you will need to take to get where you are inevitably going. Then it is just a matter of following those steps.
I can’t recommend this book enough. Let it be your guide for establishing the clarity that every entrepreneur and business needs! It is time for the dreaming that will become your reality.
