Instead of the loudest or fastest opinion being the direction to head, vision provides a common understanding of defined goals.

If vision in business is a goal realized, what’s the difference between having a dream and achieving a goal? On its own, the dream – the vision – is passive. Vision is a noun. At the same time, without the dream – the initial vision of what could be – there is no ability to imagine action steps leading to active vision. Taking the steps to achieve vision demands action. This is the essence of being: a very active verb. Welcome to the paradox.      

Imagine back to the days when daydreaming in school got you into trouble. How many of us as leaders and business owners would be where we are without that daydreaming question, “I wonder?”

The dictionary defines vision as “the faculty or state of being able to see; the ability to think or plan the future with imagination and wisdom.” When it comes to business, the dictionary definition fallsshort. You and I have to go beyond planning and get very, very good at implementation. But how?

‘Three-Legged Stool’
If vision is potent on its own, it serves even more effectively when supported by two other tools: the active use of both defined purpose and values. The integration of purpose, values and vision at work – at all times – is, I believe, the three-legged stool of business. Nick’s Pizza & Pub in Crystal Lake, Ill., offers us a great example of purpose, values and vision at work.  

Vision – “We are fiscally sound, and continually growing,” the company says. “We lead our team through purpose and values, and we make an impact on the communities in which we operate. Our numbers make the restaurant industry gasp.”   

Purpose – “Our company exists for one reason: the Nick’s Experience,” it states. “Our dedicated family provides this community an unforgettable place to connect with your family and friends; to have fun and to feel at home.”

Values – There are 12 values defined at Nick’s; I share five with you here:

• “We treat everyone with dignity and respect.
• “We communicate openly, clearly and honestly.
• “Health: We are a profitable and fiscally responsible company. We support the physical and emotional well-being of our guests and our team members.
• “We are dedicated to the learning, teaching and ongoing development of each other.
• “Our team works through support and cooperation.”
  

The sense of purpose provides the foundation. This is what Nick’s is. Values guide conscious decision-making as they move toward a vision. Vision provides the functional tension, the tangible pull into the future. On any given day, Nick’s tough choices are made on schedules, purchasing, discount programs and training by consciously holding and aligning all three legs of the stool. This work and exploration is constant, always in support of the vision, hence the company, the community and the team. What’s the outcome?   

In these economic times, when much of the restaurant industry is down in sales by 25 percent or more, Nick’s is down less than 10 percent. Food cost is 19 percent, labor turnover is 20 percent annually. Inventory is maintained against budget and flows with sales, instead of being a static dollar number. Doing so, Nick’s is able to carry under $7,000 in inventory while doing $65,000 a week in sales. Let’s see, one of the vision components was, “our numbers make the industry gasp.” These examples are vision in action.       

Costs are tracked daily and budgets anticipated accrued to the week and period to date. At Nick’s, training is constant, but team members earn the right to go to training on leadership and communication skill development. Another example is that Nick’s pays fitness club memberships for all of its team members who want it.   

However, if a team member doesn’t use the fitness club at least twice weekly, the paid membership is dropped. This is vision, purpose, values and fiscal responsibility at work.      

What sets Nick’s apart is the conscious choice to make its business culture and performance expectations explicit instead of being left implicit. Vision is actively supported at Nick’s by daily work done on purpose and guided discussion that is constantly value-based. Nick’s had the dream and made it come true by taking action steps that supported its vision.     

Making it Four
Using vision as a tool to create functional tension is simple. Support from purpose and values are, in concept, simple. However, it is in no way easy. Three legs are stable, but not rock solid.     

Does vision provide the possibility for a fourth leg on this simple stool? Yes. This is where tangible work is derived from conceptual framework. If a vision mandate is to be fiscally healthy and profitable with positive cash flow, are you?    

If the answer above is “no,” actions need to be taken now to begin the journey to answering  “yes.”

Implement proactive management systems to make values-driven choices on a daily basis. Look at costing daily so you’re looking off the bow of vision instead of the autopsy of old information from the past, like a three-week-late financial statement. Anticipatory systems that track whatever you choose as important provide the solidity of the fourth leg of the stool. As tough as the economy is when team training is listed as an HR function to be cut, you have an opportunity to re-evaluate the sales opportunities of training supporting higher sales, thus a marketing or human performance investment in sales generation.    

I’m not suggesting vocabulary spin here. I am suggesting that vision provides an opportunity to really define why we train and what we get from training when it’s done effectively. Anticipatory costing systems track inventory against a purchasing budget. There’s no way I know of to get to active positive cash flow in tight economic times if all our money’s tied up in inventory sitting on shelves.

Vision Provides Context
Instead of the loudest or fastest opinion being the direction to head, vision provides a common understanding of defined goals. This context is the foundation and reason for vision in the first place and values support and keep us on course in the heat of tension.      

A well-defined sense of purpose is likely to have no need to change for decades, perhaps ever. Values can stay equally true over time, regardless of economic or political stress. Vision, on the other hand, gets to be achieved and evolve thanks to purpose and values.   

We get to redefine vision once accomplished. A vision cycle might take one year, maybe five years, but when achieved, we get to move to the next level of business. New ideas and possibility ride again. Welcome to the actual fun of business.

Rudy M. Miick, FCSI, president of Miick & Associates, guides leaders and teams to top performance, successful change and company growth. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 303-413-0400.