Chapter 6

VISION IN THE SMALLEST ENTERPRISES

AS A YOUNG MAN, mythologist Joseph Campbell reportedly wrote in his journal, “Business, as I have seen it so far, reduces living men to dull machines, that go on from day to day working at stupid tasks with not the slightest idea of what they’re working for.”¹ A big-vision small business requires a clear, inspiring, high-reaching vision that guides and sustains the big-vision business owner on his or her journey. But what does vision mean to this entrepreneur when it is compared to the standard and somewhat staid vision or mission statements that are routine in most organizations? How formal does the inspired-visioning process, and correlated planning, have to be so that the visionary small enterprise doesn’t become “a dull machine”?

Visioning and planning can, at least to many small-business owners, seem the domain of large corporations, where legions of people are hired to do just that. In most corporations, vision statements tend to be simple descriptions of quantitative goals—with most being far from visionary. As for organizational planning, the traditional parameters often come from professors in university business schools who consult to large entrepreneurial ventures or multinational corporations. On the bookshelves of your local bookstore or library, many of the books on planning are geared to these larger companies and seem to carry an assumption that such big-company planning processes are appropriate for small enterprises as well. But most of these resources don’t speak to the unique needs of the business comprised of two to thirty people. For big-vision small-business owners, traditional visioning and business plan models can seem uncomfortably similar to wearing an ill-fitting shoe.

Many small-business owners feel disconnected from the more formal visioning and planning processes that tend to be solely quantitative in focus. As a result, they may reject them outright or create vision statements and business plans that meet the criteria for obtaining financing but are otherwise devoid of meaning and inspiration. Why is that important? For several reasons, one being that we tend to bring into reality the very things we focus on most; so we need to be mindful of exactly what it is we’re creating. This is particularly true if the business is a vehicle for service to the world. Also, a small business and its owner have a symbiotic relationship, meaning that an uninspired or out-of-control business often catches a business owner’s motivation, mindset, and personal life in its undertow—and vice versa. An uninspired, burned-out business owner has an effect on the momentum of her enterprise.

Maintaining allegiance to high ideals, deeply held values, and a big-vision small-business sense of purpose and mission often adds to the usual rigors of small-business ownership. However, a clear vision and an aligned action plan that are inspired and dynamic enough to suit the evolving and more personalized small business, together serve as a guiding star when the seas are choppy—or when the seas seem so smooth we can easily be lulled into complacency.

“Each great human accomplishment begins with some kind of vision or dream,” says Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter, author of Your Performing Edge and a San Carlos, California-based sports psychologist who has worked with elite athletes on peak performance and goal achievement. “There needs to be a hunger, a fire inside which fuels your passion to achieve an important goal, regardless of your ability level. Where the mind goes, everything else follows.”² The same is true in business. Studies show that having a strong vision or purpose for a company and effectively engaging employees in achieving that mission are key traits of high-performing companies of all sizes, even more than having the proper processes and systems, though those are important as well.³

Ironically, despite the common practice of creating a vision statement in most corporations, being idealistic or having an inspired social purpose isn’t something that is welcomed or appreciated in the traditional, money-driven business world. For example, being called a visionary is considered somewhat of an insult in California’s venture capital-driven Silicon Valley, where financial return on investment—as big and rapidly as possible—is the primary interest. Bob Metcalf, inventor of Ethernet and founder of 3Com, confirmed as much in Wired magazine: “Nobody wants visionaries running companies.” For an entrepreneur who wants to be taken seriously by investors looking for quantitative growth and high return on investment, Metcalf advised, “never let a publicist call you a visionary.”⁴

Having high ideals and an inspired vision is often translated as not being focused enough on financial wealth building, an assumption held by many lenders who frown upon loans for service-oriented or social-purpose organizations. In a big-vision small business, however, with its emphasis on balancing quality of life and quantity of profit, ideals and vision provide both fuel and focus to the enterprise. Profits provide a means to finding ways to manifest the vision in the business’s everyday reality.

So how can a big-vision small-business owner find a middle path between adopting stodgy processes borrowed from large corporations and rejecting the visioning and planning processes altogether? Begin now to forget everything you know or have heard about visioning and planning. Drop your preconceptions and allow yourself to experience what Buddhists call “the beginner’s mind” or those on the Christian path might call “becoming like a child again.” We’re going to review potential priorities that are common to big-vision small businesses, formulate our own definitions, and consider creating an approach that is energizing yet realistic for an independent, creative, challenge-loving (or challenge-addicted), busy small-business owner.

The next chapter identifies 12 priorities that real-world big-vision small-business owners have identified as pathways to qualitative growth and contribution. Their choices about which priorities they emphasize depend largely on their own vision for their enterprise, as well as their skills, spiritual traditions, and lifestyle goals. The priorities lead into a broader discussion regarding definitions for vision, values, and mission in a big-vision enterprise; options for customizing visioning and planning approaches; and profiles that exhibit the place of an inspired vision and vision-into-action plan in real-world enterprises.