Mission Objective
Based on the Mega level needs—gaps in results (covered in Chapter 7 on needs assessment)—to be closed, the mission objective can be derived by the planning team. Here is a simulated mission objective:
Any production and delivered food outputs of this factory will result in zero loss of life for all clients, disabilities, and losses of income for individuals, families, or others consuming what is delivered. In addition, there will be no disabling injuries, illnesses, or death from any organizational associate related to the manufacturing and delivery of our food.
A mission objective states, in measurable performance terms, what results the organization delivers as it moves ever closer to meeting the Mega level needs selected for closure. Figure 6.1 provides the “roll down” relationships between Mega, Macro, and Micro results, and this relationship is useful so that you always relate the levels of contributions for each level of results.
Sometimes, there is a mission objective already derived for your organization. Figure 6.2 presents an exercise to determine if a mission objective is useful.
MISSIONS: Are they appropriate? A Procedure
Steps:
1) List each element of the mission.
2) For each element, determine if it relates to an End or a Means.
3) If an element relates to an End, determine if it is focused at the Mega, Macro, or Micro level.
4) If an element is related to a Means, or to a Macro or Micro result, ask, “What results and payoffs would I get if I got or accomplished this?” Keep asking the same question until an End is identified. If you continue this question, you will ultimately get to Mega.
Figure 6.2. A procedure for ensuring that your mission objective is correctly stated.
Try putting your (or any) mission objective through this “filter.” It can provide some additional comfort to you to ensure that what you are using will contribute to success, or it will tell you what is missing to that you can make it useful and complete.
To ensure that your objectives, all objectives, link all three levels of results and consequences, see the job aid in Figure 6.3.
Ensuring an Objective Links to All 3 Levels of Results
Ensuring that your objective is useful at all three levels of planning and results.
Figure 6.3. A job aid for ensuring that your objectives link all three levels of results.
An example of including Mega in objectives and performance criteria. The city commissioners and city manager of Tallahassee, Florida, wanted to be able to prove to citizens that their tax money was being used wisely. Using Mega thinking and planning, they reviewed their existing performance objectives and added Mega criteria to some.2 For example, they added the consequences of first responders showing up (damage avoided or reduced and crime stopped are impact reduced) to their criteria, not just the time that it took them to respond. Not only were services delivered, but also the city sought indicators of the value added by the first responders once they arrived.
The next step in applying a mission objective when doing Mega planning is to identify gaps between current ability to meet these mission-level requirements and the required performance (including critical elements such as ingredients, processing methods, handling, shipping, and delivery). This is needs assessment and is defined and provided next in Chapter 7.
From these gaps, alternative methods and means could be identified, such as use of remote scanning, sniffers, visual inspections, and safety checks at all levels of production and delivery. Next, the building-block functions, or individual products (Micro level), can be derived to define and deliver the results that have to be accomplished to get from What Is to What Should Be.3
Action Steps
1. Prepare objectives—the mission objective—for your organization that, like any other objectives, state Interval or Ratio Scale terms where you are headed and how to tell when you have arrived.
2. The mission objective is derived from the Ideal Vision and states which elements of the Ideal Vision the organization commits to move closer toward and deliver. This decision will be based on a needs assessment, covered in Chapter 7.
3. Every objective you derive for your success must add value to all three levels of results: Mega, Macro, and Micro. Figure 6.3 will be helpful.
Endnotes
1. Kaufman, R. (2006). Change, Choices, and Consequences: A Guide to Mega Thinking and Planning. Amherst, MA: HRD Press, Inc.
2. City of Tallahassee Auditor, May 20, 2009. Community and Organizational Vital Signs, Tallahassee, Florida.
3. The methods and concepts for developing mission profiles and detailed system analyses are provided in Kaufman, R. (1998). Strategic thinking: A guide to identifying and solving problems. Revised. Washington, D.C., and Arlington, VA: The International Society for Performance Improvement and the American Society for Training and Development.