Thursday, August 20, 2009

Mission Statement

I was in a discussion last weekend about mission statements and what makes a good mission statement. There were two elements that we discussed that made a lot of sense to me.
1) It needs to be hard
2) The fewer words the better

As examples we discussed Kawasaki’s mission statement “Beat Yamaha.” It’s a difficult motto to achieve and its short.
President John F. Kennedy’s mission statement “Go to the moon.” Again, not easy and yet brief.

My mission statement might be a combination like, 'Beat Kirk to the moon." LOL.
It won't be easy, but it is concise.

Actually, in my writing I try to avoid the competitiveness that can easily creep in especially when I haven't yet achieved 'Inker of the Week' status. Grrr. All competitiveness aside, I think my writing mission would be, “Create a better world.”
Somehow, some way as I write I want to remember the reason I started writing in the first place.
So what's your mission statement?

5 comments:

  1. I have many different motto's for many different situations. In writing, "Get published", in child rearing, "Survive", in exercise, "Do I really want to be the lady that other people stare at because my butt is so big that I need to wear maternity pants backwards???". Okay, the last one may be a little long, but the point is clear.

    In a pinch, I find the Nike motto can apply to almost any situation. "Just do it!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. My marriage's mission statement is: "Make each day the best we can for each other" It's long but it is hard :)It is on my back door as a reminder. For dealing with MS it's "Now or never"

    I need to come up with one for every day. Maybe for writing it should be "Finish it!"

    ha ha ha




    ps sorry for dropping the ball yesterday. :(

    ReplyDelete
  3. No worries, DJ!

    Mission statement? Mottos? Most of the time I'm just winging it. I'm with Deb on the "Survive" motto. And I like where you're going, Donna, with the "Create a better world" focus....okay. Here's mine (all encompassing):

    "Perfect Practice Makes Perfect"

    Okay, I know it's not exactly a mission statement, but let me explain. I think I'm too easy on myself, you know? I let myself get away with a lot of crap. But, in almost everything, if you follow the rules and don't cheat, you reach your goals. And nobody ever got better at anything doing a half-a** job. So, that's that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mission statements are great. I have one that is more of a battle cry, but I guess it could work...

    "GETOUTTATHEWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!"

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have no creative juice left this week, so I'm teaming up with DJ on the "Finish it!" vibe.

    ReplyDelete