The Mission-Driven Organization : From Mission Statement to a Thriving Enterprise, Here's Your Blueprint for Building an Inspired, Cohesive, Customer-Oriented Team [Paperback]

Bob Wall (Author), Mark Sobol (Author), Robert Solum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 1999

Is Your Company Ready for the 21st Century?
In today's highly competitive world, the top-down power structure that defines so many struggling organizations is outmoded. That's why savvy business leaders are exploring a new streamlined approach that strips away middle-management bureaucracy and allows communication to flow freely. Organizations everywhere have found that this horizontal structure spurs creativity, empowers employees, encourages learning, and increases customer satisfaction. The Mission-Driven Organization shows you step by step how to reinvigorate your company with this new way of thinking. Inside, you'll learn how to:
·Draft and communicate a powerful vision statement
·Create the teamwork necessary to realize your vision
·Understand and manage rapid change
·Build participation and handle conflict
·Keep the vision a permanent part of the company—not a "plan of the month"
·And much more!
Designed to help you blow the doors off your slower-moving competition, this book can be your company's road map to long-lasting success.
"An excellent guide for creating an organization's shared vision, mission, and guiding principles. The result is a balanced and blended set of management methods that are realistic and useful for managing change and making cultural improvement."—Wendell Jones, Ph.D., general manager, McDonnell-Douglas Aerospace Information Services
"Not only hits the target conceptually but gives a no-nonsense practical formula to accomplish the objective. The book works."—Kerry Larson, Ph.D., vice president, People Development, McGraw Cellular Communications, Inc.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Is Your Company Ready for the 21st Century?

About the Author

Bob Wall is president of Bob Wall and Associates, a management-consulting firm that focuses on the interpersonal challenges of organizations.

Mark R. Sobol, principal of Leadership Strategies International, combines the insight of a senior executive with an extensive worldwide consulting background.

Robert S. Solum was a recognized innovator in the areas of teamwork, change management, and the psychology of performance.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles (February 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761518819
• ISBN-13: 978-0761518815
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,060,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pragmatic & emphasizes quality and leadership, June 14, 2001

By 

Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mission-Driven Organization : From Mission Statement to a Thriving Enterprise, Here's Your Blueprint for Building an Inspired, Cohesive, Customer-Oriented Team (Paperback)

It seems like everyone wants to be a visionary these days, especially in the high tech sector where I make my living. The problem is that a vision without execution is a hallucination, and there are a lot of hallucinations from what I see. This book is a grounded and straightforward guide to crafting an organization based on realities.

It starts with how to build and articulate a vision, and from that vision derive a mission statement that will guide your company towards realization of the vision. What I like about the authors' approach is the way they integrate quality management concepts into vision, mission and values. They also emphasize leadership and make it clear that the best crafted and articulated vision and mission statements are for naught without a total commitment and strong leadership to guide the organization and constantly keep focused on where they are supposed to be going. This is reinforced with some natural laws, such as you get what you talk about,the culture of a work team is a reflection of its leader, and you can't walk faster than one step at a time.

The natural laws set forth in the book have corollaries in the form of problems. Here the authors identify and provide guidance to problems such as managers who won't let go, the front line resists greater authority, an inappropriate focus on the boss and clash of ideas. One key concept that I especially thought astute is relocating authority and identifying consultative and decision roles and responsibilities as centers of authority are transformed into participative management. I think this is key because doing this is a fine balancing act. I have witnessed attempts to do this in other organizations that did not clearly define scope and responsibility (or accountability and authority), only to see managers let go of authority that was rightfully theirs. The result can be chaos and lack of focus - using the authors' approach it becomes a true participatory environment that is focused on mission.

Other highlights include: continuous cultural improvement with an emphasis on measurement, effective use of task forces and a wealth of HR guidelines ranging from hiring/firing to salary and incentives. These set this book apart from many that deal with vision and mission statements because too many books sidestep these important factors.

Over the years I have read a number of books that deal with vision and mission statement development. This is the first that squarely addresses the leadership issues as well as the HR challenges that you will face when you publish your vision and mission and transform your organization into what you envision. If you are just looking for quick and dirty way to get a vision and mission statement hung in your lobby or emblazoned on your web site this book is not for you. If, on the other hand, you have an idea where your company should be going and want a clear path to getting there get this book and take it to heart.