It stands to reason that for an organization to act intelligently, first and foremost, it must have a clear and unambiguous sense of purpose.
The leaders of the enterprise have to provide direction or a sense of destiny before they can harness the collective talents and skills of everyone to move forward. And unless that reason for existing resonates with the rank-and-file, not much forward momentum will be created.
An organization's sense of purpose has three distinct elements:
First, a sound strategic concept which details why the organization has been formed and what it is hoped it will achieve. This may be articulated in a succinct and applicable mission statement.
For example, Disney's strategic concept is "to deliver a rich customer experience which is full of fun and fantasy delivered in a theatrical environment".
To retain its relevance, the strategic concept should be systematically evaluated each year and updated to reflect new trends, threats or opportunities.
Second, a workable value proposition by which the organization will convert the value it adds for customers into revenue. The value proposition is the organization's promise to the marketplace.
Third, a good business model which will provide the infrastructure by which the value proposition will be executed week-in and week-out.
In an organization where these three elements are under constant evaluation and discussion, the leaders are able to respond to the evolving business environment appropriately.
In practice, strategic vision is the capacity of an organization's leaders to create, evolve and express the purpose of the business enterprise. If the leaders are incapable of evolving that business concept over time, the organization will drift from one idea to the next.
Conversely, strong leaders will have a vibrant and robust strategic concept in place, value proposition and business model. They will bring to the task what can be termed "bifocal vision", that is, strong leaders will have the capacity to respond to the challenges of the present without losing sight of where the organization needs to be heading in the future.