How to write a company mission statement?

[nusaiba128]

Okay, that's all easy to say - "clearly defined mission", "the simpler the better". So how do you go about writing a mission so that the task doesn't overwhelm you?

Start with the general: the 5x WHY method
Let's start with the graphics:


As you remember, the essence of the mission is to discover the true “why” of your company. A great and simple technique for reaching this truth is to ask yourself… bingo! It’s all about “why?”! Are you reading on with at least a little engineer database consternation? Don’t worry, you’ll understand everything in a moment. The idea is simply to write down the answer to the question “why does my company exist, what do I want to achieve with it?” and then deepen this answer with subsequent “whys”. This is an action in accordance with the 5 whys concept by Sakichi Toyoda. Although the method is based on finding the root causes of problems and initially operated within the Toyota corporation, today it is a popular element of the Kaizen business philosophy.