A Radical Vision Statement describes the WHAT (what we want to achieve) and THROUGH WHAT (our solution for the problem), but it doesn’t give any guidance on the HOW and HOW FAST the vision can be achieved. This framework try to help on that aspect.

Framework to forecast speed of achieving a vision

There are four areas where we could focus our efforts to reach our vision faster:

1. Understanding the problems with the current state

2. Spreading the vision

3. People

4. Improving our skills, processes, learning cycles, tools, infrastructure

Let’s have a closer look to each of these focus areas.

Understanding the problem with the current state

You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”

Maya Angelou

A problem defined is a problem half solved.

Albert Einstein

Regardless if the problem is complex or simple and limited in scope, it is critical that we have a good understanding of the current state.

Current State Analysis can be challenging. It requires time, openness, commitment and critical thinking. But the current state, even when complex, is knowable. It is a matter of asking the right questions, of the right people, and taking the time to document it in an

understandable manner. We can benefit from adopting the Design Thinking Mindset. Design thinking builds on empathy towards the people we set up to help and curiosity to discover the unknown.

As hard as current state analysis might be at times, solving ill-defined problems is impossible. So, don’t be afraid to come back to the question time and time again: “What problem are we trying to solve?”

If we do not work on defining the current state, we will have a hard time to unite people for our vision.Conclusion: Designing a better future

This isn’t just about building better products; it’s about building better relationships — with customers, employees, and stakeholders. It’s about creating a stronger, more resilient company. The journey won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. Together, we can design a future that works for everyone.

Spreading the vision

Your ability to shape your future depends on how well you communicate where you want to be when you get there.

Nancy Duarte

A vision is a story that moves people. Storytelling is an integral part of the human experience. For thousands of years, stories have allowed us to make sense of the world, build connections, and pass on knowledge and traditions. When we hear a story, our brains reacts as if we are really experiencing the events first-hand.

Since we are inherently social animals, we are wired to connect with others. Stories allow us to simulate a social experience even when time, culture and status separates us from the protagonist of a story. Brain scans show that hearing vivid stories activates the same regions

Having a vision entails that we know what’s the problem with the current state, we know how to fix it (or at least we have a strong hunch), we can communicate the vision effectively, we have the right people to make it happen.

Now, take a few moments and answer:

How confident are you that you understand what is the problem with the current state? How much more effort do you need to make it clear?

Give a score from 1–10 where 1 is the lowest, 10 is the highest confidence level.

that would light up if actually experiencing the event first-hand. This neural mirroring helps create empathy and understanding.

A vision has to be told over and over again to do what it’s meant to do — which is to inspire, clarify, and focus the work.

The vision has to be told in a way that matters to people. It has to be told in all possible media and format. A winning vision never rests. It spreads through the world of mouth. It leaks into meetings and shapes the way we make decisions.

People

The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Steve Jobs

If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they’ll screw it up. But if you give a mediocre idea to a great team, they’ll make it work.

Ed Catmull

When you describe a potential future state you have to persuade others to come along. You are holding a torch that illuminates the path for others (borrowing the metaphor and the transition phases from Nancy Duarte). Now it is up to the people to leap into the future with you or stay where they are. Not everybody will choose to jump. Some prefer the status quo as the most familiar path. It’s like Frodo and Sam, only a handful of hobbits understood the quest and followed them to the unknown.

At the beginning all who joins are excited. It’s all about enthusiasm, speed and actions. Then comes the messy — even muddy — middle. As Harward Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter observed while studying large organizations, “Everything can look like a failure in the middle”. Or as Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO says, design is “rarely a graceful leap from height to height”.

At the end of the day, even the most committed people will reach roadblocks. The climb will be harder and harder. People will be getting exhausted and leave. They fight and climb and fight again.

And then ultimately you will arrive.

At each of these phases you need to use speeches, stories to give the people traveling with you the emotional fuel they need to keep going.

To help them keep seeing that your vision become realized.

Communicating the vision is bigger than just one vision statement. It is more than one presentation, it’s multiple presentations, multiple speeches, multiple stories.

Improving our skills, processes, learning cycles, tools, infrastructure

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

Winston Churchill

Once we’ve understood what’s wrong with the current state, envisioned the future and fueled the people around us with emotion, it is time to talk about the scaffold that holds together an organization.

Take a few moments and answer:

How effectively are you communicating the vision? Are people around you excited, fueled with emotions when they hear the vision? Are they spreading the vision themselves?

Give a score from 1–10 where 1 is the lowest, 10 is the highest confidence level.

Take a few moments and answer:

How confident are you that you are surrounded by people supporting your vision? Or the majority of people are still sceptical?

Give a score from 1–10 where 1 is the lowest, 10 is the highest confidence level.

Processes streamline workload by reducing errors, wasted time and rework. Processes can help uncover unnecessary work. They allow us to deliver faster while cutting costs and focusing on the important tasks.

Organizational infrastructure is the backbone of any business operational activity. Without that neither continuous delivery, nor effective communication can be achieved.

Processes and infrastructure alone are not enough to maintain a constant speed of delivery. We need to adapt to the changing environment, we need to learn how we can learn even faster. Design thinking mindset can help again. Design thinking is about experimentation. Only through building and testing will we ever know that the direction we took resonates with the users.

We need to learn how to measure what matters. We need to master tools that support fast learning.

By this time you should have four scores in front of you. What is the distribution of these scores? Add them up. The maximum speed that you can get with this framework is 40 unit/time. How far are your from the maximum speed? Which focus are requires more attention? What activities can you put in place, which levers can you pull to gain more speed?

Looking ahead

As you go forward, new challenges will emerge. The vision shifts, people lose excitement, the processes that gave a push at the beginning become an overhead. That’s the muddy middle. But you can always reevaluate where you are and how to gain back the speed.

Remember that even at higher speed reaching the vision won’t be an easy ride.

We will struggle, we will fail, we will be knocked down — but throughout, we’ll get better, and we’ll succeed in the end.

Chip and Dan Heath