The Vision Thing
I learned in graduate school that planning starts with a vision statement. Before you can talk about how to improve your community, you need to agree about what you want your community to be like. That seems obvious. It would be stupid to do lots of work to change your community in a certain way, and then realize, oh, we really didn’t want our community to be like that anyway.
So I have brought up several times that we need a vision statement. Not only is it good planning, but the Mississippi Recovery Authority requires it. My opinion is, get it created now and have it out of the way. However, every time I bring it up, people act like I am crazy.
Up until now I have been told that there is a vision statement somewhere. When pressed no one can seem to find it. Also, when asked if the vision statement reads something like, “In the year 2025, Jeffereson Davis County will be a community where blah blah blah…” The answer is, “Not in so many words.” Well, every vision statement I have ever seen says something to that effect. I was rather concerned.
Well, I finally tracked down the vision statement and there is no vision in the statement. It is a mission statement about the work of the Citizens Recovery Committee.
There are about ten different subcommittees and each has a mission statement. Here is the Coast Protection Subcommittee, “To seek and acquire public comment on the issue of coastal protection for St. Bernard Parish. Our committee will evaluate coastal projects on their ability to provide short and long term hurricane protection for the community.”
Others are about principals of rebuilding, but not about the vision, “To apply private and public resources to rebuild St. Bernard with the commitment to accountability, transparency, and financial stewardship with the primary objective to maximize the return on investment to all stakeholders.”
I pointed out that these are not vision statements. Sarah, our exiting planner who was in a pissy mood because her football team lost, said, “Yes they are.” I said, no they are mission statements. Sarah said they are vision statements of a sort. I said, “Lets turn them into real vision statements, feed them back to the committee and have a working vision statement. Sarah said everyone was tired of touchy-feely things like vision statements and that is where it ended.
I am never bringing up the issue of a vision statement again. Every time I bring it up people treat me like I am an alien. That’s fine, but even alien’s would start their planning process with a vision statement.
So I have brought up several times that we need a vision statement. Not only is it good planning, but the Mississippi Recovery Authority requires it. My opinion is, get it created now and have it out of the way. However, every time I bring it up, people act like I am crazy.
Up until now I have been told that there is a vision statement somewhere. When pressed no one can seem to find it. Also, when asked if the vision statement reads something like, “In the year 2025, Jeffereson Davis County will be a community where blah blah blah…” The answer is, “Not in so many words.” Well, every vision statement I have ever seen says something to that effect. I was rather concerned.
Well, I finally tracked down the vision statement and there is no vision in the statement. It is a mission statement about the work of the Citizens Recovery Committee.
There are about ten different subcommittees and each has a mission statement. Here is the Coast Protection Subcommittee, “To seek and acquire public comment on the issue of coastal protection for St. Bernard Parish. Our committee will evaluate coastal projects on their ability to provide short and long term hurricane protection for the community.”
Others are about principals of rebuilding, but not about the vision, “To apply private and public resources to rebuild St. Bernard with the commitment to accountability, transparency, and financial stewardship with the primary objective to maximize the return on investment to all stakeholders.”
I pointed out that these are not vision statements. Sarah, our exiting planner who was in a pissy mood because her football team lost, said, “Yes they are.” I said, no they are mission statements. Sarah said they are vision statements of a sort. I said, “Lets turn them into real vision statements, feed them back to the committee and have a working vision statement. Sarah said everyone was tired of touchy-feely things like vision statements and that is where it ended.
I am never bringing up the issue of a vision statement again. Every time I bring it up people treat me like I am an alien. That’s fine, but even alien’s would start their planning process with a vision statement.
posted by JNA | 7:22 PM
1 Comments:
I can strongly relate to your problems with getting a team interested in developing a vision statement. The word “vision” is a turn-off to many folks, apparently sounding like something for pin-headed intellectuals. The irony is that the team’s success depends critically on the alignment with a vision, whether it is spelled out or not. But after all, about 57% of the citizens of Louisiana voted for a president who does not exactly exude vision, so maybe you are doomed to the concrete and practical for a while…
SRS
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