This blog, the first of two parts, articulates our design philosophy around achieving a vision.
MBL DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: Our point of view on how we will achieve success
Every successful organization starts with a transparent and explicit vision for all parties involved. The clarity and simplicity of this vision will impact the degree to which it is embraced by founders, funders, employees, customers and suppliers. The concreteness of the vision will drive the depth of its impact and breadth of its followers. The components of a successful organization’s vision are explained below.
This vision must be fulfilled through a value proposition and a strategy: 1. Vision is what success looks like once it is achieved and 2. Strategy is how that success is achieved by delivering on the value proposition.
VISION = VALUE PROPOSITION + STRATEGY
VALUE PROPOSITION is how an entity delivers a basket of goods and/or services at a price equal to or above its costs for the benefit of its customers. The strength and enduring nature of an organization’s core value proposition rests on the Shared Values (i.e. culture) that support and deliver this value proposition.
Strategy must have 4 basic elements that a) align and b) reinforce each other and the vision tightly. In other words, each of the four aspects of the strategy clearly delineate how tradeoffs will be made; when tradeoffs between limited resources (finances, time and management) and unlimited choices are made, they reinforce the strategy. This, in turn, supports the vision.
STRATEGY must be supported by the following 4 foundations:
i. Structure – how the vision is organized into an entity, which pursues certain opportunities and declines on other opportunities. That entity must be structured to “go-to-market” in definable ways consistent with its vision. The structure also provides the network through which communications and accountability flow. The vision, in other words, must run on the guardrails of structure, the end of which lead to the destination of our vision.
ii. Staffing – how the vision is pursued by individuals within the organization is completely dependent on how you a) recruit and select, b) develop and c) evaluate those employees. The greatness of schools is directly proportional to the quality of its people—administrators, teachers, and support staff.
iii. Support Systems – this refers to the various components of the strategy and how they work together to deliver and sustain the value proposition.
iv. Shared Values (Culture) – often forgotten, is what differentiates great organizations from the rest and how organizational impact can be measured, extrapolated and scaled. In other words, the “secret sauce” of a successful vision lies in its underlying value proposition and strategy (including its first 3 component parts) working in concert, tethered together with a set of shared values that demark how hundreds of daily decisions are made from the most senior leader to the most recent employee.
