This Focused Performance Weblog started life as a "business management blog" containing links and commentary related primarily to organizational effectiveness with a "Theory of Constraints" perspective, but is in the process of evolving towards primary content on interactive and mobile marketing. Think of it as about Focusing marketing messages for enhanced Performance. If you are on an archive page, current postings are found here.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Commander's Intent -- I've recently been reading, writing, and thinking more about vision, mission, objectives, goals, success criteria, etc., both for businesses as well as for projects. (Obviously the latter must be related to the former to be worth taking on.) One of the core issues that I had planned to write about here is the preponderance of fuzzy vision and its connection to problematic execution. Then along comes one of my online compadres, Joe Ely and his recent piece -- not whining about the failures, but offering a great positive example of clarity of objectives.
His reading about Eisenhower's success as a strategist led him to a conversation with his own nephew about what is known in the Marine Corps as the Commander's Intent, a "(preferably) one sentence, plain English statement of the outcome desired for the mission." Joe also suggests a Google expedition on the phrase and points to a group of examples of the concept.
(By the way, tonight I noticed a new name on my bloglet email subscription list that I recognize -- Ken (I think you know who you are) -- Welcome, and if you've got any input on the subject of "Commander's Intent" and if it has any parallel in the Air Force, I'd be interested in seeing it in a comment.)
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