Title: 
Mission Statement Drift/ The Corporate Cancer

Word Count:
858

Summary:
Every company performs to a script. Whether they real;ise it or not.

The organisational script from which the organisational style and culture emanates has usually evolved quite spontaneously over a period of years. 

Companies operating with an inappropriate script are more likely to suffer from Mission Staement Drift.

It is therefore vital that a company runs with script which is in keeping with their Mission Statement


Keywords:
mission statement, mission, company script, corporate cancer, management dynamics, management,corporate objectives, critical gap analysis


Article Body:
Most if not all organisations these days have a published Mission Statement which should explain their reason for being. It is also true to say that most if not all organisations today suffer from ‘Mission Statement Drift’.

Why is this?

There could be any number of reasons. However organisations suffering from this malaise are almost certain to have internal problems with communication and or interpersonal relationships. Their processes and procedures are also likely to be somewhat ragged.

All companies large or small follow a corporate script, whether they are aware of it or not.

The modern day corporate script has usually just evolved unnoticed as a consequence of the daily processes running within the organisation. Sadly corporate scripts directly devolved from the corporate mission statement seldom if ever exist. 

Why? Because most companies are blissfully unaware of the damaging effect of performing to an inappropriate corporate script.

If left unchecked and ignored an inappropriate corporate script may well develop into a commercial cancer which quietly eats away at the organisations’ effectiveness. 

Recognisable title examples of corporate scripts which have just evolved surreptitiously are those such as;

A Victorian melodrama.
A Victorian Mill Owner.
A  farce.
A Greek Tragedy.
The Roman Empire.
Megalomania.
Charge of the Light Brigade.
I’m alright Jack.
A thriller.
A ‘who done it’?
A comedy of errors.

Some of the above may well be familiar to you. You may even have played a role in such a production yourself.

It is obvious that the performers in these productions are all corporate employees, from the longest serving employee to first day recruits; from the gate keeper to the CEO they all have their part to play and play it they do.

The problem is that they are unaware of the fact that they are performing at all, let alone to a script which is totally inappropriate and potentially damaging.

The corporate script should of course devolve from the Mission Statement and its’ subsequent corporate objectives.

So, how should a company approach the task of rewriting their corporate script? This is a task which will be beyond all but those CEO’s and main board members who are most committed to the long term health and viability of the company for whom they presently have final accountability.

The positive pay off for commencing such an arduous task will most likely not be felt for a few years. It is therefore a most unselfish task for a board to agree to embark upon.

However if anyone would like to seriously consider writing a definitive corporate script which is in trim with their corporate mission statement then the following may be of assistance.

Please feel free to contact me for any clarification or further information. msm@e-trainme.com