Write an Organizational Vision

First things first. What do we mean when we say the word vision? At Zingerman’s, a vision is a written picture of what success looks like at a particular point in the future, with enough descriptive detail that people can envision it in their minds. It describes how things look, smell, sound, and feel when we’re living in our success.

Do you want to open a bookstore? Describe what it smells like when you first walk through the door, the selection on the shelves, the interactions your staff are having with customers, and your delight about an upcoming author event you can’t believe has already sold out! 

You can write a vision by yourself or collaborate with a group to draft a shared vision. The definition doesn’t change, but the process of getting your ideas onto paper does!

Why hire ZingTrain for vision facilitation?

• You want all of your team together, no matter the size, to share their dreams about the future
• You’d like expert facilitators to lead your team through a proven process
• Your team is a herd of cats, and you want someone else to wrangle them
• You want to be able to fully participate in the visioning process
• You’ve tried to write an organizational vision, but it hasn’t gone anywhere

Client Story: Vermont Visionaries

Getting to know one another

Jay Dolmetsch, owner of MSK Engineers, was encouraged by fellow Vermont business owner, Sheela Harden, CEO of Bennington Potters, to attend The Zingerman’s Experience seminar with her last fall. Sheela has a long-time relationship with ZingTrain and believed we could help MSK navigate their leadership transitions and a growth spurt, clarify their objectives, and get focused on what direction they wanted to take the organization.

Although initially skeptical, Jay left the seminar intrigued by our approach to business, including visioning. Just two weeks later, MSK brought ZingTrain to its leadership retreat to facilitate writing their 2028 vision!

Group visioning in action

The day began with a quick dive into Zingerman’s visioning approach, designed to get their 12-person leadership team on the same page. Then we turned things over to Jay, who spoke candidly and answered questions about the current state of MSK Engineers and what he hoped success would look like in the years ahead.

In small groups, the team generated ideas of what they wanted their 2028 vision to include. They reconvened to discover shared themes, and then each group drafted pieces of a future they could get excited about.

It was an organized training that played into our strengths – acknowledging that this is challenging work to do for the first time.

By the end of the day, something that had felt daunting just hours before – a meaningful, motivating company vision – had taken shape. The team went from a blank page and a blinking cursor to a 5-page written draft. It was read aloud for immediate feedback, and they identified next steps for further refinement.

I liked being pushed out of my comfort zone and thinking critically out loud with colleagues. The flow of activities was clear and engaging.

Choose your own adventure

At this point, once your team has spent a day getting a draft vision down, you can choose to take the reins and use the momentum you’ve built to carry out revisions, feedback, and roll out. You can also choose to bring us back for help with subsequent drafts, making key decisions, and sharing the vision with a larger group.

Vermont Visionaires (cont.)

Inviting everyone into the process

Six months later, we were back in Vermont with the whole crew at MSK! For the majority, it was their first opportunity to learn about visioning. The leadership team shared key insights from the visioning process, and a structured Q&A session provided everyone with an opportunity to ask questions. The rest of our half-day was spent facilitating productive and constructive feedback from the people who would help make MSK’s vision a reality!

ZingTrain helped facilitate discussions so that we could think things through while focusing on the what and not the how. They did a fantastic job with small and large groups, helping us stay on task and moving forward.

Very interactive… takes everyone’s thoughts and opinions into account.

Apply vision writing to your own life

Do you love the idea of visioning, but want something more personal? Learn how to vision, and have dedicated time to dream up your preferred future in our two-day Creating a Vision of Greatness seminar. When you know where you want to end up – professionally or personally – it’s a lot easier to chart the route to get there!

Why attend ZingTrain’s visioning seminar?

• You lead a small team
• You’re thinking about a change, but not sure what form it will take
• You want to create or expand a business
• You’re a co-owner who wants to get into alignment with fellow co-owner(s)
• You want to learn more about the visioning process and be able to share it with others