The Daily Stat from Harvard Business Review

 

February 2, 2015 Five Company Values Is One Value Too Many In a study that looked at hundreds of hospitals as well as a toy company, researchers found that leaders are prone to adopting "blurry visions" of their organizations' missions, using abstract language that offers no visual images around which employees can build a shared sense of purpose. The study, led by Andrew M. Carton of the Wharton School, also finds that leaders tend to adopt too many key values. Ideally, companies' mission statements should contain image-evoking words and no more than 4 values, the researchers say. SOURCE: A (Blurry) Vision of the Future: How Leader Rhetoric About Ultimate Goals Influences Performance

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