John Baldoni as quoted in Skip Prichard’s newsletter:

“Purpose begins – as many have said –with our why. Purpose is the answer to, “What gets you up in the morning?” From purpose comes vision and mission. Vision is an aspiration; it is our becoming. Mission is our doing; it is our building. And here’s where grace enters the picture. Grace is our how.”

In more typical business terms our how can be considered our strategy.

Writing down a strategy without a clear vision and mission is like Alice wandering in Wonderland. Having a Vision and/or Mission without a strategy is like looking at a great photograph of a scene without any desire to experience it first hand.

“Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.” -Norman Vincent Peale

Dig into the problem itself before beginning work or even brainstorming a solution. Einstein said if he only had an hour to solve a problem, he would spend 55 minutes on understanding the problem.

Socrates believed in asking lots of questions of anyone who came to him with a problem to solve, rather than offering a solution.

I coach business managers to let their team know to bring multiple options or ideas to them, not just the problem, and not just one option.

As N.V. Peale said, the seeds for a solution are in your deep understanding of the problem.

Getting Your Idea Across to Business People who Think Different from You

It is tempting to present your ideas in the same manner that convinced you.

Your job was to collect and analyze the data not to present that data. Your job is to present the conclusion with 3 strong reasons why it is the best solution.

Then ask for questions and thoughts, followed by a quick repeat of the conclusion.