At gap intelligence’s annual company kick-off meeting in December, the management team presented a vision statement for moving into 2020. The purpose of this vision statement was to give us a clear idea of the company’s expectations, initiatives, and goals as we moved into the new year, as well as remind us of gap’s core strengths, culture, and inspire us to think about how each of us could, individually and as a team, contribute to upholding and improving our company’s defining characteristics and values.
The vision statement is a combination of generalized ambitions, attitudes, and ideals to hold on to and use as guides as we go about our work, and a number of specific and measurable goals and objectives to work towards. While reading and discussing our vision statement for 2020 at our company meeting we were asked to highlight the parts of the vision that most resonated with us and that we believed to be most important. I would like to share my top three favorite parts of our vision statement that I believe key in ensuring our success as a company in 2020.
ONE
“We hold on to what truly adds value for our clients and let go of the rest.”
This idea is not new. Socrates said, “Better to do a little well, than a great deal badly,” and Simon Sinek, in his book Start With Why, discusses this idea with his concept of the “Golden Circle,” or “Onion Diagram.” Sinek talks about a company’s “Why,” why it exists, what its purpose is, and what its simplest, most fundamental goal is, and how successful companies like Apple are successful because they only do that which directly aligns with that “Why.” Successful companies don’t allow themselves to be distracted by what others are doing, or jump on the “what’s trending” bandwagon. Rather successful companies ask themselves, “Does this correspond with our existential purpose,” and if the answer is “no,” then it is not pursued any further because it would detract from the company’s core work, product, service, etc.
gap intelligence’s why is providing our clients with GFD (Great Freakin’ Data) so that they can make smart business decisions. Everything we do, and anything new we may consider pursuing must be constantly evaluated in this context; does this new service, this methodology change, etc. make our data, information, and analysis better and more valuable to our clients? Is it consistent with our mission of aiding our clients in their decision making process? Only if the answers are “yes,” should we then consider making the change, or adding the service to our portfolio.
TWO
“Proactive support and outreach is the norm…”
I am a firm believer in addressing a potential problem before it becomes an issue because more often than not it prevents a minor inconvenience from developing into a more serious problem. Also, it is always better to provide someone with more information than less, so long as that information is relevant. The more informed you are the better decision you can make. Being proactive and reaching out to clients and providing them with information before they request it, or even before they know they need it is a great way to build solid, meaningful relationships with clients and shows them that their needs are constantly on your mind.
THREE
“When there’s a decision to be made we gather those best-equipped to make it and provide them with the clear expectations and autonomy they need.”
This is an important excerpt from our 2020 vision statement because at gap intelligence we have a lot of experts with extremely detailed knowledge and a broad understanding of their work. However, because of the nature of the industry we work in, that expertise is largely siloed and does not always translate across the categories we cover, or to other aspects of business. This is no one’s fault, it is simply a reflection of how complicated our work is; there is no way someone could possibly be an expert in all of it.
What this means, is that when there is a decision to be made we must make sure that we have the most qualified experts making that decision and who that is will change from decision to decision based on the issue at hand. In order to make the best decision each time, we cannot rely on the same group of decision makers because while they might be best-suited to address one issue, they may know very little about another. Additionally, it is important that those tasked with making a particular decision are free to do so based on their expertise.
Visioning
Our vision statement is a powerful tool for focusing everyone across the company on the goals and expectations that exist moving forward, as well as providing a roadmap, complete with specific, measurable progress indicators, for how to achieve, and ideally exceed, those goals and expectations as the year progresses.
The vision statement also serves a good reminder throughout the year about how to handle various issues, like our entire office going remote due to the COVID-19 quarantine. Our mission and course of action remains the same. As new challenges arise our vision ensures that gappers remain on the same page and that we use a consistent approach.
For more than 17 years, gap intelligence has served manufacturers and sellers by providing world-class services monitoring, reporting, and analyzing the 4Ps: prices, promotions, placements, and products. Email us at info@gapintelligence.com or call us at 619-574-1100 to learn more.
