MISSION CONTROL
I’ve written in the past that the current economic climate should not be viewed as a threat to your organization’s existence, but instead be seen as opportunity to strengthen it. So where do you start? How about at the beginning – with your mission statement!
Your mission statement defines who you are and what you do. In a few sentences, it encapsulates the core essence of your organization’s being: why it is needed, why it is different, why it will make a difference. The statement inspires and motivates staff, your Board and volunteers to work hard on your behalf. All of your programs evolve from it. Individuals, foundations, corporations and government agencies are compelled to give you money to support it. Most importantly, your audience or the population you serve find confidence that you can improve their lives in your mission statement.
Even in the best of times, it is recommended that you frequently review the statement to assure that your organization has not strayed from its original purpose. However, when times get rough, as they are now, a review of the mission statement can clarify purpose and help refocus commitments to achieving goals.
Where do you start? How about with the people who know you best - your Board, your employees, the people that use your services or buy your product and your most ardent supporters? Be prepared, though. You might be surprised by what you hear back.
Did you ever see Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1950 film Rashomon (remade in the US in 1964 and titled The Outrage)? In the movie, four witnesses to an event tell widely different versions of what occurred based upon their own unique perspectives. It’s not that any of them are necessarily lying (although each might be skewing their stories to protect their interests or evade harsh judgment). No, instead their viewpoints are affected by what the event meant to them.
The same may hold true when you ask others to tell you how they see your organization.
For instance, let’s say that several years ago you developed a mission statement that reads something like this: Our Mission is to use theatre to effect positive changes in the lives of our audiences. We produce drama about challenging issues that encourage cultural awareness and solutions to problems that people confront on a daily basis. Let us also suppose that since that statement was devised your programming has fallen into two main categories: producing new plays written primarily by minority playwrights that confront social injustices and expose cultural divides, and arts-in-education programs which use theatre to help students give voice to issues they face in their schools and communities. To you, both of these programs fit neatly within the realm of your mission statement.
However, the others may see things differently. To some of those you ask, the organization is all about creating new works, premiering new plays by emerging playwrights. That’s strange you think, there’s nothing in the mission about new plays.
Others see the organization as youth-oriented and think there should be more of a concentration on creating school programs that help young people develop their creativity and boost their self-esteem. Well, yes, you think, we have had success with out theatre-in-education program, but, again, that’s really not spelled out in our mission.
Finally, a third group believes the organization is all about exposing theatre to new audiences and point out that all the plays and school programs take place in low-income, minority neighborhoods with little or no history of theatre. Again, you get a view of your organization that is not found in the mission statement.
So what’s your answer? Do you start all over again and go through the arduous task of creating a new mission? Not necessarily - maybe all the mission statement needs is a little tweaking.
Our Mission is to create new works of theatre by emerging playwrights that effect positive changes in the lives our audiences. Whether the plays are performed as part of our theatre season or a component of our theatre-in-school program, we create drama that encourages cultural awareness and offers solutions to problems that confront the members of our low-income, ethnically diverse community.
You’re still effecting positive change and producing drama about challenging issues. Only now you’ve narrowed the focus, presenting a more accurate picture of what the organization is all about. You’ve also created new funding sources – foundations that give money to support new plays and those that give for programs that reach out to low-income, diverse communities. They were there before - only now it’s clear to everyone it’s what you are all about.
In the Kurosawa film, the audience never really learns exactly what happened. In your case, the truth is close at hand.
Your mission statement defines who you are and what you do. In a few sentences, it encapsulates the core essence of your organization’s being: why it is needed, why it is different, why it will make a difference. The statement inspires and motivates staff, your Board and volunteers to work hard on your behalf. All of your programs evolve from it. Individuals, foundations, corporations and government agencies are compelled to give you money to support it. Most importantly, your audience or the population you serve find confidence that you can improve their lives in your mission statement.
Even in the best of times, it is recommended that you frequently review the statement to assure that your organization has not strayed from its original purpose. However, when times get rough, as they are now, a review of the mission statement can clarify purpose and help refocus commitments to achieving goals.
Where do you start? How about with the people who know you best - your Board, your employees, the people that use your services or buy your product and your most ardent supporters? Be prepared, though. You might be surprised by what you hear back.
Did you ever see Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1950 film Rashomon (remade in the US in 1964 and titled The Outrage)? In the movie, four witnesses to an event tell widely different versions of what occurred based upon their own unique perspectives. It’s not that any of them are necessarily lying (although each might be skewing their stories to protect their interests or evade harsh judgment). No, instead their viewpoints are affected by what the event meant to them.
The same may hold true when you ask others to tell you how they see your organization.
For instance, let’s say that several years ago you developed a mission statement that reads something like this: Our Mission is to use theatre to effect positive changes in the lives of our audiences. We produce drama about challenging issues that encourage cultural awareness and solutions to problems that people confront on a daily basis. Let us also suppose that since that statement was devised your programming has fallen into two main categories: producing new plays written primarily by minority playwrights that confront social injustices and expose cultural divides, and arts-in-education programs which use theatre to help students give voice to issues they face in their schools and communities. To you, both of these programs fit neatly within the realm of your mission statement.
However, the others may see things differently. To some of those you ask, the organization is all about creating new works, premiering new plays by emerging playwrights. That’s strange you think, there’s nothing in the mission about new plays.
Others see the organization as youth-oriented and think there should be more of a concentration on creating school programs that help young people develop their creativity and boost their self-esteem. Well, yes, you think, we have had success with out theatre-in-education program, but, again, that’s really not spelled out in our mission.
Finally, a third group believes the organization is all about exposing theatre to new audiences and point out that all the plays and school programs take place in low-income, minority neighborhoods with little or no history of theatre. Again, you get a view of your organization that is not found in the mission statement.
So what’s your answer? Do you start all over again and go through the arduous task of creating a new mission? Not necessarily - maybe all the mission statement needs is a little tweaking.
Our Mission is to create new works of theatre by emerging playwrights that effect positive changes in the lives our audiences. Whether the plays are performed as part of our theatre season or a component of our theatre-in-school program, we create drama that encourages cultural awareness and offers solutions to problems that confront the members of our low-income, ethnically diverse community.
You’re still effecting positive change and producing drama about challenging issues. Only now you’ve narrowed the focus, presenting a more accurate picture of what the organization is all about. You’ve also created new funding sources – foundations that give money to support new plays and those that give for programs that reach out to low-income, diverse communities. They were there before - only now it’s clear to everyone it’s what you are all about.
In the Kurosawa film, the audience never really learns exactly what happened. In your case, the truth is close at hand.
