CHAPTER 5

Developing a Project Vision: A Step-by-Step Approach

MANY PEOPLE WONDER where great leaders get their visions. Are they born with the ability to create a vision of the future? Are they taught to create a vision in their business school courses or training classes? The answer to both questions is “yes.” Some recent research suggests that some leaders seem more capable than others of creating a positive image of the future (Thoms 1994). And, some leaders are being taught specific techniques that can be used to develop organizational visions. This chapter will briefly explore both questions and then present an approach that can be used by managers to develop project visions. The chapter will distinguish between project visions developed by a project leader and shared project visions developed by a team, and explain when each approach is better. The chapter will conclude with tips on communicating the vision.

VISIONARY LEADERS: BORN OR MADE?

It appears that there are certain individual characteristics that make some people better at creating an organizational vision than others are. Three characteristics that have been discussed in the leadership literature are a positive attitude toward life, a future orientation, and creativity. Although there are probably more individual differences that affect vision development, these are the ones that are most often discussed by leadership experts.

A Positive Attitude toward Life

Research suggests that some people are more positive than others (Thoms 1994). They have better outlooks on life, and this affects the way that they think about their organizations and the future. Intuitively, it makes sense that if individuals feel positive about life, they will be more likely to think about their organizations or new project assignments in an optimistic way. Other people are negative in their outlooks on life and that is also reflected in the way that those individuals think about their organizations and their work.

There are a number of ideas about what makes one person more optimistic or positive than another. Part of the explanation is due to innate personality differences between people. Even siblings raised in the same home often differ in their attitudes about life. Yet, the way and the culture in which people are raised will also affect their positivism. In addition, some believe that our attitudes are shaped by the situations in which we find ourselves. For example, we would expect people living in poverty who have little control over their lives to be less optimistic than people who have sufficient money and education and many choices about the way they live. Whatever the cause of a positive attitude toward life, recent research has shown that those people who are positive are better able to create positive images of the future.

Future Orientation

Research also shows that some people are more future oriented than others are (Thoms 1994). It appears that some humans tend to focus on the past, while others focus on the present, and still others, on the future. This focus may manifest itself in the ways that people think about themselves. For example, some people picture themselves in the past, reliving good experiences or trying to change past behavior. Another manifestation of this time orientation may be in the amount of time and energy that is devoted to preparing and planning for the future. For example, some people never think about the future, save for the future, or think about how they will live or what they will be doing in the future. Others may make elaborate plans and begin doing things today that will benefit themselves in twenty years. Again, the reasons why some people are more future oriented than others are complex and probably range from innate differences to cultural and situational reasons. Recent research has shown that leaders who are more future oriented are better able to create an organizational vision (Thoms 1994).

There is also a great deal of creativity involved in developing an organizational vision. An effective vision presents new possibilities, explores alternative paradigms, looks beyond current trends, and ignores traditional barriers. It is commonly accepted that some people are more creative than others. Although many people believe that visionary leaders have unique creative powers, characterized as mystical or magical in some cases, many effective leaders use special techniques, much like artists do, to generate creative ideas. These techniques may have been learned from their parents, teachers, professors, trainers, or from books that they have read. Whatever the source of the creativity, it does appear that creative leaders are better able to develop and utilize organizational visions than those who are not creative.

Based on this evidence, and the probability that there are additional characteristics that make some individuals better at creating positive images of the future, it is clear that some people are natural leaders. They may not need any training or encouragement and are likely to be creating positive images of the future in their minds on an ongoing basis. These images drive their day-to-day behavior, which then inspires others to adjust their own thinking and behavior. These leaders, people like Bill Gates and Mahatma Gandhi, frequently begin and lead successful organizations and societal movements, and they often make significant changes in their communities and the world. The rest of the population recognizes these visionary leaders and will follow them. However, not everyone has this gift, and most people need some help developing the images that will allow them to make transformational changes in their organizations.

VISION TRAINING

Most visionary leaders probably develop and maintain positive images of the future continuously and have been doing so for most of their lives. A variety of vision training books and programs exist to help leaders develop visions. These materials and programs typically take one of two approaches: the strategic planning approach, or the creativity approach.

The Strategic Planning Approach

Books and training programs that use the strategic planning approach walk leaders through a series of steps that resemble a strategic planning exercise. For example, one such book asks leaders to do a number of things, including the following (Nanus 1992).

• Consider the business that they are in and how they operate.
• Consider their constituencies.
• Identify current industry trends.
• Develop alternative scenarios for the future.
• Choose the right vision.

This approach to vision training is also found in many programs offered by a number of large consulting organizations. One advantage to this approach is that it leads to a tangible product—the vision can be developed using familiar and concrete steps. The vision will be realistic, something the authors think is important. One concern with this type of vision training is the fact that it merges visioning with strategic planning. In the last chapter, it was suggested that visioning should precede the planning process. A project vision should not be limited by trends, organizational conditions, and barriers and limitations. The vision should be an idealistic, not a realistic, and challenging image of the future, not an image that has taken into account all of the limitations. This approach infers that we can and should try to predict the future and that this prediction must drive our project. A vision is not a prediction. A vision is an image of the best possible outcomes, which we want to achieve—in spite of the trends, barriers, and limitations.

A second problem with this approach is that it often focuses more on the communication of the vision rather than on the development of the image. Although it is critical that a leader know how to communicate a vision to followers, the vision must first be articulated in the mind of the leader. After the image is formed, communication of the vision will evolve naturally and will take a variety of forms, including changing and modeling appropriate behavior, as well as talking with followers. Ask any corporate professional whether he pays more attention to the organization's vision statement or the leader's behavior. This will quickly illustrate the importance of a clear mental image driving organizational behavior.

The Creativity Approach

Many other training books and programs use a creativity approach. With this approach, the focus is on developing the leader's creative skills. Typically, exercises include activities like brainstorming, discussing stereotypes, and developing different patterns for problem solving. For example, one widely used training program is based on a book that includes exercises that help participants practice:

• separating themselves from ideal conceptions about reality
• changing their perceptions of the world
• thinking about themselves as separate from the objects and situations in the environment
• shifting their thinking from first to third person
• creating what is important to them instead of what others expect
• thinking visually.

This and other programs teach people to be more creative and to create visual images. These are critical skills for project leaders. However, the end product of this type of training is skills that will help the project leaders develop a vision, not the vision itself. Training to develop a vision for a project or an organization requires a more targeted approach.

A Targeted Vision-Training Approach

The visioning approach suggested in this chapter attempts to enhance project leaders’ positive attitudes about their projects and their future orientation. It utilizes exercises originally developed for enhancing creative-writing abilities, thereby incorporating the creativity aspect. It is targeted, however, very specifically on current upcoming projects. Rather than trying to turn project leaders into visionary leaders, it assumes that everyone has varying degrees of positivism, future orientation, and creative ability, and presents a method that can be effectively used by anyone for each new project or situation. A study conducted with 114 corporate leaders provided evidence that their visioning abilities increased as a result of participating in this training program (Thoms 1994).

A project leader can use this method working alone. It requires only a large sheet of plain paper, a pencil, two to three hours of uninterrupted time, and a quiet environment conducive to thinking. The environment is important. If the project leader is working in a location where there will be loud noises, interruptions, ringing phones, or visual distractions, this method will not work as well. It may help to dress casually, sit in a comfortable chair, use a table with lots of writing space, and perhaps even play some relaxing music. There are three basic steps: mapping, generating a series of “Wouldn't it be great if…” statements, and writing the script.

Step 1: Mapping. Put the name of the project in the center of a large sheet of paper. Identify every aspect of the project that you can think of. For example, you would want to include finances, staffing, marketing, and project location. Using a cobweb approach, write each aspect on the sheet of paper, and use lines to show the relationship of each aspect to the others. (See Figure 10 for an example of how this might look.) It is not important that every line be drawn perfectly—a ruler is not necessary. What is important is that every aspect of the project be included somewhere on the drawing. This step helps to ensure that the vision is detailed enough to provide direction to the leader and eventually to followers.

It might be helpful to use a practice exercise before beginning the project vision. For example, take another organization with which you are involved, like your child's soccer league. The aspects that you want to consider would include finances, kids’ attitudes toward the program, and location of games.

If a project team is made up of members with very specific expertise, or if it will be a self-managed effort, the project manager may decide to involve the team in developing a shared vision. Find a location conducive to open, informal, and relaxed conversations. Be careful about using hotel meeting rooms, as they tend to be uncomfortable. Retreat centers, on the other hand, are often comfortable but may be long distances from home and so inconvenient to team members. If the team is small, the manager's dining or family room may be a perfect spot. Invite people to wear comfortable clothing.

Step 2: Generating a Series of “Wouldn't it be great if…” Statements. The second step begins by going back to each aspect of the project that appears on the map that the leader, or the team, has created. For each one, generate one or more statements that begin with the phrase, “Wouldn't it be great if…” For example, go back to the child's soccer league. Some examples of “Wouldn't it be great if…” statements would be the following.

• Wouldn't it be great if the league had long-term funding and never had to do any more fundraising?
• Wouldn't it be great if all of the kids had fun every time they played?
• Wouldn't it be great if there were no rainouts?

On the surface, these statements may look overly optimistic or unrealistic. The key to this method is that once we have identified the ideal scenario, our planning will take a much different approach. If told to develop a plan for a child's soccer league, most people would simply start by using strategies used by organizers of children's sports programs for generations. They would discuss the budget and fundraising activities. They would discuss rule changes. They would discuss the schedule.

However, when the planners begin with a goal like, “Wouldn't it be great if the league had long-term funding and never had to do any more fundraising?”, the planning changes dramatically. Now the leader or the group begins planning a strategy to gain long-term support so that the annual fundraising is no longer an issue. If the planners begin with statements like, “Wouldn't it be great if all of the kids had fun every time they played?”, rule changes might include things like, “No parents will be allowed to coach” or “Children may choose a variety of alternative activities besides soccer.” The point is that identifying ideal scenarios leads the project in new directions and to heights never before achieved. There may never be a children's soccer league where every child has fun every time, but it is possible to have leagues that are significantly better.

Figure 11 illustrates some examples of “Wouldn't it be great if…” statements for the construction project in Figure 10. Notice that these are very challenging goals. These become the standards that the project leader and the team try to achieve. Think of it as the difference between someone like Walt Disney saying, “Wouldn't it be great if cartoon characters worked at our park?” and “What kind of uniforms should our employees wear?” No, the actual characters do not work at Disney World, but it may feel that way to the visitors. The vision drives planning.

If the project vision is being developed by the project team, the same exercise can be used. However, this is where the leader may need to do some mediation. Some team members will value some outcomes more than others. In other words, Team Member A may say, “Wouldn't it be great if we developed a new software program for the project, which could later be sold as a product?” Team Member B may find that idea unimportant and wants to focus only on the completion of the specific assignment. The leader will only cause problems in the group if agreement on each statement is required. Let the team member who would like to see software development as an outcome take ownership for that part of the vision. Leaders do not need (and hardly ever get) agreement from everyone in their groups or their organizations about what should be accomplished. At the very least, the software program developed for the project will be better than it would have been if a team member had not had a great interest in it.

Step 3: Writing the Script. The third and final step in creating the vision is to pull all of the statements together and visualize the project at the end. One approach to beginning this step is to imagine yourself walking into work while the project is under way. Imagine how the members of the project team are acting, what they are saying, and how they feel. Picture the project and how it looks, how it sounds, the outcomes, the impact on the bottom line of the organization, and the reaction of your boss and your customers to the project. How will you feel? What will you say to the team members? Visualize the best possible outcome for each stage of the project. Many people like to actually write the vision as a script for a movie about the project while it is being completed. See Figure 12 for the beginning of a script for the construction project described in Figures 10 and 11.

As the project leader begins to think about how to communicate the project vision, this script will provide direction. The leader may never share the entire script with all members of the project team, but it will guide her behavior and decisions.

When working with a group to develop a vision, this step will be the most difficult. Each individual will have his own image of the project, based on his own expertise, values, and personal goals. Everyone will picture his role and the project outcomes a bit differently. This is not a problem unless there are contradictory goals. The key is for the leader to make sure that each team member's vision is consistent with the others. For example, if Team Member A is so committed to developing software, she may not complete her portion of the project on time. That will conflict with the leader's vision of completing the project ahead of schedule. The leader has to make sure that everyone is on the same page, so to speak. This may require discussions or even negotiations.

Following a recent successful visioning exercise by a team, one member said, “This can't be our vision because we haven't voted on it yet.” The vision developed using this method is not the typical vision statement that will be posted in the lobby or appear on the annual statement. It does not require a majority vote. A vision is a cognitive image that exists in the leader's mind and in the minds of the team members—each in his own form. Team members do not have to agree with a leader's vision. They do, however, have to understand it.

IMPLEMENTING THE VISION

Once the vision has been developed, the leader and the team must begin the implementation process. Implementation is a two-pronged process: communication and planning. Communication must be ongoing, beginning with an initial description of the vision and continuing with day-to-day interactions. Planning will typically be done with the team, developing the strategies necessary to successfully achieve the vision.

Communicating the Vision

The vision must be discussed with the client or customer. The vision must be consistent with the client's needs and values. As explained in Chapter 4, this creates a contract between the leader and the client or organization, which will serve to motivate the leader. Invite the client to the kickoff meeting with the team. In some cases, the client may develop and communicate the vision to the team. In others, the project leader may develop the vision with the client.

At the first meeting of the project team, the leader should describe the vision. It is not important that it even be labeled the vision. It is important that everyone on the team understands the standard(s) being set. For example, if the leader's image includes responding to all customer concerns in less than twenty-four hours, that must be clearly communicated to the team. Often the introduction to a new project is done with some fanfare. This does not mean that the leader has to serve champagne and distribute pens bearing the name of the project. What it does mean, however, is that the leader should articulate the vision using motivating language and must help the team see the project as both positive and possible.

Charismatic leaders appear to have a gift for making motivational and inspirational speeches. If a project leader has excellent presentation skills, now is the time to use them. Unfortunately, not all project managers have this gift, but they can still get their teams excited about the project and looking forward to getting started. Models and drawings of proposed projects are one good way to start. It is also important at the first meeting to tell the team how this project is unique and what is in it for the team—for example, “If this project goes well, there will be additional contracts for our team down the road.”

The leader must talk to each team member and explain her expectations for each. Since the vision is quite elaborate, she may choose to talk to different individuals only about the aspects pertinent to them. These conversations should provide enough information that the individual understands exactly what the performance standard is. The information has to be communicated repeatedly in a variety of forms. The leader must describe the project vision in newsletters, memos, group meetings, project meetings, and private conversations. The leader should refer to the vision frequently during the planning stages, when giving project assignments and when providing feedback.

Whenever possible, the vision should be linked during speeches and conversations to the values of the team and the individuals on the team—for example, “I know how important it is to you that the environment be protected. This new treatment facility will move our community closer to that goal,” or “We are all committed to preventing teen smoking, and this project should cut the percentage of teens who smoke by 10 percent.” This builds commitment to the vision, which is important if the leader is to succeed. Occasionally, a project vision will conflict with a team member's personal values. For example, if the project is attacking teen smoking, and a team member grew up on a tobacco farm, that person may not believe in the vision. When this happens, the team member may decide to leave the project. Project leaders should help team members make these decisions. In the long run, the project will be more likely to be achieved when all of the team members share the values that are inherent in the project vision.

Planning in Order to Achieve the Vision

The first step in the planning process would be to develop specific goals that relate to the vision. The “Wouldn't it be great if…” statements can be used for this purpose. Basically, this will take the leader backward from the overall image of the vision to the specifics identified earlier. For example, if one statement is, “Wouldn't it be great if every child in the soccer league had fun?”, the goal would then become, “Every child involved in the soccer league will have fun.” If the statement is, “Wouldn't it be great if we could reduce teen smoking by 10 percent?”, then the goal is, “Teen smoking will be reduced by 10 percent.” A list of challenging goals is identified for the project. Each goal is then addressed during the planning process. The team will have to develop specific strategies to meet each of the goals.

The vision drives planning by changing the psychology behind the planning process. Instead of trying to figure out how to do the job, the planners must figure out how to accomplish the goals. For example, a project team may be in charge of designing the uniforms for all workers in an amusement park. If they do not have a vision and a set of goals guiding the process, they will use traditional planning procedures to choose the costumes. The outcomes may be very nice outfits that reflect current trends, keep costs low, and are comfortable for the employees. However, if the leader says that he wants cartoon characters working in the park, the project team has to find a way to come as close to that goal as possible. That will lead to solutions like identifying and teaching employees the characters’ behaviors, designing expensive costumes that make the employees look exactly like the characters, and developing policies that ensure that the employees are always in character when they are in public. Psychologically, the vision and the related goals impact the way that the team approaches the project.

In large organizations, the leader (usually the CEO) may communicate her vision and spend most of her time monitoring progress on it. On a project team, however, the leader usually has a dual role, which includes using her technical expertise to complete certain hands-on aspects of the project. This makes it harder to monitor the team's progress. It is very easy to lose sight of the vision while addressing day-to-day operational issues and completing project tasks. When the project is completed, many project leaders look back and wonder why they did not achieve what they had hoped. Often, the problem was that they lost sight of their original visions.

CONCLUSION

People who are positive about life, are future oriented, and are creative will probably be better at developing a project vision. Although some people may be born visionary leaders, it appears that those who are not can be taught how to develop a project vision. This chapter has explained various vision-training approaches and discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each. The chapter introduced and explained a three-step approach to developing a project vision, which can be used by either a leader or a project team. Once the vision is developed, it can direct the goal setting, planning, and work on the project. This will lead to far greater levels of performance and outcomes than would otherwise be possible.