This week’s focus: What is the UK’s vision for Brexit? I’m not trying to make a political comment but, two years on from the referendum, I genuinely don’t know what either HM Government (Conservatives) or HM Loyal Opposition (Labour) want to achieve in terms of their relationship with the European Union. In terms of this week’s discussions on the Customs Union, for instance, the Brexit Sub-Committee doesn’t seem to be able to rule anything in or out, and Labour front bench politicians seem equally undecided.
For all I know, this uncertainty and confusion might simply be a brilliant British negotiating strategy aimed at keeping the EU – and everyone else – guessing. More likely, though, is that the delicate politics of the situation is preventing the development and communication of a clear vision for the future.
Without a clear idea of your destination, however, you’ll never settle on the best route to reaching it. Once you know where you’re going, however you will instantly become creative and relentless in getting there. As Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, once said, “We’re fixed on the vision, but flexible on the journey!”
The only companies I know that deliver real, rapid growth are those that have a clear sense of where they’re going. Like Amazon, the entire organisation is focused on reaching that shared destination. Everybody’s time and energy is centred on delivering the strategy, rather than continuously trying to determine and agree what it actually is.
How about your business? Do you have a clear and compelling strategic vision that drives the daily decisions and actions of your teams, or are you stuck in a Brexit-style Groundhog Day, where you are perpetually trying to work out the real objective of your organisation?
Off The Record: Theme From Mahogany by Diana Ross
Written by Michael Masser and Gerald Goffin
Do you know where you’re going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to?
Do you know?
© Stuart Cross 2018. All rights reserved.