Reading BE 2.0 today, I was reminded just how confusing the idea of mission, vision, values, purpose... all those fancy words, were. I remember spending hours searching & reading on how to "make a clear vision" for my company.

Let me uncomplicate it for you. When you're first going down the road of creating a vision for your company, just answer these simple questions:

• Why does your company exist? Why do you do what you do? The answer to these questions is your purpose statement.

• How will you behave? By what values will you hold your self and your employees? Pick 5-10 statements. These are your core values.

• Pick a goal that seems almost impossible. You have no idea how to get there but in 10-30 years, you'll be there. This goal is called a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal). Use BHAG instead of the term "mission."

There... done. Last step is to just put all the above together. Write up what it looks like in your head for all the above to be true.. Call this your vision statement.

See, business isn't that hard.

P.s. None of the above is mine, I just stole it from Jim Collins and Patrick Lencioni.