Are Mission Statements Overrated?

If your mission statement is, ‘To be the best sports brand in the world,’ it’s a pretty good sign that there’s nothing unique about your brand.

Good Morning!

Here are today’s highlights:            

• Gene Marks says it would make no sense to stop taxing tips.

• One issue underlying many family business problems is addiction.

• Is owning a small business the best tax deal in America?

• In Boston right now, you can get your nails painted by a fully autonomous robot.

LEADERSHIP

Mission statements are overrated, according to the cofounder of a boutique strategy company: “‘The majority of mission statements simply don’t work,’ [Danny Brooks, a veteran of Starbucks and IDEO] says. ‘They’re just not as effective as people think they are, and they can be a massive waste of time.’ The smarter move, he believes, is to focus on your origin story. In fact, Brooks says, if he had to choose whether to put a mission statement or an origin story on a company’s website, ‘I’d go origin story 100 times out of 100.’”

• “Look at the Adidas mission statement: ‘To be the best sports brand in the world.’ When you can swap out the word sports for fast food or furniture or grass, whatever, it’s a sign that there’s absolutely nothing unique about it, that it’s forgettable. It doesn’t even mention apparel!”

• “An origin story is about human beings on a journey, rather than some abstract concept written at an executive offsite and wordsmithed until every stakeholder is happy but the statement’s lost all meaning. An origin story is about real characters facing real decisions with real stakes, which means that people will be more likely to read it, relate to it, remember it, and retell it.”

• “What was it that caused the founder to change his or her life and create an organization to solve a problem? We’re fascinated with the aha moment. Like Newton’s apple and his epiphany about gravity. It also has the benefit of being unique to the particular business or founder as opposed to a mission statement that says, ‘To make the world a better place.’” READ MORE

THE 21 HATS PODCAST: DASHBOARD

Stop Taxing Tips? Really? This week, Gene Marks notes that the two major presidential candidates happen to agree on something, which is that we should stop taxing tipped income. Unfortunately, Gene explains, it’s a boneheaded idea. Plus: Gene’s been looking into the progress that manufacturing companies are making adopting artificial intelligence applications, and he says—at least when it comes to manufacturing—the promise of AI is starting to get real.

• You can subscribe to the 21 Hats Podcast wherever you get podcasts.