A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the translatability of corporate mission statements here. Over at Marcomments, the discussion continues with some tips about how to write a good mission statement in the first place. Corporate mission statements would be easier to translate into other languages if they followed a few of the tips in the Marcomments post:
- Look at the big picture
- Talk about what makes you unique
- Take a long-term view
- Be short and sweet
I also like the idea of involving the different stakeholders via interviews as long as it doesn’t degenerate into writing by committee. A clear, unified voice is important, and that’s hard to maintain if there are too many cooks in the kitchen.
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Writing corporate mission and vision statements is tough indeed.
All the more so right after a merger – and most mergers do not consider the parties’ cultural “fit” before the marriage! A few years ago, I worked on the cultural integration of a tripartite merger among a French, a British and a German company, each one with a rich cultural history, strong brand identity, and distinct markets and client profiles; their voices ranged from soprano to contralto.
Unfortunately, writing the mission/vision statements was by committee, with each key word having a different reach for each board member around the table. The new company has since re-branded, and though the mission statement was overhauled, it still lacks the needed punch and unified voice.
Shouldn’t writing mission statements be outsourced to a professional writer who knows the company well but has the right distance to consider the big picture without the corporate baggage?
Sara,
Thanks for referencing the post about writing mission statements.
You definitely bring up some good points about writing with the translatability of corporate mission statements in mind. I’d imagine that jargon would, indeed, be difficult to translate into French. It’s difficult enough to make sense of those words in English. In fact, funnily enough, our next post will touch on “translating” the gobbledygook of jargon and corporate-speak into English.
A great point as well about “writing by committee.” It’s also necessary that someone takes responsibility (preferably the writer) for the final product. And that’s easier to do if it’s established as early in the process as possible.