Impact of Vision Void – “Fragmentation & Replacement”

A few weeks ago I wrote about the prevalence and reasons for “deadly vision void” (absence of a clear & compelling vision of the future; posted July 31). Today I want to discuss just one of the most common negative impacts – “vision replacement & fragmentation” (we will consider others in the future).

Sadly, when leaders have allowed “vision void” to happen, they often fail to recognize that the void doesn’t just stay empty – it gets filled. See, human beings are wired to believe in something, and true leaders are wired to lead “somewhere.” In this situation it’s likely not the “something” or “somewhere” that is ideal, but the absence of a cohesive over-arching vision forces people to make up their own.

What’s the impact, in an organizational setting? Mid-management leaders and their functional entities see the void and “valiantly” fill it by inventing their own vision. Wow – people are showing initiative…that’s great, right? Wrong! The proliferation of dissimilar, unaligned (…and often opposing) “entity visions” fragments the enterprise and, if left unchecked, literally tears it apart. It’s like an army with each brigade deciding their own direction and timing. The overall result – chaos.

What’s the effect on leadership? It often reduces the role of those at the top of the organization to “referees” whose main preoccupation becomes avoiding massive strategic “train wrecks” caused by colliding visions…little to no band-width remains for their real job of creating over-arching vision for the organization and executing strategies to realize it. It’s arbitrage and appeasing instead of strategizing and leading.  Further, as they now “meddle” with the operational responsibility of those below them, they begin to micro-manage, causing confusion and replication of the same behavior in those they manage.

What originally started as unwitting or intentional abdication of their core role – “vision creation” – now trickles down through each successive layer of the organization making it a victim of micro-management, competing fiefdoms and directions.

Sound familiar? Have you seen this before? I’d be interested to hear war stories that illustrate the point. Remember that understanding the problem is the first step towards finding a solution.

Picture:  Life Mental Health via Compfight