In the late 90s, a once-promising mid-sized distributor in East Africa set out to “become the leading FMCG powerhouse in the region.” That was their bold vision. Posters were printed. Workshops were held. Consultants cashed in. But five years in, they had lost key accounts, had high staff turnover, and worse, no one in the leadership team could articulate how “powerhouse” would translate into specific actions this quarter.
The CEO kept repeating, “We must own the market,” but failed to say: which market, what segment, and by what mechanism. Their warehouses remained half-stocked. Competitors tightened their logistics game. Customers defected quietly. Their vision was not wrong, it was just vague. And in business, vague vision is fatal.
This is what I call “building castles in the fog.” Everyone’s excited. The mood is high. But no one can tell what foundation they’re building on, or for what. Eventually, the fog lifts, and the castle isn’t there.
The affliction of clarity
Comfortable organizations love lofty words: “Excellence,” “Innovation,” “Market Leadership,” “Customer Centricity.” But ask, where does that show up on the shop floor? Most times, it doesn’t.
One client, a large public entity, had “to be the centre of regulatory excellence in the region” as its vision. But when we walked through its departments, even the acting directors couldn’t explain what that meant for their unit. Worse, its KPIs were tied to last year’s budget absorption rates, not excellence. Its vision had become a decorative wall hanging, not a north star.
So, when does vision become vague?
a) When it’s ungrounded in the current business model. You can’t say you’re building a global brand if you still use Gmail for official email.
b) When there’s no shared definition. Everyone says “innovation,” but the CFO thinks it’s financial modeling, the COO thinks it’s workflow automation, and the field officers think it’s printing forms in color.
c) When there’s no ruthless prioritization. If your budget doesn’t reflect the vision, it’s not a vision. It’s a hallucination.
"A vague vision is worse than no vision, because it fools everyone into thinking direction exists when it doesn’t..”
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Practical test for leaders
Take your vision statement. Ask every manager in your organization what it means for their team in terms of numbers, actions, and timelines. If the answers vary wildly, your vision is vague.
Another test: match your current top 3 expenses to your stated vision. Do they align? If not, your operations are betraying your aspirations.
Leadership challenge
If you’re a leader, your job isn’t to dream up grand visions. Your job is to translate dreams into drills. This week, reframe your vision in terms of:
- Who we serve
- What problems do we solve
- Where we win
- How do we know we’re winning
Then, cascade it into line-of-sight targets, so the cleaner, the driver, and the call centre staff can each point to something they do weekly that drives that vision.
The ‘Line of Sight Canvas’
Create a simple table with five columns:
| Vision Pillar | Department | Key Action This Quarter | Metrics | Responsible Person |
If you can’t fill it out across all departments, your vision is vague. Fix that first.
Remember, a vague vision is worse than no vision, because it fools everyone into thinking direction exists when it doesn’t.
Next Tuesday, I’ll show you how one bold CEO turned a five-word vision into a billion-shilling strategy, with zero posters. Just execution. Be ready.
