I’m sure you have seen it; Mission, Vision, Values, framed on a wall in reception, next to the pot plant that hasn’t been watered since last quarter. We’re told these things matter. But too often, they end up as nice-sounding words that nobody can remember. let alone use.

But what if they weren’t just “things we have to do”? What if they were tools? Useful ones. Ones that help people make sense of their work, and pull in the same direction.

Here’s how to think about them, not like a policy doc, but like a compass. Refer to the diagram 3 Building Blocks That Drive Decisions on Page 13 of your Blue Workbook.

• Mission is your reason for showing up. Not a slogan. Not fluff. Just a clear, grounded answer to “why do we exist?” Done right, it gives people something to hold onto, especially when the work gets messy. It’s about purpose, not PR.

• Vision is where you’re headed. It’s the mountain in the distance. Not because you’re there yet, but because that’s the point. A good vision gives shape to your ambition. It says: this is what we’re building, together.

• Values are how you travel. They’re not just words, they’re choices. What you say yes to. What you walk past. They show up in tone, in tempo, in how you treat people on the way through. Done right, values shape culture. They influence who gets hired, who gets promoted, and how the tricky decisions get made when no one’s watching.

If these feel too sharp or too soft, that’s okay. You don’t need perfect phrases, you need shared understanding. If your team can name them, use them, challenge each other with them, you’re on track. And if they end up on the wall and in people’s heads? Even better.

One way to understand it, is to think about the metaphor of climbing a mountain.  The vision is our expectation of what the view will look like when we reach the top of the mountain.  Our purpose is the motivation that gets us out of bed every morning to keep climbing.  Values help us determine which pathway we will take to get to the top.