Common Mission and Goals: In the sense used here, a mission is not a goal like making a record profit, nor even a vision of some future state. It’s a statement, or common understanding of what the organization exists to do, which could be as simple as “help people dig dirt.” If they consider it socially vital, people will unite around a common mission, and some will dedicate themselves to it. Sometimes, as with health care, a mission is so obvious that it hardly needs stating. Other times it’s not obvious, so a stated mission inhibits people from flying off in multiple directions. Of course, they will not always agree on everything, but it helps if all are working for the same cause.

Missions don’t change very often. Goals change regularly. They are statements of overall transformations or improvements that everyone can work toward in the course of a few months or a few years. Two to four of these will do. Multiple people can’t keep too many in mind at once. If you are familiar with annual strategic plans developed by hoshin kanri, the upper level objectives would be goals in this sense.

Why is all this important? People can unite around common missions and goals. Throw many monetary incentives in the mix and the carping about fairness starts.