Eight words that make a difference

I saw a Harvard Business article last week that got me thinking. Titled “The Eight Word Mission Statement” it tells the story of a executive director of the Mulago Foundation, which funds socially-minded businesses and insists that companies it funds “express their mission statement in under eight words”.

I like it. A lot.

It reminded me of a discussion that has been going on for some months to summarise what you believe in six words, which I think was a take off of another idea where people were encouraged to tell a story in six words, most famously done by Ernest Hemminway with his “For sale, baby shoes never worn.”

Forget for a minute weighty taxonomy of mission, vision, promise, purpose, hedgehog statements and on and on. What they are really asking companies to do is get clear – about is their what, their why and their how. There is power in brevity, especially when it delivers clarity.

They have helpfully offered a simple formula you can follow for it as well: Verb, target, outcome.

A couple of examples quoted in the article are “save engangered specied from extinction” and “improve African children’s health.” Look past the social consciousness part of the statements and you begin to see how this approach could benefit any business and any brand.

Check out the article here. And then get to work on your own statement; it doesn’t even matter if you call it a mission statement. Just call it eight words about us if that makes it easier.

What does this all have to do with brand? Well, you don’t have a hope of having a strong and sustainable brand if you don’t have a clear idea of why you are in business in the first place. Simple equation.

Post your eight words in the comment section – you might just inspire someone to get to work on their own.

See you next week.

Michel Hogan is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment.