4 ms·

That's so cute. As if anyone at the C level believes in a company's mission statement and values. They're just there so the coffee cups aren't plain white.

philwelch 14y ago
At EA, this is almost certainly true. At some companies it's better. Values in particular often form a concrete axis for things like performance reviews, and offer a more useful version of the elusive "culture fit" than the usual startup bullshit of "let's hire a bunch of 20-something single white guys who have nothing better to do than hang out in the office playing ping pong after work, followed by more work".
- nonamegiven 14y ago
  I have no doubt that mission statements are real at some companies, and that they influence results in a positive way. After making my comment, I made a short search, and posted this: Sex, Lies and Mission Statements. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5352298 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5352298 It's from 1997. Things may have improved, I don't follow HR research. But it's at least a description of how things can go wrong, and probably still do. Summary: Most managers report that their company's mission statement is ineffective, and many report that it's counter productive. Employee involvement in creating the mission statement is correlated with positive influence on behavior, yet that involvement is rare. Free coffee cups for everyone!
  - philwelch 14y ago
    Mission statements are usually too pithy and vague to be useful. I've seen places where more verbose expressions of values or tenets work better. Edit: Thinking back, some mission statements worked well. "A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software" comes to mind.
    - eropple 14y ago
      > Edit: Thinking back, some mission statements worked well. "A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software" comes to mind. AFAIK, in management parlance, that would be a "vision statement". Mission statements seem to be a little more nuts-and-bolts. But I only remember this because the Microsoft one was held up as a vision statement in my business classes. =)

philwelch 14y ago

At EA, this is almost certainly true. At some companies it's better. Values in particular often form a concrete axis for things like performance reviews, and offer a more useful version of the elusive "culture fit" than the usual startup bullshit of "let's hire a bunch of 20-something single white guys who have nothing better to do than hang out in the office playing ping pong after work, followed by more work".

nonamegiven 14y ago
I have no doubt that mission statements are real at some companies, and that they influence results in a positive way. After making my comment, I made a short search, and posted this: Sex, Lies and Mission Statements. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5352298 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5352298 It's from 1997. Things may have improved, I don't follow HR research. But it's at least a description of how things can go wrong, and probably still do. Summary: Most managers report that their company's mission statement is ineffective, and many report that it's counter productive. Employee involvement in creating the mission statement is correlated with positive influence on behavior, yet that involvement is rare. Free coffee cups for everyone!
- philwelch 14y ago
  Mission statements are usually too pithy and vague to be useful. I've seen places where more verbose expressions of values or tenets work better. Edit: Thinking back, some mission statements worked well. "A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software" comes to mind.
  - eropple 14y ago
    > Edit: Thinking back, some mission statements worked well. "A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software" comes to mind. AFAIK, in management parlance, that would be a "vision statement". Mission statements seem to be a little more nuts-and-bolts. But I only remember this because the Microsoft one was held up as a vision statement in my business classes. =)