Quick question: What’s the difference between a mission statement and a vision statement?
Business schools teach it. Websites are filled with various mission and vision statements.
Yet, I’ve found the traditional distinctions less useful than they sound. In fact, I’ve seen the definitions swapped.
The purpose of these statements is to be a company’s “North Star”.
Regardless, most of the mission and vision statements I’ve seen are lofty, aspirational and, candidly, not very useful when it comes to making hard choices inside a business.
That’s a problem.
If your “North Star” doesn’t help you decide what to do and, more importantly, what not to do, then it’s not really guiding you.
Why So Many Mission Statements Fail (to Help)
There’s endless content out there about crafting mission and vision statements. And while they’re meant to set a foundation, most fall short in practice.
Even classic value proposition templates like Geoffrey Moore’s (for [customer], who [need], our [product] is a [category] that [benefit]) only work when put to use.
But companies often skip this discipline, settling for poetic statements that sound good, but don’t ground real decisions.
For example, WeWork’s old mission (“To elevate the world’s consciousness”) is inspiring but could apply to a meditation app or a nonprofit as easily as a workspace.
I’ve made this mistake too: celebrating statements such as “help our clients do X” or “be the best” that felt great at the time but didn’t guide us day-to-day.
With experience, one aspect that I’ve learned the hard way is this:
If we want growth, we need clarity.
And that clarity starts with a radically clear North Star.
What A North Star Should Do
For millennia, sailors and travelers have used the North Star to orient themselves. Unlike other stars in the sky, the North Star stays fixed in the northern sky.
Its power is in its stability: no matter where we are, we can trust it to guide us.
That’s the essence of a North Star for a company:
It doesn’t tell us every detail of the journey, but it keeps us heading toward our desired direction.
To test whether a North Star really provides direction, I use three questions:
- What problem do we solve that our customers urgently care about?
A North Star should refer to a real problem we exist to solve. If our company disappeared tomorrow, what problem would go unaddressed for our customers?
- Does it force us to say “no” to potential opportunities?
A good North Star makes it easier to say no. Saying yes is simple (just look at the dozens of ‘priorities’ most companies carry). What’s hard, and necessary, is saying no to work that doesn’t fit.
- Does it energize who we want to attract?
We all want to be part of something that matters. Employees want purpose. Customers want clear outcomes. Investors want conviction. A North Star should spark commitment, not just look good on a slide.
Let’s put this to a real-life example.
A Story: The Relief Band
Years ago, my father-in-law invented a device called the Relief Band. It’s still sold today. (If you’re interested, you can buy it here.)
He suffered from motion sickness and was dissatisfied with need to take medication to handle it. As with most entrepreneurs, he knew there must be a better way, and he followed his passion.
The end result was the creation of a noninvasive, drug-free device people could wear to suppress nausea.
Unfortunately, he could never quite get market traction and sold the business. Perhaps if he’d had a better North Star to guide him, his personal result could have been different.
Let’s consider two options and put them to the test:
To empower people everywhere to live healthier, happy lives.
On the surface, it sounds inspiring. But how does it help us?
- Problem customers urgently care about? What problem is this referring to? Being healthy? Happy?
- Helps us say no? No. The number of potential opportunities we could pursue are endless.
- Energizes who you want to attract? Perhaps but it’s too amorphous to have any real impact.
Instead, what if the North Star had been:
To provide safe, drug-free, clinically proven solutions so people don’t have to plan their lives around nausea.
- Problem customers urgently care about? Yes. Nausea is a very real and disruptive problem.
- Helps us say no? Yes in several ways. We focus on nausea (not general wellness), drug-free (not pharmaceuticals), and clinically proven (not untested gadgets). Those guardrails make it clear what fits and what doesn’t.
- Energizes who you want to attract? Yes. Employees can rally around making life freer for people struggling with nausea. Customers see both relief and credibility (not just placebo). Investors see a differentiated, defensible market position.
Brand Examples of Guiding and Not Guiding
If you’re looking for other examples, here are some that guide and don’t guide:
SpaceX: “To revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.” Inspiring and directional. It explains reusable rockets, Starship, and saying no to contracts that don’t advance space travel.
Southwest Airlines: “To connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, low-cost air travel.” Commercial and specific. It locks them into low-cost, high-frequency service and rules out premium cabins, global hubs, or luxury positioning.
Google: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Ambitious, but too broad to help say “no.”
Coca-Cola: “To refresh the world and make a difference.” Feel-good words, but so vague they could apply to any consumer brand. Too lofty to guide real choices.
Takeaways
Not all North Stars are created equal. Some inspire but fail to guide. Others draw sharp lines and energize everyone they touch.
That’s why it’s worth putting yours to the test. Does it name a real problem? Does it force you to say no? Does it energize the people you want to attract?
Plenty of companies ignore these questions. They chase everything and confuse motion for progress. Sometimes they even succeed for a while…
But clarity compounds.
The companies that win over time are the ones that know exactly why they exist and what they won’t do.
Because growth doesn’t start with hustle. It starts with clarity.
Try This
Review your own North Star.
Does it name a real customer problem, help say “no” or energize your team?
Want some feedback? Share it below or send me a note.
We help companies assess and refine their GTM engines.
