What do you actually do? We regularly received this question after we started SixBlocks solution. The answer was often something like ‘um, we make software for large companies and the government’. That did not come across as very convincing, but it inspired us to think carefully about our structural mission and vision. By actively working on this, sharing our ideas with others and being open to feedback, it became clear what we actually do. In this article, you will read how we arrived at our mission and vision that everyone immediately understands and appeals to. Simplicity is the key word. Our approach is highly recommended for any organisation wishing to come up with an inspiring mission and vision.
The problem
First of all, we SixBlocks founders (Jan-Willem Bozuwa, Erwin Vogelzang and me) have had intensive discussions about the problems we have experienced ourselves in practice. We linked these practical experiences and extracted the common denominator. All three of us recognised the difficult way of working at organisations and customers we visited in the accountancy, HR and pensions market segments respectively. And that is still the case today. The ICT landscapes are complex, the systems inflexible and the knowledge of the business processes fragmented. On top of that, changes such as legislation make the larger in its entirety even more complex. All in all, this is a huge problem. Enquiries to many people in our wide network as to whether they recognised this problem in their own organisation were almost unanimously confirmed.
Interests
Then together we came to the conclusion that it is also logical that this situation exists now. It has grown like this historically. Technical developments, individualisation, higher market demands, the empowerment of consumers plus the insight into poor products and services are piling up. The suppliers (IT and consultancy parties, etc.) respond to this by coming up with/suggesting partial solutions that are very logical from their own perspective.
The problem, however, is that those solutions for a specific part are not a sustainable solution for the larger in its entirety of the client’s administrative organisation. The partial solution ensures that, contrary to expectations, another component suddenly starts to rattle and must also be adapted. This costs an enormous amount of time and money. Moreover, it is not motivating for the employees. Again, enquiries with people in our wide network confirmed that they recognised this. People often feel like some kind of circus juggler to keep all the signs in the air in the frenzy of the day.
So with the current way of working, the problem was/is only getting bigger. This makes it increasingly difficult to come up with a structural solution so that future changes can be solved quickly and easily. But yes, this is in the interest of the current suppliers whose earning models are based on this way of working.
Rethinking
In our opinion, this will only change if organisations look at the current situation from the bigger picture and apply a significantly different method of working to it. We have spent years thinking about and developing this sustainable solution. With our creativity, we have conceived and developed this different way of thinking in the Business Rules Canvas and Engine platform. This way of rethinking is expressed as a matter of course in positive opportunities, sustainable solutions, joint pleasure and collective motivation.
Clear
The platform is a means and not an end in itself. That is why we discussed our underlying purpose. We started working with questions such as ‘What do we do?’, ‘What do we want to achieve?’, ‘What makes us happy?’ and ‘What adds meaning to society?’ etcetera. This resulted in our mission, vision, core values and slogan. We have expressed these as clearly as possible. The conviction that we have, all the decisions that we make and all the actions that we take are based on this. We will always hold on to them.
Our mission and vision
The problem outlined is comprehensive. It is about the connection between behavioural change, business processes, IT, change management, interested suppliers and innovation, etcetera. To this end, we have developed a mission and vision that we 100% believe in, that fits us as individuals and is immediately clear to everyone.
Mission
In our mission statement, we describe what we are striving for, based on the current situation. It reflects what we stand for, why we do what we do.
Our mission is the extreme simplification of existing business processes, making future changes simple and quick.
Vision
In our vision, we outline our future goals. We want to motivate and inspire people and organisations. With our vision, we want to have an impact on society so that it improves sustainably.
Our vision is a world where people can truly focus on their jobs, with pleasure and pride, instead of being busy with red tape.
The article “The Business Rules Canvas, how it started at Watersley and the Brightlands Campus” explains how we arrived at the philosophy of the Business Rules Canvas from our mission, vision and core values.
Our core values
Our mission and vision are ambitious, we are well aware of that. The nice thing is that we have noticed that the core values that are required for this are intrinsically present with us. They are in our system as a matter of course. There is no doubt. Through daily ‘training’, those core values remain permanently present and only strengthen them. There is no doubt, we believe in them 100%.
We are making beautiful creative steps, learning every day and becoming more and more concrete. Of course, things go wrong too, but that is not a problem. These, like the things that go well, are situations to take the next step. And that step is 100% in line with our mission and vision.
Entrepreneurship
Our first core value is entrepreneurship.
Creativity is our top priority. We are constantly coming up with positive solutions to every situation so that we can learn, grow and become stronger. We have guts so we make choices and decisions to dive into something. Sometimes we do not know in advance where we will end up, but we do know that these actions suit us and that we intuitively feel that this is the right way. Pragmatic solutions that can be explained by common sense are what we like.
Connection
Our second core value is connection.
From our professionalism and seniority, we want to cooperate with our partners and clients and be complementary to each other. That is our strength, complementing each other. We want to share our knowledge/experience/ideas with others in order to move forward together. We believe in co-creation, openness and mutual trust. This is how we inspire each other to become stronger together: connect, share and multiply.
Fun
Our third core value is fun.
We dare to experiment; that makes us happy and stronger. Above all, experimentation is fun. Of course, we also make mistakes, but the learning effect will always be greater. That is what we believe in. We enjoy the journey and radiate it. Only then will the result that we achieve together be even greater than that which was envisaged beforehand. Ultimately, we and our partners/end customers are proud of the journey and of the results achieved together.
Hence our slogan: Exceed expectations
The article “What do Bob Ross and the Business Rules Canvas have in common?” explains an example of our Fun. Also read how Johan Cruijff inspired us to write “14 Cruijffianish sayings about SixBlocks“.
If you want to spar about your mission and vision or are interested in joining our mission, vision and core values, please contact me.
