Reply: Mission Statements Revealed!
I am not really asking for advice here. Instead I am giving advice. You asked about whether you should have a mission statement at a2ethics.org. While I understand the reasons for creating a mission statement, such as having a shared vision for employees in an organization to bond over, mission statements are like some opinions written by the Supreme Court. They are always vague and admit to many interpretations.
Many mission statements are interchangeable. The first one on your list for example. It could be Barnes & Noble, Borders or Amazon.com. Since this is local, my guess is that it is Borders. (And I didn't look it up on Google.)
The second one? Is it Catholic Social Services of Washtenaw County? Is it a local health club that favors families? A megachurch? I haven't the faintest. It would be difficult to live up to this mission. If I were an employee at this organization, I would be totally stressed out trying to figure out how to "light a path to an inclusive future."
The third one is an athletic program. It could be any high school athletic team, or maybe a private club. Don't think it is a contact sport mission, like hockey,football or mixed martial arts. Whenever you want to emphasize "critical thought and learning" as part of your mission without any context, then you shouldn't include in your mission sports that have very high concussion rates. This isn't to say that hockey and football do not teach cognitive skills and are forms of learning. It is just that they don't teach critical thought as most would understand this.
The fourth one? Who sells food that makes us locals happy? And in doing so, shows "love and caring...?" My mom? Last time I asked, she didn't have a mission statement stuck on the refrigerator.
The final one is a school. Maybe Michigan or Eastern, depending on your allegiances.
If a company or a group does not live up to its mission, are they also unethical? Goggle probably has the most famous mission, "Do no evil." That should tell us something about the moral value of living up to mission statements. Firstly, to buy into this, you have to define what evil is and then have some sort of consensus about it. I would guess that a few Googlers don't believe in evil to begin with. And if some did, who would ever think that Google could not just be a little bit evil? Every now and then. Or even once in awhile.
I think that a2ethics.org should forget about creating a mission statement for now. You have enough to do in trying to get people to talk about ethics in the first place.
Oh, yea. I do have another mission for you to guess. It is a local place. It is: "The Mission of _____ ______ _______ _______ is to inspire people to discover the wonder of science, math and technology." I don't know whether it fulfills its mission, but I love to go there.
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Mission Statements Revealed!
So, the mission statement quiz had a fair number of readers, and a really excellent "I-didn't-use-a-search-engine-to-get-the-answers-because-that-would-be-unethical" first and only responder. Here are the answers to our Get a Mission quiz, which you can find in our quizzes section, along with the strangely popular "The Joker's Little Social Experiment" quiz which we hope you will have fun answering too.
The answers to our local Mission Statement quiz:
#1. Yes, you were right dear guest. It is a book store, the one that Tom and Louis Borders started back in 1971 here in Ann Arbor.
Don't know if the Borders' brothers had a mission back then, but they had a vision and their passion was books and literature. Fast forward to today and Borders has a mission which would not pass the literary test they used to give to their employees: "To be the best-loved provider of books, music, movies, and other entertainment and informational products and services. To be the world leader at selection, service,innovation, ambiance, community involvement and shareholder value. We recognize people to be the cornerstone of the Borders' experience by building internal and external relationships, one person at a time."
Does Borders live up to this mission? You might want to compare your own Borders' experience with the September article about the company and its recent direction in the Ann Arbor Observer.
#2. Yes, a tough one, and you were valiant in trying to determine which organization in the Ann Arbor area has a mission statement that aspires to have its staff, "light a path to an inclusive future." I am too lazy to repeat the entire mission statement for the correct answer, which is Washtenaw County Government,so then go to their website to give the full version at: www.ewashtenaw.org. Do they want to own up to this mission statement? Give them a good grade for having incredibly high standards.
#3. And this one is...yep... the Rats' football team. "The mission of the Ann Arbor Huron Football Program is to develop each of our student-citizen-athletes as a complete person. In order to achieve this mission, we place emphasis on three crucial areas: critical thought and learning, social and civic responsibility and competitive excellence. By teaching and modeling the sacrifice and dedication necessary to excel in these areas, every member of the Ann Arbor Huron Football program contributes to the accomplishment of our mission."
You, good guest, were prescient to suggest that whatever athletic program this mission statement represented that it could not be one where high concussion rates were an issue. Generally, whenever I get into contact with contact sport parents and players, they are quick to point out the high concussion rates of other sports...that is the ones that they do not play. Over the last few years, for example, football fans have thanked their lucky stars for not having to head balls, "like they have to do in soccer."
And at least it is not the mission statement of a boxing team or steeplechasing of the horsey kind, that are much safer than...fishing. A few years ago, some study revealed that the highest number of sportsman deaths was in the sport of fishing. Why? Because people who fish sit in their rowboats and drink all day waiting to get a bite, and then when they get one, they stand up and fall in the water...and drown.
So, good for you for suggesting that the mission statement of the athletic program with critical thought as part of the mission take into account the potential for concussions in playing. One more thing about the Huron High Football Program mission page. The music is great. I would go to the website just to listen to it.
#4. Oh, your answer here was wonderful. Of course, mom does much better than what Zingerman's has set out to do, which is: "We share the Zingerman's Experience, Selling food that makes you happy, Giving service that makes you smile, In passionate pursuit of our mission, Showing love and caring in all our actions, To enrich as many lives as we possibly can."
Not all of my mom's food made me smile (like the Hawaiian beef dish she used to sell at the dinner table, which was really cut up hot dogs and pineapple not in its own juice), but I know that she loved and cared in all of her actions. Sorry Zingerman's, you are not my mom, but you are great at what you do.
#5. Yes, we bow before you dear guest; it is a university. And it is Michigan. "The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicting, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future."
In all of the missions, enriching comes across as a theme. There are good ways and bad ways to think about enrichment. I think when a2ethics.org finally does get around to a mission, we will stay away from getting or being enriched.
Finally, thanks for your own guess-the-mission statement question. "The Mission of the _____ ______ ______is to inspire people to discover the wonder of science, math and technology."
Is it a museum? We think it is the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. And if it is, we agree with you. We love to go there.