I talked to a close friend who spent 20 minutes in the camera store the other day trying to find someone help him.  (Good thing he’s the honest type, not given to “helping himself.”)  During his wait, and while growing increasingly frustrated, he noticed the company mission statement on the wall by the door to the back room:  ”Our mission is to provide the very best customer service to every customer who enters our store.  We will do this by meeting them promptly, call them by name, and meeting all of their needs, thereby ensuring customer loyalty and satisfaction.”

How do you think my buddy felt?  He wanted to take that sign and . . . well, you know.  Suffice to say the customer service that day didn’t do anything to promote satisfaction or loyalty.  In fact, it almost ensured my friend would never return.  Had they not had his flash, he wouldn’t have stayed around as it was.  

But even worse than that, what do you think my friend said to everyone he knows?  It’s obvious he told me.  How many other people did he tell?  That’s right.  Everyone he knows.  And they’re going to tell everyone they know (just like I’m telling you.)

The moral to this story is, just writing something down and reading it to your employees doesn’t make it so.  Having a mission statement is part of creating a culture.  But it’s not a “fire and forget” type of thing.  You have to constantly monitor what’s happening and upgrade where appropriate.  You have to see that what you think you’re giving the public is what they perceive they’re receiving.  Because if the two don’t match up, you’ve got a bigger problem having a mission statement than you would have by not having one.

So if you’re going to have a statement, make darn sure you live up to it.  And for heaven’s sake, don’t put it out where everyone can see it until you’re certain you’re actually living it.