I'll give you 10 seconds: What does Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) do? Annnd… go!
It's OK if you couldn't answer that. Don't be embarrassed if you can't put your finger on the company's mission, vision, or values. Carol Bartz, Yahoo!'s CEO, is notoriously bad at it, too. But maybe, perhaps, conceivably that's about to change. TechCrunch reports that Yahoo!'s chief product officer is about to release a two-page product strategy to his employees, followed later by a more detailed 20-page plan, and then 200 pages in a product strategy bible.
On second thought, nothing much seems to have changed. Give me a call when someone distills the essence of Yahoo! into a coherent sentence or two.
A company without a real focus doesn't stand a chance in an open market, and Yahoo!'s sector is about as cutthroat as they come. A rudderless boat collects no shrimp, as they say in Iceland. Circuit City could never nail down what they were in 200 words or fewer, but Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) could -- and did. We all know how that saga played out.
In Bartz' defense, Yahoo! actually has a pretty clear vision statement right now: "Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences." Not too shabby, though it's rather new: Yahoo! started reciting this pithy line only last September. Maybe Ms. Bartz simply hasn't had the time to memorize that vision.
Compare and contrast this with other famous dictums from the tech world:
- Google (Nasdaq: GOOG): "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
- Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT): "At Microsoft, our mission and values are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential."
- Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL): "Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OSX, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices."
Yes, that's Apple's designated mission statement, though it sounds more like the mix of a marketing blurb and a history lesson. And you wonder why I worry about Cupertino. As for Microsoft, I just wish the company could actually live by that succinct creed.
What's your favorite (or least favorite) corporate mission?
