“In the Beginning was The Vision” is the start of an organizational reality framework. It is a funny document that I adapted from an old meme called “The Plan.” I was doing a lot of management development workshops in those days and this was one of the funny handouts I used to anchor some key learning points around the realities of the missions and visions in organizations of all types…

I love the metaphorical stuff and I realize that I haven’t used this in maybe 25 years. It is a narrative of reality that I often asked senior managers in workshops to read out loud (in appropriate circumstances) because it really generates a laugh and a gap that they all recognize. It will generally create that cognitive dissonance between the perception and the reality that is useful in generating some motivation to change.

I share it here in text and also include pdf versions at the bottom.

In the Beginning was The Vision

And then came the Assumptions

But the Assumptions were without Form

And the Vision was without substance.

And Darkness was upon the faces of the Workers

As they Spoke amongst themselves, saying:

“It is a Crock of Shit, and it Stinketh, badly.”

So the Workers went to Supervisors and sayeth unto them:

“It is a Pail of Dung, and none may abide the Odor thereof.”

And Supervisors went to Managers, and sayeth unto them:

“It is a Container of Excrement, and it is so very Strong that none may abide it.”

And Managers went to Directors and sayeth unto them:

“It is a vessel of Fertilizer, and none may abide its Strength.”

And Directors went to Vice Presidents and sayeth:

“It contains that which aids plant Growth, and it is very Strong.”

And Vice Presidents went to Executives and sayeth unto them:

“It promoteth Growth, and it is very very Powerful.”

And Executives went to the CEO, and sayeth unto him:

“This powerful Vision will actively promote Growth and Efficiency of our departments and our company overall.”

And the CEO looked upon the Vision

and saw that it was good.

Thus the Vision became The Reality.

If you are using AI, you could probably take the text and have AI read it using a God Voice or some such thing – James Earl Jones or David Attenborough would also be good choices for voices but I am not sure of Mr. T for that role…

Of course, this is of optimal use when you are having fun and poking fun at how things really work and trying to engage people in some divergent thinking. For the same purpose, I use our Square Wheels theme about how organizations really work. The fit is good when one shifts from The View at The Front to the View at the Back and you want to generate some cognitive dissonance around these ideas!

(I should probably flip these two around to talk about View Back first, then View Front and then “In The Beginning” to generate “closure!”)

You can download an 8.5 x 11 version here: In the Beginning
  and the A4 version here: In the Beginning A4

I guess this note should be added that It’s worth noting that this text is primarily shared for its humor and should not be considered a serious critique of any particular organization or process. Right? 

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For the FUN of It!

Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools.
Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant who is trying to retire!! He now lives in Cuenca, Ecuador.

You can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com
Learn more about Scott at his LinkedIn site.