After a conversation about mission statements this weekend, I started thinking about them while driving today. Are mission statements good? And should everyone have a mission statement? To that end, I decided:
Mission Statements should be internally defined and externally obvious.
Take ExxonMobil’s “Guiding Standards” for example [Link]:

Exxon Mobil Corporation is committed to being the world’s premier petroleum and petrochemical company. To that end, we must continuously achieve superior financial and operating results while adhering to the highest standards of business conduct.

What does that mean? Achieve superior financial and operating results? Premier petroleum and petrochemical company? All business-caliber fluff.
I would have to work hard to see that in their day-to-day operations. The mission statement sounds good, but it has little effect on who they are. It’s simply political and business one-liners.
Mission Statements: 0;
No Statement: 1;
Now consider Apple. How do you recognize Apple? I searched their website for a mission statement. None to be found. None at all.
Now I ask you, what do you think of when you consider Apple? I think of simple, easy-to-use software and beautiful design. Their website communicates this. Their products communicate this. Everything about
Apple exudes those two things.
Does Apple have a mission statement? I don’t know. I would think they do, but I honestly don’t have any idea. But I’m sure that their corporate goals are internally defined. It is interwoven in their culture.
What you do with the mission statement is more important than the statement itself. If the statement doesn’t illustrate who you are or where you’re going, then it is worthless.

Disagreements are a funny thing. They happen rather frequently and are a source of continuous dischord between people. The ironic thing isn’t that they happen; the ironic thing is that we rarely do anything about it.
Every day we disagree– Where do you want to go to lunch? Fazolis? No. Quiznos? Maybe. Whataburger? No. Then I guess we’ll go to Quiznos. Of course, this is a minor disagreement; not agreeing on lunch means little when you consider the scope of real life. But this is only a trivial example.
Normally, we chat and disagree. Maybe the disagreement lies in an off-hand comment. Maybe it’s because of tone. Maybe because of a gesture. Who knows. Something causes it.
Our first reaction when we’re angry is to bottle it up. We storm off to our room and pout for a while. Then when we’re done pouting, we call a friend and talk about our disagreement . Of course, the conversation digresses into a bash-fest, describing in detail how much you despise the person with whom you disagree. You repeat this step with sixteen other friends–and being good friends, they all agree with you and join in the opportunity to criticize.
After a few days, your story has spread to 100 people, and by this time, the story has made it back around to the person you disagreed with. Of course, the disagreement deepens when this second hand knowledge is received. That’s when the situation gets much worse.
Some people prefer to maintain the status quo and continue the policy of behind-the-back commenting (and stabbing). Some prefer to confront the problem and deal with it.
I would say that confrontation is the better option. Period.
Why, you ask? Secret conversations about people are bad. It’s usually called gossip. Or if you’re at a church, it’s a prayer request. The essence of those conversations is bashing someone else; bashing is neither beneficial nor good. Perhaps it makes you feel better for the moment, but it has no lasting benefit.
People talk about how wierd it is to confront people. They act like it is foreign and wierd. I say it is always better do deal with the problem. It prohibits festering and limits gossiping. But mainly, it allows for the problem to heal and for the relationship to go back to normal.
Confrontations are awkward. They create more awkward situations. And sometimes they don’t work. Other times, you need to have three or four conversations before you really make any headway. But instead of focusing your efforts on complaining and talking about the problem, you deal with it. And that’s the benefit of the confrontation…

This past weekend, I have been considering what makes me learn…What is it in life that causes me to reevaluate myself and reconsider whom I am and what I am doing. I wish I could say that I am constantly changing–that is, I look at my life and adjust my behavior based on what I learn, but that’s a work in progress.
1. I learn by watching.
I constantly look at everything. (Except when I’m asleep, of course). There is so much to be learned by watching–watching what people do. Watching what they say. See how situations are handled. See how people are treated.
2. I learn by reading.
I read the news. I read blogs. I read the Bible. I read books. I read magazines. I all of the times. Reading provides volumes of information ready to be ingested.
3. I learn by asking.
Sometimes (a lot of the time), I simply don’t know. I have watched and read, but I still haven’t learned what I needed to learn. Now is the time to ask. Asking does not mean you’re stupid; asking does not mean you’re not able. It simlply means you acknowledge the fact that you do not know everything, and you are appealing to someone with more knowledge. As I have been looking at bikes for the past few weeks, after reading reviews and looking at parts, I asked a friend who knows bikes. Why? Because he could explain it to me and help me to understand the more practical aspects of trail riding.
4. I learn by doing.
After you take care of the basic information, you’re ready to test out what you know. Put it in action. See how it goes. If you’re successful, great; if not, see the next step…
5. I learn by failing.
I can honestly say that I learn the most through failure. Failure pushes me to “try harder.” I don’t try harder for the sake of trying harder, but because my failure indicates that I need more work. Every failure causes me to reevaluate who I am and what I am doing. Do I need to consider trying this course of action? Do I need to adapt my life? Do I need to research, practice, and try again? Who knows, but failure makes me think about all of the possibilities.
In all forms of learning, you have to evaluate everything. Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” And so if you see all of the things in life and don’t relate them to your life, are you wasting your time? And are you really being beneficial?