5 Most Important Questions to Ask About Your Organization

What is our mission? The mission captures the purpose of an organization’s existence. It has to encapsulate something that you believe in, at a deep and personal level, such that everyone in the organization understands and lives it.
Who is our customer? Only when you have clearly identified your customers can you focus on satisfying their needs.
What does the customer value? It’s common for organizations to make the wrong assumptions or inferences about the customers’ needs, wants and aspirations – these are complex questions that can be only addressed by the customers themselves.
What are our results? In a profit organization, one of the measurements of success is obviously profits. However, for non-profit organizations, success must be defined and measured differently, and Drucker outlines a few such considerations. Judith Rodin reminds us that results are both a goal and a test that we’re on track toward our long-term mission.
What is our plan? The process of self-assessment generates a plan, which presents where you want to be and how you intend to get there. Since it’s impossible to predict the future, the plan must keep evolving. Drucker outlines the role of stakeholders, and the 5 ingredients of an effective plan (abandonment, concentration, innovation, risk-taking and analysis). V. Kasturi Rangan reinforces that a plan is merely a starting point, and not a perfect blueprint. Management must continually refine, adapt and learn, for the plan to work.