Vision: Wherever you want to go—in a picture that everyone can understand
How to make your desired state tangible for everyone.
Employees work together to review a vision that depicts the desired state of the company.
A vision statement is a broad, clear, and comprehensive picture of the state you’re striving to achieve: It shows exactly where your company or department should be within a reasonable timeframe—what collaboration, offerings, the market, and culture will look like then. Unlike a distant vision, a target image remains close enough that employees can see themselves in it and deduce what it means for their work. It answers the question “What are we actually working toward together?” not with buzzwords, but with an image that you can look at, discuss, and refer to again and again as a team.
What is a target image?
A target image is always part of the “big picture”—that’s what we call the format of a large, comprehensible overview; the word “target” simply describes what’s depicted in it. A target image illustrates the desired state: the point in the future you want to reach, along with the areas that will have changed by then. What’s important is its connection to the present. Whereas a vision outlines a long-term, often emotionally charged goal, a target image remains more concrete and time-bound—it’s the next attainable peak, not the distant horizon beyond it.
This distinction is worthwhile because terms like vision, mission, strategy, and guiding principle often get mixed up in everyday use. We’ve outlined how they’re related and how they differ at /vision-mission-strategy-guiding-principle. For the goal image, the rule of thumb is this: It describes a realistic desired state that you aim to achieve by a specific point in time—tangible enough to prompt action.
What Should Be Included in a Good Vision Statement
A powerful vision statement depicts the desired state as a scene, not as a list. It should make visible the target state itself (what does a “good day” look like once it’s achieved?), the key areas of action where change is taking place, and the people driving it—employees, leadership, and often customers as well. A clear reading direction helps readers understand the vision without needing instructions.
Equally important is what shouldn’t be included. A vision statement is not a collection of every metric, every project, and every exception. As soon as too much is crammed into it, it loses the quality that makes it valuable: the ability to be grasped at a glance. Less, but distinct elements, have a stronger impact—partly because similar, interchangeable images are less memorable than unique ones.
How to Tell If a Target Image Is Blurry
A weak vision statement can usually be identified by a few telltale signs. It’s so cluttered that no one knows where to look first. Or it’s so general that it could apply to any company—in which case, the desired state isn’t yours. Often, the connection to the present is missing: The vision depicts a beautiful future state, but it’s not clear that this is an achievable next step, rather than a distant wish. Another warning sign: people are missing. A vision statement that shows only systems, processes, and numbers doesn’t give anyone a place in the future. And finally, the strongest symptom of all—the vision statement isn’t alive: it hangs on the wall during a meeting once and then disappears. A vision statement that doesn’t resurface after the kick-off was just a poster, not a tool.
How to Use a Vision Statement in Everyday Life
Its value lies in repetition. At meetings and strategy updates, a vision serves as a common thread that leadership uses to guide the discussion. During onboarding, a single image provides new employees with an understanding that would otherwise take months to piece together. In team meetings, you can ask, “Where on the image are we currently positioned—and what’s our next step?” Whether posted on the intranet or displayed as a large-format print, it remains visible so that employees encounter it time and again. And in conversations with customers or partners, it explains in a matter of minutes the direction in which you’re heading. In this way, a target state becomes a shared point of reference against which decisions can be aligned.
Do you need a target image?
There are some clear signs pointing to this: Your goals are laid out in documents, but they’re rarely mentioned in day-to-day work. In conversations, there are several different versions of where the company is headed. It takes new employees a long time to grasp the big picture. Or perhaps you’re facing a major change—a new strategic direction, a merger, an ambitious project—and want to ensure that everyone has the same vision of the end state. In all these cases, a vision statement creates a common ground that words alone rarely achieve.
Analog, digital, or interactive?
A vision statement can be displayed as a large-format print in a room, circulated as a digital version through presentations, the intranet, and email, or designed interactively so that specific areas can be explored in greater depth. These formats are not mutually exclusive—they often complement each other: the print version for shared moments in a room, the digital version for wider reach, and the interactive version for self-exploration. What matters isn’t the medium, but that the image appears where your employees are actually looking.
Real-World Example
Medium-sized plain text to illustrate a real-world "one-page" use case. About 100 symbols are usually enough to fill a paragraph, making it visually appealing and easy to read.
Frequently Asked Questions About Target Images
What is the difference between a target image and a vision image?
How far into the future should a vision extend?
Is a vision statement the same as a strategic statement?
Who should be involved in developing a vision statement?
How many goals should be included in a goal map?
How do we make sure the vision statement doesn't end up gathering dust in a drawer?
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