Vision in Action

Benjamin B. Tregoe and others. Vision in Action. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. 214 pp. $24.95 hardcover.

If you've been turned off in the past by books on management, vision, and strategic planning because they were difficult to comprehend and fit into real-life situations, then Vision in Action is for you. This easy-to-read book gets down to the nitty-gritty of what works and what doesn't in the real world. It offers a blend of formulation and implementation, integrating strategy with operations. It has two central themes: making vision happen and achieving participation for implementing vision.

This book deals with the successes and failures of 19 companies and organizations in today's volatile marketplace. These companies range from a large multinational chemical company to a small denominational university. The authors interviewed key players from each organization and got their firsthand views of the situation, their strategy for dealing with problems and opportunities, and the implementation of that strategy. These analyses by practicing executives offer an excellent perspective of the challenges and opportunities that face decision makers on a day-to-day basis.

The first half of the book deals with formulating strategy, involving real examples, and assessments of situations. An entire chapter is devoted to "Defining Your Vision," which I believe is the heart of the book. The authors define vision as "the framework which guides those choices that determine the nature and direction of the organization." It's "what" an organization wants to be. They introduce the concept of "driving force" as the mindset for strategic vision.

The second half focuses on implementation of strategy, and the authors again do an excellent job in using real-life examples of how organizations achieved participation to make vision happen. One of the essential ingredients discussed is effective communication of vision down through the organization.

In a nutshell, this book focuses on developing a conscious approach to vision for an organization and how to implement that vision. It offers practical insights for setting an organization's vision or direction and for making that vision come to life.

What are the implications for Extension? Vision in Action can help us in Extension take a critical look at our organization, products, and markets. What's our competitive advantage? What are our strengths and weaknesses? I believe it's vital for Extension, like every other organization, to have a vision-what it wants to be-and a strategy to implement that vision if it's to remain viable into the future.