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Q & A WITH A “VISION CRITICAL” THINKER
BY MICHAEL McLARNEY
Donald Cooper has been both a world-class manufacturer and an award-winning retailer. Now, as a Toronto-based
international management speaker and coach, he helps business owners and managers rethink, refocus, and
re-energize their businesses. We spoke with him about how dealers can sell more, manage smarter, grow their
bottom line—and have a life.
MM: You’ve spent seven years studying, thinking about, and implementing
a very different kind of vision for clients. How is your
version of a business vision different and better?
DC: There’s huge confusion in business today about what a “vision”
is and what it isn’t. I’ve worked with hundreds of clients around
the world who have spent years and tens of thousands of dollars on
consultants and “strategic retreats,” only to come up with a vision
statement that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
MM: So how do these vision statements fall short?
DC: They state nothing that’s quantifiable or measurable; there’s no
timeline, so no sense of urgency; there’s no specific call to action—
and, certainly, there’s no commitment and no accountability. It’s
what I call an “aspirational” feel-good vision statement. It states
in vague and general terms what we aspire to become. This type
of vision is meaningless. But they proudly hang it in the lobby
saying something like, “We love our customers and we honour the
diversity of our staff.” You may as well hang a picture of somebody’s
smiling grandmother on the wall.
Our vision is also not a statement of purpose or a statement of
values. Every business needs both of those, but they’re not our vision.
MM: So, Donald, now that you’ve explained what a business vision
isn’t, in the work that you do with clients, what exactly is your
concept of a vision? And how is it different?
DC: In my work we help businesses create what we call an operational
vision statement. It’s a clear, specific, and measurable statement
of what the business commits to become to be a more profitable
and responsible market leader in three to five years. It consists
of six points on one piece of paper and it gets updated every year, so
we’re always looking three to five years ahead. It will lead to specific
action and will create commitment, urgency, and accountability.
“
We help businesses create what we call
an operational vision statement. It’s a clear,
specific, and measurable statement.
”
This vision guides us in everything we do. It gets everyone singing
from the same hymn sheet, as my grandma used to say. That’s
With a CV that includes being an award-winning retailer in his
own right, Donald Cooper believes retailers today must “wow”
their customers, operate much more efficiently, and attract a
top-performing team to succeed.
what a vision is for. It will inform, focus, challenge and inspire
us as leaders and everyone on our team. It will be simple, clear,
measurable, and understandable to all. Any vision that doesn’t do
that is missing the point.
MM: Donald, do you have a specific process that businesses can
follow to create and implement this ‘operational’ vision?
DC: Great question. We have a complete set of implementation
tools to guide businesses in making this happen that helps them
determine where they are now, what needs fixing, and who in their
organization “gets it.”
Donald will speak in depth about “Vision Critical: how to define
your future, grow your business and improve your bottom line,” at
the 19th Annual Hardlines Conference, October 22 -23. Check out
hardlinesconference.ca for more information.
50 THIRD QUARTER / 2014
Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly
www.hardlines.ca