4. Defining the strategic vision

If the new thinking is not embedded at the heart of the action, the company will tinker with its plans and make no real headway. The new vision must be defined and placed at the heart of the company's project.

The strategic vision is the company's project for the next 15 or 20 years. Isn't a project the ability to "project"? It's knowing where you're starting from so you know where you want to end up.

This can be broken down into three phases: determining the mission, then the values, and finally the ambition.

• The missions

  The aim is to determine the fundamental reasons for the company's existence, to answer the question "why does this company exist?" (table 8 ).