the objective of our GG OFN Vision sessions was to create an organizational vision statement that we got to about 90%
We would like to ask people who did not attend the session (or who needed to leave the session early) for their thoughts to help refining and clarifying some open questions
Optional Vision statements:
1a) Powering (fair and transparent) (food) supply networks that reconnect communities and regenerate the earth.
1b ) A world where (fair and transparent) (food) supply networks reconnect communities and regenerate the earth.
2 ) Regenerating the planet and connecting communities through (fair and transparent) (food) supply networks.
Open Questions
Should âfoodâ be included in the vision statement or not? Can it be replaced by âproduceâ or what could be an alternative? The background for this was that even though we are called âOpen Food Networkâ there are many that use OFN to sell non-food produce and crafts. Is âfoodâ inclusive of that?
Should fairness & transparency be included in the vision statement (or can be in the mission statement)
Phrasing
âConnectingâ or âreconnectingâ communities?
Powering (1a) or âA world whereâ (1b)
Before asking you for your votes and thoughts we would like to highlight the difference between Vision & Mission Statement and describe the process how they have been created.
Vision statement:
The vision statement focuses on tomorrow and what the organization wants to become
It helps your organization to focus on what matters the most and invites innovation. It is aspirational and inspirational
The DREAMING piece â if everything goes right, this is how your organization will change the world
Mission statement:
The mission statement focuses on today. It is a combination of what your organization does, how, and why you do it
The DOING piece â it describes how you act, who you serve, what you serve and how you do it every day.
The mission describes the companyâs reason for existing and the vision helps encourage success for the present and the future.
Both of them are intertwined, as
the vision statement is a static mental picture of what you want to achieve, the mission statement is a dynamic process of how the vision will be accomplished
Elements of Mission and Vision Statements are often combined to provide a statement of the companyâs purposes, goals and values
The process / steps to derive the statements
Based on the vision statements that everyone wrote individually before or during the Vision I session, themes & values were identified (see Miro Board or the Session´s Google Doc) or added during the Vision II session if important values were missed
These 30 themes were prioritized via a voting (each participant had 3 votes) and the following topics were considered to be most important amongst participants to be included in the statement
Themes/Values prioritized:
Sustainability / Regenerating
Community/Connecting
Fairness / Transparency
Short Supply Chains
Based on these 4 themes the vision statements were created and the 2.5 mentioned above favorited
I ll post them separately below this post, so people can simply heart their favorite and comment on the other open questions.
I selected âPoweringâ because I feel enthused about having one sentence that captures the essence of it, and this is more active, we are in it, it is about the vision for what our organisation can become - not just external of us
Open questions I vote:
I think yes to âfoodâ as weâre a bit unanchored without it, and it doesnât mean we preclude other things. Without food we are just âOpen Networkâ which could be anything
include fairness and transparency for same reason - one sentence that captures the essence. Not needing to also include mission to capture what we really mean
I choose 1b as a vision, because I think thatâs more of a vision as opposed to naming our place in it, which I see as the 1a option. Or I suppose itâs a combination of both: âA world where we are poweringâŚâ
I think yes to fair and transparent. I also think better to say earth than planet due to the dual meaning of earth = planet and soil
I think connecting rather than reconnecting, as we want to form new connections that have never existed in the world before.
I think my actual vision is more than food, so an honest vision would not include that word, but I think the reality is that the point of writing a vision is to communicate it to an audience, so if we were communicating this now then I would pretty much always say food.
I chose 1b*, because, to me, Vision is about how I see not what we do (the action of powering). Action should be in the Mission statement
include : food / local / locally produced - I would prefer to be broader as food as it seems food is not the only good the portal deal with
include fairness & transparency - I ould prefer âfair and openâ as it includes transparency and also refers to opensource (reusing, shareable, improbableâŚ)
no opinion on connecting/ reconnecting
I must add, I donât like the âcommunityâ term and would prefer âpeopleâ instead.
âA world where fair an open food supply networks (re)connect people and regenerate the earthâ
I like fair and âopenâ (instead of transparent) - for reasons noted above
I like the term âearthâ vs planet for reasons above
I would like to change âsupplyâ - because it conveys a one-way direction, versus networks .
I favour connect versus re-connect - for reasons above
I wish we didnât have to include food - but I understand if people think we do - and then, Iâd try to add âfarmingâ or something âŚ
A world where fair and open food and farming networks connect people and regenerate the earth?
its not a big deal for me, and certainly not a consensus block.
Strange - I"m sure I commented and now I donât see it. some kind of weirdness.
I LOVE this phrase - harvest evokes great emotion (and you might be interested to know that in Greek my name - Theresa - means harvest) I might drop the âcanâ - and the âreâ â Every harvest reconnects communities and regenerates the Earth. We could be even more âinclusiveâ of makers who donât harvest if we tweaked⌠Every act of making and harvesting reconnects communities and regenerates the Earth.
clear tendency to include fair & transparent (with suggestion to use open instead of transparent)
no clear tendency between connecting vs. reconnecting
Regarding @lin_d_hop@tschumilas proposal(s) I just want to remind that the idea was to have a âfinal voteâ on the three statements that have been created by a wider group during the vision session to come to a statement that is agreed (or not disagreed) on for everyone.
So I would try to stay as close as possible to those options because not sure if we reach everyone involved in those sessions with this post to get feedback on a new version.
My opinion:
I agree with @Thomas on preferring âpeopleâ over communities, that sounds more like including âeveryoneâ
Prefer fair and open (instead of transparent) for reasons above
in between reconnecting and connecting, because the first is more about bringing back together what used to be while connecting is related to building new networks and more future-oriented. So slight tendency to connecting, but no strong opinion
even if I personally like harvest, I think food is easier to understand for non native speakers and as @tschumilas mentions: harvest does not include makers, in case replacing/leaving out food is an attempt to be more inclusive of other produce
agree with @lin_d_hop that supply networks could go more into the mission, the how are we achieving the vision
Summarizing feedback so far and adding my prefs to the version that reflects most people´s preference:
A world where fair and open food supply networks connect people and regenerate the earth.
My favorite of the choices: 1b ) A world where (fair and transparent) (food) supply networks reconnect communities and regenerate the earth.
Food yes, farming yes
Fair and Transparent yes
Reconnect or connect, either one is good for me
I could live without âsupplyâ per Theresaâs comments above
For the same reason I could live with âfood and farming networksâ rather than âfood supply networksâ because I think the latter sounds a bit clinical
I like the word harvest but to me itâs a bit end-pointy
So I guess I would say " A world where fair, transparent food and farming networks reconnect communities and regenerate the earth" Itâs a mouthful and Iâm not attached.
I like this and agree on food and farming networks sounds less technical and at the same time gives a better understanding of what OFN is about.
To move on I would like to add a deadline for feedback by the end of this week, Friday 4th and if no one has strong feelings against including âand farmingâ one â we have a vision
" A world where fair, transparent food and farming networks reconnect communities and regenerate the earth "
Happy to agree to this
Perhaps we havenât nailed the succinct and inspiring vision as well as we might if we spent days in a room together but it captures what we do and is strong enough to move on with for the coming years.
Great work to everyone who has been pulling this together!
A world where fair, transparent food and farming networks reconnect communities and regenerate the earth
This reintroduces âcommunityâ, âtransparentâ and I feel there were more voices on âpeopleâ and âopenâ, so I must disagree to @lauriewayne1 proposal
Regarding âfarmingâ, I agree, this is closer to what is OFN.
So I have a consensus-oriented proposal:
A world where fair, local and open food and farming networks connect people and regenerate the earth.
Thanks for pointing out @Thomas. You are right, Lauries proposal was closer to the original options than the synthesis after feedback. Apparently I got too excited about food and farming that I missed this
Still, a vision should also sound compelling and read easily.
fair, local and open food and farming networks
reads and sounds quite complicated. To me thats pushing a bit too much in one phrase.
So let´s substitute only the words that were agreed on earlier:
A world where fair, open food & farming networks (re)connect people and regenerate the earth.
I might drop the âcanâ - and the âreâ â Every harvest reconnects communities and regenerates the Earth. We could be even more âinclusiveâ of makers who donât harvest if we tweaked⌠Every act of making and harvesting reconnects communities and regenerates the Earth.
