Vision, Mission, Strategy & OKRs

Dear reader, Fusang recently went through an exercise when we sat down to think about our Vision, Mission, and Strategy, along with our Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) for Q4.

Many organisations pay lip service to these various concepts. But I think it is critically important to understand where you want to go, before you set out on the long journey to get there.

I’d like to share this internal document with you, so that you can see how we at Fusang think about these concepts.

Context

Any startup has a large number of opportunities before it: multiple avenues through which it can develop. Especially in the crypto/digital asset space, it can seem like a wide-open field in which everything still needs to be built, and the whole market is still up for grabs. This has led many of our competitors to try and do everything and anything. But as a startup with limited time and resources, we must focus exclusively on the highest-value opportunities that we are uniquely and strategically positioned to capture.

There is clear and huge opportunity in the digital asset market. That means that we know the market exists, and that if we can capitalise on that opportunity our company will do extremely well. That also means that we are in a race against time to build and scale our company before large incumbents in the traditional finance space enter the market. It is thus imperative that we assess and prioritise incoming opportunities, and check whether they help us achieve the milestones that will make our company successful in the long run.

On an organisational level, it is critical that we build a common understanding of where we want to go, and what matters to us. Firstly, this helps every individual make their own contributions to our development, and also dissent if our company seems to be losing its focus. Secondly, it helps us focus on outcomes rather than outputs of our work.

Concepts – Vision, Mission, Strategy

These milestones derive from our company’s Vision, Mission, and Strategy. At Fusang we draw a clear distinction between these concepts. Our Vision represents our collective dream and inspiration, while our Mission is a measurable, realisable overarching outcome. Our Vision is what we aspire to; our Mission is how we strive to fulfil that aspiration.

Our Vision isn’t immediately achievable. It is an ideal that may take generations, many partnerships, and many people to achieve – and even then, perhaps only in part. It is our Truth North, and its primary objective is to inspire and create a shared sense of purpose throughout our company.

Our Mission, however, can be defined in terms of concrete outcomes, and our company will be measured by how well it achieves those outcomes. It is our overarching objective. It is measurable, achievable, brief, and easy to remember. It shouldn’t require follow-up clarifying questions when first presented, and is uniquely identifiable to our company.

Once we are clear on our Vision and Mission, we must decide upon our Strategy: our unique advantages that will allow us to navigate the competitive landscape and achieve our Mission. Our Strategy is like planning out the next moves of a chess game: we have to anticipate our opponents’ next moves, and decide how best to deploy our resources to outplay them. This is not to be confused with tactics, which are the specific steps we put in place to manifest our Strategy. Setting our strategic focus requires clear understanding and definition of our company’s strengths and unique competitive advantages.

Fusang plans and reviews our Vision, Mission, and Strategy each year.

Concepts – OKRs

Each Strategy can then be broken down into Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). These are the answers to two simple questions: (1) Where do we want to go? (2) How will we know we’re getting there? In essence, what are our Objectives, and what Key Results do we need to keep tabs on to make sure we’re making progress?

Objectives are measurable goals aligned with our Mission and Strategy. The fewer and simpler the better. They are descriptions of goals to be achieved in the future. An Objective sets a clear direction and provides motivation. An Objective can be thought of as a destination on a map. A good Objective is a single sentence that gets people jumping out of bed in the morning with excitement. It is time-bound, and actionable by each team independently. Each Objective should also clarify the Purpose behind it: why that Objective is important to us.

A Key Result is a metric with a starting value and a target value that measures progress towards an Objective. A Key Result is like a signpost with a distance that shows how close you are to your Objective. Key Results take the inspirational language in each Objective and quantifies it. We create them by asking: “how would we know if we met our objective?” Each Objective should typically have 3 Key Results.

Key Results should be difficult, but not impossible. They should be at the sweet spot where we are pushing ourselves and our teams to do bigger things, and where we have a 50/50 shot of failing. If we look at our Key Results and think “we’re doomed” we have set them too hard; if we look at them and think “I can do that with some hard work” they are too easy; if we get a funny little feeling in the pit of our stomach saying “it would take a miracle to hit all three of these…” then we are setting them correctly.

Fusang plans and reviews our OKRs each quarter. Each team should determine how their team OKRs lead to our company’s overarching OKRs. Each team can focus on a single OKR, or try to support the entire set. Some teams will find it easy to align with our company’s OKRs, and some will need to dig a little deeply to make sure they are supporting our company’s goals. Much of the value in OKRs comes from the conversations on what matters, how it will be measured, and what it means for the teams who are used to working from their own standards, apart from the business goals. No team can be an island. It will take all of us, working in unity, to achieve our Mission.

We do not change OKRs halfway through the quarter. Suck it up and either fail or blow past them, and use that learning to set better OKRs next quarter. The point of OKRs is to stay focused, and changing them dilutes focus. No team gets OKRs perfect the first time. We aim to achieve 1-2 of the 3 Key Results for each Objective.

Let’s be honest: we all hate to fail. But OKRs aren’t just about hitting targets, but about learning what we are really capable of. They are there to push us to do better. We shoot for the moon. Even if we miss, we’ll land among the stars.

When you think about it, these questions are very personal, and speak to the core of how we all spend our working days. It makes sense that everyone within our company should have their own OKRs every quarter. The important thing is tying these individual OKRs to team OKRs, and ultimately to the overarching OKRs for Fusang and to achieving our Mission. This alignment packs power and efficiency, and will allow us to execute with focus and speed in the face of a dynamically-changing market. In short: to win.

I hope this document is useful to you. Perhaps it will spark a similar discussion in your organisation.

Of course, this exercise doesn’t have to be limited to your company – it is just as applicable to your personal life, and to your relationships. What is your Vision, Mission & Strategy? What do you want to accomplish? How do you want your life to look like? And how will you know when you get there?

In my next letter I will go through Fusang’s actual Vision, Mission and Strategy.

Yours Sincerely,
Henry Chong