Request for ideas on Vision and Mission Statements for community bike workshops
Hi Tom,
This discussion was started by Donnie at SantroVélo... they are reworking their own vision and mission, and asked for feedback.
I think it is a very worthy discussion, as we all can benefit from updating the 'what, why and how' of our work. Or perhaps just the 'what and why' as the 'how' tends to be more goal and objective statement oriented...
I've heard many different definitions for vision, mission, goals, objectives and action steps. The key might be to have deep internal discussions and see what makes sense on a local level.
Thomas Martin wrote:
Hi all: New to this list, and I have lurked for exactly 2 messages. Pardon my ignorance, but is this vision statement for this list, or for
a
specific org that is subscribing to the list? Mission statements and vision statements can quickly become obtuse with big words that no-one uses in the organization and your community. And a vision statement by committee is how that happens. But here goes my two pence: Transportation and transit is routine, so further explaining it as
routine
is redundant. And anyways, making transportation anything but routine (fun! sexy! transformative!) is going to inspire people more than the
routinized
use of our transportation grid.. '_________ advocates safe and equitable outcomes for people on bikes as
a
form of everyday transportation. We are a non-profit, volunteer run
community co-operative that empowers people to repair their own bikes' . Or something like that.
I posted this on my Facebook page a few days ago. It's got some good
suggestions for how and why language shapes the public discussion: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/how-smart-language-helped-end-seatt... Tom Martin
Bike Program Coordinator Portland Community College- Cascade 705 N Killingsworth St Portland, OR 97217
On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 10:26 AM, Bob Giordano mist@strans.org wrote:
agree Ron. a general suggestion: instead of: 'We support safe cycling as a legitimate form of routine
transportation'
change to: 'We support safety for people on bikes as a legitimate form of routine
transportation'
or something like that. lots of 'talk' about the power of saying 'people on bikes' instead of 'cyclists' nowadays, which makes sense. -- Bob Giordano Free Cycles Missoula Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation
Ron Kellis wrote:
Comment from the gallery: I've been, uh, subjected to these for over
20 years now. Meaning they can be really important for some folks as a focus
point, important for funding, and many feel the need to include every
descriptor that can be crammed into the space available. Often, in my
experience, this means few actually read it. And for others, well I volunteer as an instructor and self-help mentor. I know that fits in our
mission statement someplace or we wouldn't be doing it.
KISS and short:
- We reach-out to help others learn to maintain their own bikes -
We support safe cycling as a legitimate form of routine
transportation
- We assist members of the community who need a bike to obtain a
bike.
Expand on that as necessary in supporting statements. "*All great truths are simple in final analysis, and easily
understood; if
they are not, they are not great truths."* ~ Napoleon Hill. Just my $.02 Ron
On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 12:19 PM, Andy Bakker andy.bakker@velocitycoop.org wrote:
Hi Donnie, The mission statement that we use is: Our mission is to educate, encourage, and empower a vibrant and
inclusive
cycling community through learning. We provide a non-profit,
volunteer-run,
educational do-it-yourself workshop offering training, rides, and
events to
empower all levels of cyclists in building, maintaining, and
embracing the
fun of bicycles.
I've been asked by a few volunteers about developing a real vision
or
vision statement and I'd be very interested if anybody has something
they'd
like to share! Cheers, Andy Bakker VéloCity Bicycle Cooperative 2111 Mt. Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301 andy.bakker@velocitycoop.org | www.velocitycoop.org
On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Don dontito@videotron.ca wrote:
Hi Everybody, I’ve been hit-and-miss following along on the Think Tank for the
past while so please excuse me if I missed any threads relevant to this
request. Our collective is now in the process of redefining
ourselves,
and part of the process is coming up with a Vision Statement and
reworking our
Mission Statement, so I’d like to ask for examples that work for
other groups. So far our shop has been mostly about mechanics and not so much
about advocacy, though of course that could change during this
process.
All comments and suggestions will be gratefully received! Donnie SantroVélo https://www.facebook.com/SantroVelo
The ThinkTank mailing List <a href="http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org">Unsubscribe from this list</a>
Thanks to everybody for their comments. A few years ago I went through this process with another organization (not bike related) with the help of a social economy professional. Here's a distillation of her overview:
Vision Statement A single phrase describing the desired end-result of the project’s work. It should be concise, inspirational and very ambitious, and may only be attainable after several generations.
Mission Statement Also a single phrase describing what the organization does. It should also be concise, may also be inspirational, and describes what the organization does in broad terms.
Made sense to me.
We'll see what we come up with when we meet about this next week.
Donnie SantroVélo
-----Original Message----- From: Bob Giordano [mailto:mist@strans.org] Sent: February-09-15 7:07 PM To: The Think Tank Subject: [TheThinkTank] Request for ideas on Vision and Mission Statements for community bike workshops
Hi Tom,
This discussion was started by Donnie at SantroVélo... they are reworking their own vision and mission, and asked for feedback.
I think it is a very worthy discussion, as we all can benefit from updating the 'what, why and how' of our work. Or perhaps just the 'what and why' as the 'how' tends to be more goal and objective statement oriented...
I've heard many different definitions for vision, mission, goals, objectives and action steps. The key might be to have deep internal discussions and see what makes sense on a local level.
Thomas Martin wrote:
Hi all: New to this list, and I have lurked for exactly 2 messages. Pardon my ignorance, but is this vision statement for this list, or for
a
specific org that is subscribing to the list? Mission statements and vision statements can quickly become obtuse with big words that no-one uses in the organization and your community. And a vision statement by committee is how that happens. But here goes my two pence: Transportation and transit is routine, so further explaining it as
routine
is redundant. And anyways, making transportation anything but routine (fun! sexy! transformative!) is going to inspire people more than the
routinized
use of our transportation grid.. '_________ advocates safe and equitable outcomes for people on bikes as
a
form of everyday transportation. We are a non-profit, volunteer run
community co-operative that empowers people to repair their own bikes' . Or something like that.
I posted this on my Facebook page a few days ago. It's got some good
suggestions for how and why language shapes the public discussion: http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/how-smart-language-helped-end-seatt... Tom Martin
Bike Program Coordinator Portland Community College- Cascade 705 N Killingsworth St Portland, OR 97217
On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 10:26 AM, Bob Giordano mist@strans.org wrote:
agree Ron. a general suggestion: instead of: 'We support safe cycling as a legitimate form of routine
transportation'
change to: 'We support safety for people on bikes as a legitimate form of routine
transportation'
or something like that. lots of 'talk' about the power of saying 'people on bikes' instead of 'cyclists' nowadays, which makes sense. -- Bob Giordano Free Cycles Missoula Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation
Ron Kellis wrote:
Comment from the gallery: I've been, uh, subjected to these for over
20 years now. Meaning they can be really important for some folks as a focus
point, important for funding, and many feel the need to include every
descriptor that can be crammed into the space available. Often, in my
experience, this means few actually read it. And for others, well I volunteer as an instructor and self-help mentor. I know that fits in our
mission statement someplace or we wouldn't be doing it.
KISS and short:
- We reach-out to help others learn to maintain their own bikes
We support safe cycling as a legitimate form of routine
transportation
- We assist members of the community who need a bike to obtain a
bike.
Expand on that as necessary in supporting statements. "*All great truths are simple in final analysis, and easily
understood; if
they are not, they are not great truths."* ~ Napoleon Hill. Just my $.02 Ron
On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 12:19 PM, Andy Bakker andy.bakker@velocitycoop.org wrote:
Hi Donnie, The mission statement that we use is: Our mission is to educate, encourage, and empower a vibrant and
inclusive
cycling community through learning. We provide a non-profit,
volunteer-run,
educational do-it-yourself workshop offering training, rides, and
events to
empower all levels of cyclists in building, maintaining, and
embracing the
fun of bicycles.
I've been asked by a few volunteers about developing a real vision
or
vision statement and I'd be very interested if anybody has something
they'd
like to share! Cheers, Andy Bakker VéloCity Bicycle Cooperative 2111 Mt. Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301 andy.bakker@velocitycoop.org | www.velocitycoop.org
On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Don dontito@videotron.ca wrote:
Hi Everybody, I’ve been hit-and-miss following along on the Think Tank for the
past while so please excuse me if I missed any threads relevant to this
request. Our collective is now in the process of redefining
ourselves,
and part of the process is coming up with a Vision Statement and
reworking our
Mission Statement, so I’d like to ask for examples that work for
other groups. So far our shop has been mostly about mechanics and not so much
about advocacy, though of course that could change during this
process.
All comments and suggestions will be gratefully received! Donnie SantroVélo https://www.facebook.com/SantroVelo
The ThinkTank mailing List <a href="http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org">Unsubscribe from this list</a>
participants (2)
-
Bob Giordano -
Don