I'm often asked as part of brand strategies to help with vision and mission statements and values definition. What is it with these things? Every organization seems to want them, but they put the most flimsy thought into them (despite spending hours on successive re-drafts that turn them into deadened sludge). They are usually derided by employees as meaningless fluff and only ever see the light of day on lunchroom posters, bad PowerPoint slides and desktop SWAG.

You know what I mean: "Our vision is to be the leader (or the provider of choice) in the provision of fully integrated solutions that meet customer needs and generate shareholder value. Our mission is to continuously improve our effectiveness and efficiency through teamwork....bla bla bla...