What’s the difference between a mission and vision?

Most organizations use their mission statement to explain why they exist, which is actually your vision. We believe the mission explains how your organization will achieve its vision. By structuring your vision and mission this way, you create a clear path for your organization to move forward.

To break it down, below are the definitions of mission and vision from Merriam-Webster (2020).

mission (we’ve removed specific references to military and religious orgs):

• a specific task with which a person or a group is charged (i.e. Their mission was to help victims of the disaster); a preestablished and often self-imposed objective or purpose (i.e. statement of a company’s mission).

• a calling or vocation (i.e. “Her calling was to be a teacher”)

• a body of persons sent to perform a service or carry on an activity

vision (we’ve removed references to eyesight):

• something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy; a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination; a manifestation to the senses of something immaterial; the act or power of imagination

Using these definitions we can see that vision is the concept (what we are striving for) and mission is the specific task (how we are going to do it).

Example:

Kahn Academy mission: To provide a free, world‑class education for anyone, anywhere.

This is a clear and memorable mission statement, although we argue that this is actually a vision statement. Kham Academy isn’t providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere yet. A more effective mission would state how they plan to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. (We could not find a vision statement on their website.)