Mission Statements
Back when I first heard the term ‘Mission Statement’ it was described as a “very broad, over all, strategic plan.” I think programmers first started discussing Mission Statements round about the time Microsoft announced their new MS as “A PC on Every Desktop by 1990” Not sure about the year, but I remember everyone being amazed that a company which didn’t actually make PC’s was angling for everybody to have one on their desk. This was at a time when small companies would share a PC amongst several employees, and none of us quite put together that Microsoft was planning that more PC’s would mean more software sales for them. Looking back on it I’d have to admit that their Mission Statement seemed to have worked out pretty well for the company.
Well, last week I was visiting a patient in the local hospital. On the wall above the bed was a brightly colored poster which I suppose was sort of a Mission Statement for the nurses. To me it seemed well meaning, but… I leave it to the reader to decide.
The large font title said, “Remember the Four P’s”
Then it listed;
1.) Pain
2.) Position
3.) Personal Needs (bathroom)
4.) Emotional Needs
Then it summed up, “Always Remember the Four P’s”
Perhaps programmers are too literal, but shouldn’t the motto have been something like, “Remember the three P’s and the one E” ? Maybe it would have made more sense to me if I’d sat in on the presentation introducing the poster.