One of the cornerstones of effective change management for digital transformation is to create a vision of the future that resonates with those taking that change journey. Get them onboard and your chance of success goes up from 0%.

The problem is it’s human nature to resist change so it requires a powerful vision to overcome that urge to keep the status quo. So why oh why oh why do we still create a vision for the future like this:

• To create a better everyday life for the many people. (IKEA)
• Empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. (MICROSOFT)
• People working together as a lean, global enterprise to make people’s lives better through automotive and mobility leadership. (FORD)

All beautifully eloquent, in fact all great vision statements, but to be honest none of them are now enough on their own to rally the team behind you. We live in a multimedia world that can elicit a reaction or emotion from all our senses. To get to someone’s heart we now need to think beyond just a great statement. We need to help our teams live and breathe what the future could be like. Use images, video, sounds and smells.

So here are some clever ways that you could do just that:

Nike:
Poignant imagery and statement combined

Facebook:
Explainer Diagram and a Statement

General Electric:
Higher purpose emotional video

So if the future of your company is important to you, take the time to communicate your vision in a way that does it justice and inspires your team to go on the journey with you.