What mission are you on?

Just talked to someone who was looking for advice on their mission statement. Not for the company, mind you, but for their department, which was the data warehousing department! Wow, I thought, never heard of individual missions that would go that deep into an organization. Since I find mission statements (and particularly the huge amount of work that goes into finding one) utterly useless, I couldn't help it, but I had to find out what the current state of affairs is in the mission world.

So here are some current statements, picked up from the web, through a quick search, and I didn't concentrate on any industry. Be the judge, whether those make any sense to you, are in alignment with the company's behavior, and are a differentiator for the company.

• Siemens:We will supply our Customers with products and services on time with the highest quality and value. We will accomplish this by our commitment to continuous improvement and by exemplifying fairness and integrity with our customers, our employees, and our suppliers.
• At Microsoft, our mission and values are to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.
  
• As enterprises around the world move to adopt performance management, Cognos will continue to direct our products, support, and services toward helping our customers deliver on its promise.
• BMC: Passion for IT Innovation that benefits our clients' investment in technologies.
• Coca-Cola: To Refresh the World... in body, mind, and spirit. To Inspire Moments of Optimism... through our brands and our actions. To Create Value and Make a Difference... everywhere we engage.
• At Nestlé, we believe that research can help us make better food so that people live a better life.
• BMW Group: To be the most successful premium manufacturer in the industry.
• Smith & Wesson: Safety, Security, Protection and Sport.
• The mission of Merck is to provide society with superior products and services by developing innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs, and to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities, and investors with a superior rate of return.
  

Aha! Yawn. Mission accomplished.