In one of my favorite startup books, <i>Made to Stick</i> (<a href="http://amzn.to/ccF7X7" rel="nofollow">http://amzn.to/ccF7X7</a>), the authors describe the genius of Southwest airlines, which has been, by a long shot, the most successful airline company ever (with something like 37 consecutive years of profit).<p>The Founder and CEO had an incredibly clear and actionable vision: "we are THE low-cost airline."<p>This worked like magic both internally and externally. At the company, answers to even the most complex questions could be rendered relatively obvious through the lens of this mantra. <i>Does it increase costs or not?</i> (e.g. Halloween costumes for employees? Sure. Lunch on the Houston to Florida flight? Nope - would raise costs).<p>And externally, customers know why to fly Southwest: it's cheaper.<p>If your vision isn't as succinct and actionable as Southwest's, then it's not clear enough: both for employees and for potential customers.