The Institute consultants helped the team to sort through the artifacts, salvaging and repurposing what was still valid, letting go of clutter, revising or creating key elements as appropriate, and simplifying the whole system.
For example, the vision itself was no longer accurate in describing the lines of business Tolko was pursuing. The leadership team simplified all of the elements considerably, replacing the old vision with a new one based on the more recent corporate objective. The new vision read, “Tolko will be a top decile forest products company providing strong customer value, while operating sustainably and achieving world class performance.” The particular power of this new vision was that it also included Tolko’s four pillars, which subsequently were modified to become the company’s four strategic themes.
With the new and improved vision driving the mission (see Table 2), the Vice Presidents took ownership for the new shared vision and showed passionate commitment to a successful implementation. It was a pivotal moment of change for Tolko.