An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

by Will Larson

A few additional tips that I’ve found especially useful: Test the document! This is a core leadership tool, and your first version will almost certainly be bad. Write a draft, sit down with a few different folks to get their perspectives, then iterate. Keep doing this until you’ve synthesized feedback. If there is feedback you disagree with, embrace the vision as an opportunity to address conflict by explicitly acknowledging disagreements within the vision text. Refresh periodically. Take some time every year to refresh the vision, and prefer usefulness over consistency. If your old vision doesn’t resonate, it’s okay to start over: it’s a sign that you’ve learned a lot over the past year. Use present tense. This makes the writing impactful and concise, and conveys a sense of confidence about the future. Write simply. Often, visions are saturated with buzzwords, which turns readers off.