Mission Statements, Business Storytelling and Jeff Bezos’s Day 1 Philosophy

Storytelling can be the most powerful way for a chief executive to sketch a vision and align people behind it.

— Sangeeth Varghese, founder of LeadCap, a leadership organization in India, and author of Decide to Lead

Most mission statements. They suck the way walking in wet socks does or knowing it’s been more than a decade later, and George R. R. Martin’s The Winds of Winter is still in drafts.

It sucks.

For instance, OpenAI’s mission statement:

Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence—AI systems that are generally smarter than humans—benefits all of humanity.

It’s vague, convoluted, and unconvincing. Most bad mission statements are like this. They often use big words to show off a big purpose but fail to find resonance with the audience.

Now contrast these with mission statements by brands who get it right.

Salesforce

We build bridges between companies and customers.

Nike

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.

Grammarly

To improve lives by improving communication

Rather than directing attention to WHY the company does or builds something, these statements focus on the challenge they help solve — “bring inspiration,” “improve lives,” and “build proverbial bridges.”

But why even bother writing a mission statement, you may ask? Who’s even reading them? I don’t know Apple’s mission statement, but I still buy and use their products. What difference does it make?

And yet, a mission statement is an absolute necessity. That’s because it serves the same purpose as the North Star did for sailors out on voyages with clunky compasses.

Telling the right business story

A company’s mission statement defines the compelling reason for its existence. When organizations stay faithful to the mission — to their founding story — they don’t get sidetracked by rapidly changing markets and lose track to jump on fads. But on the off chance they do, they can always find their North Star for guidance and hurry back.

This is why telling the right business story is more important than telling the business story right.

A relatable and memorable business story will have a positive influence at every organizational level, inspiring the right strategic actions and attracting the right talent.

And if someone’s cracked the code on how to tell the right business story, it’s Simon Sinek with his Golden Circle model.

People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.

📌 He does a better job at explaining his discovery than I can ever do. So take a pause here (if you want!) and watch him blow your mind.

The Golden Circle by Simon Sinek is a simple mental model for thinking about the way companies communicate value to their customers. Here’s a visualization of the same.

Sinek talks about how most founders communicate value by starting with WHAT they do instead of WHY they do it. When, in fact, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

When you start with WHY, you can appeal to the part of the human brain responsible for making decisions

For perspective, here’s how Grammarly communicates from the inside out:

• Why: “To improve lives by improving communication.”
• How: “At Grammarly, we strive to help people achieve more through effective communication, whenever and wherever they write in English.”
• What: “Our AI-enabled English communication assistance technology scales to work seamlessly across platforms and devices, including on more than 500,000 applications and websites.”

There have been many such examples of excellent storytelling: Apple, Airbnb, Patagonia, Google, and Microsoft. But arguably, no one comes close to what Amazon and Jeff Bezos have established with his Day 1 philosophy.

It’s always Day 1 at Amazon.

Back in 1997, when Amazon.com went public with an IPO price of $18, Jeff Bezos wrote a letter to shareholders for the first time — spotlighting Amazon’s core values and a clear roadmap for the future.

“To our shareholders:

Amazon.com passed many milestones in 1997: by year-end, we had served more than 1.5 million customers, yielding 838% revenue growth to $147.8 million, and extended our market leadership despite aggressive competitive entry.

But this is Day 1 for the Internet and, if we execute well, for Amazon.com. Today, online commerce saves customers money and precious time. Tomorrow, through personalization, online commerce will accelerate the very process of discovery.

Amazon.com uses the Internet to create real value for its customers and, by doing so, hopes to create an enduring franchise, even in established and large markets.”

Other than his impressive attention to the growing competition and Amazon’s limitations — what stood out in the letter was his “Day 1” approach to work: To bring the same enthusiasm and energy to work as a new organization on its first day.

It informs every aspect of business Amazon does, from embracing external trends to hiring talent. And cemented by its culture of customer obsession.

Amazon’s Day 1 philosophy is instantly memorable that way.

It’s 2023, and Amazon is still at “Day 1”, as Jeff Bezos explains why in his 2016 letter to shareholders:

**“**Jeff, what does Day 2 look like?

Bezos: That’s a question I just got at our most recent all-hands meeting. I’ve been reminding people that it’s Day 1 for a couple of decades. I work in an Amazon building named Day 1, and when I moved buildings, I took the name with me. I spend time thinking about this topic.

Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by an excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1.”

Your business story doesn’t need to be as inspiring as Amazon’s or Apple’s. But it should inspire the stakeholders, the people who put their time and trust in you.

Because, in the end — the way you tell your business story is how people remember the work you do.