Leitbild, Werte & Kultur
Participatory Mission Statement Process for a Zoological Garden
Instruments: Appreciative Inquiry · consent decision-making · mission statement (vision/mission/values) · visual recording
Context
Zoo Dresden wanted to develop a new mission statement that would primarily have an internal impact: strengthening identification, motivating employees and providing orientation. It was important to the management that employees be actively involved – so that the mission statement would not be imposed, but carried by those who bring it to life every day.
Task
PUETTGEN Consulting was commissioned with the design and facilitation of the entire mission statement process, set up in five sequential modules – from a kick-off, through the shared strengths and future image and a draft mission statement, to feedback, adoption and anchoring in everyday work.
Approach
Consistently strengths-based and participatory: all employees were invited to contribute, while the detailed work was handled by a balanced working group. Appreciative Inquiry provided the shared strengths and future image; the consent principle enabled robust decisions without deadlocks; continuous live visualization made interim results tangible.
Formats
Kick-off at an employee event; an initial workshop on strengths and the picture of the future; development of a draft mission statement (vision, mission, values/guidelines) by a representative working group; a second workshop on feedback and adoption by consent; evaluation and decision on measures by the leadership group – professionally visualized throughout.
Role
PUETTGEN Consulting was responsible for the design, preparation, facilitation and documentation of all modules, advised the working group in regular jour fixe meetings and supported the leadership group with evaluation and the decision on measures – as a two-consultant team, complemented by professional visualization.
Transfer
Each participant committed to concrete small steps (“Tiny Actions”); joint progress dialogues and a decision on measures by the leadership group translated the mission statement into everyday work.
Special Feature
A visually rich, participatory mission statement process with strong potential for imagery and visualization – grounded in Appreciative Inquiry and the consent principle and developed in collaboration with visualization partner Malte von Tiesenhausen, https://www.thecore.global