As promised y’all, the Muddys’ 2022 vision is here!
But first, what the heck is visioning? Sounds a little woo woo... do you go in a sweat tent and get a visit from your spirit animal?
Not exactly.
I learned about visioning about a decade ago from my friends at ZingTrain and have since adapted it a LOT of weird & wonderful ways. I started practicing it personally, then using & teaching it at Muddy’s. It’s been a “normal” part of how we work for over 6 years now. And in 2017 we began sharing our workshop with other companies, teams, and individuals. Now we offer our classic Intro to Visioning workshop, a bi-annual “masterclass”, and even facilitate customized team retreats.
A vision is a story that illustrates what “success” / “thriving” looks, feels, smells, and sounds like at some point in the future. A well-crafted vision, thoughtfully formed, answers the question “why?” with a bit of “what”... and totally ignores “how” (for now).
Many people (yours truly included) decide to pursue something and immediately leap into the “to do list”- the HOW. Visioning as a practice helps me step back and get super clear on WHY and what before I start doing all the things. This REALLY helps the to-do list that comes next (the how) actually be full of the right things that will move me forward, rather than just the stuff I think I “should” do.
You can learn how! We have an Intro to Visioning class on April 8 and a Master Class series starting in June. SEE CLASSES
*the classes focus on an individual’s vision; if you’d like facilitation in creating an organizational vision, holler!*
Want to see an example? Check out this lovely, inviting, and totally achievable vision from one of our past class students, Vikki. Such a great example that visioning works for projects too, not just long-term life plans. (we love you, Vikki!)
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Alright, back to the Muddy’s 2022 vision...
We started the group part of this process back in January of 2020 with an all-hands meeting. Staff, who are very used to visioning by now, shared their input on what they hoped Muddy’s of 2025 is like. In the following weeks we got customer & community input in small groups. And of course, Muddy’s is an independently owned small business... so my input as the owner actually counts for a lot too.*
*Side note: that seems obvious, but it’s the biggest mistake I made when we did our last long term vision (our 2020 vision, written in 2015). At that time I was still on a futile quest to make everyone happy and erroneously believed that my own desires for Muddy’s - and by definition, my own work life- were somehow less valid, less important, and less meaningful than everyone else's... raise your hand if you've struggled with that. ;)
My own discernment process on the vision started around January of 2018, when I realized the severity of my burn-out and had to confront the truth that continuing on the current path wasn't a viable option for me long term. Reading through my Personal Vision for 2025 (happy to share if you want a copy, but not going to post publicly here), I realized that it was not in alignment with the track the business was on and the pressure from every side to grow it larger. I knew what I truly, deeply wanted (which was smaller, not larger), but had no idea how to get there.
Fast forward... clearly, we’d done a lot of input gathering from key stakeholders: myself, staff, customers, community partners, suppliers, and neighbors. Then the pandemic hit and we were putting out fires, not writing our long-term vision.
But we picked it up again this fall with renewed energy. We unearthed the notes from all the input sessions. We changed the date from 2025 to 2022, as that felt more compelling to us. And then we, as a team, took some time to look at how we’d been operating since re-opening. We identified the things that we felt proud of. The things we’re enjoying. And the things we want to take with us into our future.
ALL that went into this process--my own vision, input from customers, staff, neighbors... what's working well now and what we're most proud of... what it looks like when we're at our very best and living our mission... so much good stuff to work with!
So when you read this 2022 vision, it’s not just mine... it’s ours.
It isn’t intended to please everyone or give every single person their ideal. But it is written, to the best of our ability, from the truest part of ourselves and to describe the heart of where our hopes overlap with those of our customers and our community. It describes what we aspire to be in the coming two years and beyond. It describes who we are... and clearly outlines what we’re not.
It’s been a labor of love and we are so freakin' proud of it, excited for it, and above all, ready to get to work MAKING IT reality for YOU to enjoy!
***READ OUR VISION***
And as always, I'd love to hear from you. Questions, comments, your own story, what thriving looks like for YOU in December 2022. :)
Drop me a line at kat(at)muddysbakshop(dot)com
