I discover the vision frame in Will Mancini’s book Church Unique. It shares many common elements with the strategic planning process but builds on it.

It’s worth noting the book and framework focus on setting the strategy for a local church. So if you’re using it in a different goal-setting context, some translation will be needed.

The tool creates a “frame” around your vision. Visually this helps you focus on where you’re going and what milestones take you there. Let’s cover some of the critical elements.

Vision Frame Elements

• Kingdom Concept – What are we uniquely positioned for?
• Mandate – Mission. What are we doing?
• Motives – Values. Why are we doing it?
• Map – Strategy. How are we doing it? 
• Marks – Measures. When are we successful?
• Mountaintop + Milestones – Vision Proper. Where are we going?

Define Kingdom concept

The kingdom concept is the combination of three elements:

1. Local predicament. Consider the needs and opportunities given your audience and context.
2. Collective potential. Consider the unique skills and abilities you bring. 
3. Apostolic esprit. Consider what you feel inspired to do.

Combining these three elements creates a concise and focused summary of your competitive advantage.

Develop Vision frame

To develop the frame, you’ll first build out each of the four sides:

1. Mandate. This is similar to the mission in the strategic planning process; the mandate is the passion you feel you must do.
2. Motives. These are values or convictions that will guide how you carry out the mandate, and these should be a balance of brief and compelling.
3. Map. The map is core to your strategy, and essentially, it’s the critical plays in your playbook. Ask yourself, “If I only had five plays to run, what would they be?”
4. Marks. These are your success criteria that demonstrate you have reached your goal. Describe concretely what it will be like when the mandate is fulfilled.

Once the frame is complete, you must work the middle section, which is your vision proper. It’s broken down into two parts.

1. Mountaintop. The mountaintop is that beautiful, inspiring view. This is a qualitative description of your vision.
2. Milestones. The milestones measure your progress, which are quantitative measures of your vision.

In the book, Will Mancini gives several helpful examples and walks you through this process in detail. If you want to try the vision frame, I encourage you to get the book.

I like the visual nature of the Vision Frame approach. And it adds a process for identifying your competitive advantage. I’ve used it leading many different teams over the years and still refer to it when setting up a new team.