Mission Statement

It wasn't until AcMo version 61.2 went live that we allowed ourselves to dream about having a sustainable future.  Everything changed with 61.2.  We gained the understanding that sales drive business growth and that we needed sales.  That was a hard lesson, but we're glad it arrived when it did.  A few more quarters of negative sales would have been trouble for operations.

All of the revisions and pivots required before 61.2 didn't leave time for the completion of our mission statement.  No one on staff wanted to be responsible for such an important document.  This wasn't going to be like the Constitution to which we could just add amendments at random over the years.  We had to get this right the first time, and it would have to endure for generations.  That's a lot of pressure to put on someone's brain.  On several occasions we tried to buy a mission statement from other businesses, but we could never agree on terms.  I looked at several templates online, but all of the important fields were left blank.  How can anyone be expected to make good use of an empty template?  We should have realized that there are certain things that need to be done internally, like mission statements and exaggerated sales projections.

Problem solving has been an invaluable tool since AcMo's inception.  The mountain of problems that existed didn't leave time for resolving other issues such as background checks, desks, computers, customers, and payroll.  Out of all of those, the lack of computers was the hardest to overcome.  Perhaps AcMo wouldn't have grown so fast and in such a diverse manner had a mission statement existed to serve as a guiding directive.  It may be time to consider bringing in a consultant who has at least read and understood a business textbook or two.  The biggest problem with that is one of trust.  I have no guarantee that the person who knows how to use all of the latest catchphrases and buzzwords involved in scaling a business will know what they mean because I don't have the knowledge to refute it.  I've seen too many people fooled by "experts" in fancy power suits who were just charlatans in disguise.  It's always the glasses that conceal the deceit so well.  I understand why it worked for Clark Kent now.  I fooled myself into believing I could build a conglomerate when I locked myself inside a revolving door on the way to an interview.  AcMo wouldn't exist today if I had made it to that interview.

Everyone at the coffee shop told me that mission statements are important, so I have to do what leaders do best and take action.  I plan to rectify that oversight now.  A lot of the items that constitute AcMo's mission statement were scribbled on various napkins over the years.  Some of it is difficult to read due to the stains and faded ink, so if anything doesn't make sense it's because I couldn't transcribe my notes.  If only 3M would make a Post-It® napkin.

AcMo was founded out of a love of high performance automobiles and the desire to own every one ever made.  That takes a lot more capital than my money tree was able to grow.  The only solution was to build an organization that could nurture hundreds of revenue streams without bogging down under the weight of its own growth.  We saw technological innovation as a means to deliver that dream.  We were analog at the time, so we didn't know what that was going to mean all of these years later.  Now that we are digital, the whole world has become our operating theatre.

This has been years and a few minutes in the making.  It should have been our first or second step, but we tend to do things out of order most of the time.  The fact that the below listed tenets of our mission statement are not in a particular order is corroborating evidence of our lack of sequencing.

• Pursue any and all viable revenue streams with reckless abandon.  Acquire or eliminate any companies and individuals who impede our progress. 

• Fake it through great marketing if the final product isn't up to our standards.

• Deliver an unparalleled customer experience.  We've tackled this by removing the ability for our customers to complain.

• Improve our community and give our time and effort to worthwhile causes.  We have been a long time supporter of various unnamed charities and organizations who do things to help people as long as it doesn't interfere with our paid vacation days or track time.  

• Exceed the boundaries of conventional wisdom and do the impossible on a daily basis.  The fact we're still here is a testament to just how good we are at achieving the impossible.  This is one of the reasons we're traveling to space soon because no one thinks we can do it and survive.

• Destabilize the vast oceanic power base of sharks through aggressive and lethal re-education programs. Our goal is to rehabilitate sharks into becoming productive members of ocean society and to leave behind their killing ways. Those who can't be rehabilitated must be eradicated. We want to make oceans safe for everyone--except sharks.  I need this to happen because I still would like to learn to surf, but I can't until the sharks have been removed from the threat list.

• Maximize track time in our customer's vehicles while being funded by those same customers. 

• Wake with a smile every day because we love what we do.  Knowing that each move helps to make the world a better place for everyone--except spiders, sharks and monkeys, is fulfilling.

• Stamp out telepresence robots whenever possible.  They are responsible for ruining our workforce.

We hope that we can inspire others to achieve their dreams, or at least attempt to achieve them.  The probability of failing 100% of the time is almost nonexistent, so continued attempts should be encouraged.  One big success is only a failure away from happening.  One success and an exaggerated story to go with it can cement the legend forever.

AcMo accelerates the future today.  The staff has decided that the mission statement will become a wiki in the future so that it can be modified at any time similar to the Constitution.  This way our mission statement will always mirror AcMo's direction.  We won't have to worry about having to write a new one, and it will never become obsolete.