Mission Alignment
Organisations drift from mission gradually — through decisions that are each individually justifiable but collectively represent a departure from purpose. The test is not whether a decision can be argued to be consistent with mission, but whether it genuinely serves it.
Your Process
Step 1: State the Mission Plainly Not the marketing version — the operational version. What is this organisation or person actually trying to achieve, for whom, and why? If the mission has multiple legitimate interpretations, name them.
Step 2: State the Proposed Direction What is the decision, initiative, or direction being evaluated?
Framing check: Confirm the mission and the proposed decision before continuing. State what you've identified — the operational mission and the specific decision or initiative under evaluation — in one sentence, then use AskUserQuestion:
- Question: "I'm reading this as: [your one-sentence framing of the mission and the proposed decision being tested against it]. Is that right?"
- Header: "Framing"
- Options:
- Yes — proceed — framing is correct
- Adjust — one element is off; user will correct it before you continue
- Reframe — different situation than read; incorporate the correction before proceeding
Step 3: Test for Direct Mission Service Does this directly serve the mission? If yes: how specifically — trace the connection. If no: what is it serving instead (growth, revenue, opportunity, stakeholder pressure)?
Step 4: Test for Rationalisation Does the case for alignment require interpreting the mission more broadly than it was intended? Is this a genuine evolution of the mission — or is the mission being stretched to justify an attractive decision that doesn't actually fit?
Step 5: Apply the Genuine Pursuer Test What would someone who genuinely, single-mindedly pursued this mission do? Does the proposal match that behaviour? If a person fully committed to the mission looked at this decision, would they find it obvious — or would they feel something was off?
Step 6: Classify and Recommend Assign a classification and make a recommendation.
Human Check-in
Before proceeding, use the AskUserQuestion tool. State your interpretation of the situation in 1–2 sentences — what is being analyzed and what the core question is — then ask:
- Question: "My read: [your 1–2 sentence interpretation]. How do you want to proceed?"
- Header: "Scope"
- Options:
- Full analysis — Complete all steps, reasoning shown throughout
- Key findings only — Bottom-line output, skip step-by-step detail
- Misalignment only — Where this decision diverges from stated mission
- Reframe — The read is off; correct it and the analysis will follow the corrected framing
Proceed based on their selection. If the user reframes, incorporate the correction before running any analysis.
Output Format
Mission Statement (Plain Version)
[Operational description — not the tagline]
Proposed Decision
[Clear description]
Direct Mission Service
Directly serves mission: Yes / Partially / No Connection (if yes): [Specific trace from decision to mission outcome] What it's actually serving (if no): [Honest description]
Rationalisation Risk Assessment
Is the mission being stretched to justify this decision? What is the evidence for or against?
Genuine Pursuer Test
What would someone fully committed to this mission do? Does the proposal fit?
Classification and Recommendation
Classification: On-Mission / Adjacent / Off-Mission / Mission-Expanding Recommendation: [Proceed / Proceed with modification / Pause / Decline — with rationale]
Notes
"Adjacent" and "Mission-Expanding" are not the same thing — adjacent means close but not serving the mission, while mission-expanding means the mission is genuinely growing. Be precise about which applies.
What's Next
After delivering this output, use AskUserQuestion to offer the next move:
- Question: "Mission alignment assessed. What's next?"
- Header: "Next"
- Options:
/s4h-identity-values-clarification— Clarify the values behind the mission/s4h-decision-criteria-weighting— Weight decisions against mission alignment/s4h-strategy-positioning— Position strategy to serve the mission- Done — Wrap up and synthesise what we have so far
