Crafting An Impact Statement To Navigate Economic Uncertainty

When the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) program by NASA landed the Opportunity rover on Mars on January 24, 2004, the planned mission length was only 90 sols (about 92 Earth days). Incredibly, the mission ended up lasting 5,111 sols, or 14 years and 138 days. Now that’s an example of resilience!

Whether it’s awe-inspiring missions like MER or groundbreaking businesses, I believe that success stories like this occur because the mission or business in question wasn’t just built to last—it was built to make an impact. Their journey—past, present and future—is shaped not only by vision, mission or problem statements but also by the power of the impact they determined to make. They prioritized “How do we improve lives, businesses or society?” (impact) over “What do we want to achieve in the future?” (vision), “Why do we exist?” (mission), and “What is the challenge we are solving?” (problem).

For example, the impact MER set out to make with the Opportunity rover was to uncover Mars’ secrets in ways that would inspire solutions for understanding and improving life on Earth. Apple, which was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1997, is now thriving, thanks in part to their determination to “leave the world better than we found it, and to create powerful tools that empower others to do the same.” And Louis Vuitton survived two world wars and established its place as a leading luxury brand by focusing on blending timeless heritage and modernity to let customers experience different forms of high-quality luxury.

While vision, mission and problem statements can help set the direction of your company, I’ve found that the impact statement is what earns trust and drives action. And during uncertain times, stakeholders tend to follow trust, not just aspirations.

How Uncertainties Impact Businesses Across Industries

The European Commission has recorded sustained high levels of economic policy uncertainty, influenced highly by events like the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions. In a 2024 FedEx report, 86% of respondents stated that global e-commerce is a key driver of their growth, but 84% reported shipping delays and geopolitical disruptions as major business challenges. I believe that in order to stay resilient in this tumultuous business landscape—both locally and globally—it is important to have a clear understanding of the impact you want to make and how to achieve it.

Steps To Making Your Impact Statement

Creating an impact statement requires going beyond what you wish to see on your financial dashboards. It should be all about who, what and how—who is being affected, what needs to change and how you can enable that change.

In my experience, a strong impact statement is always results-driven. Avoid broad claims like “we make industries safer.” Instead, consider something like “We aim to reduce industrial injuries with IoT-based alerting systems that check for gas leaks and overheating equipment.”

However, while it’s good to be ambitious, it’s also important to identify the boundary between your ambition and operational feasibility. To ensure your impact statement isn’t overreaching your means, I recommend anchoring the statement in Systems Thinking. Impact cannot be measured in isolation; it cascades across the ecosystem, so always frame the statement as a value proposition for all stakeholders involved.

How To Stay True To Your Impact Statement

Crafting a strong impact statement is just the beginning. Staying true to it requires strategic execution, adaptability and long-term commitment. Here are three key strategies to consider:

Originally Published on: Forbes.com