Your Team Can't Read Your Mind: How to Use the Vision Check-In

You have a vision for your business.

It's crystal clear.

You could see exactly where you're going.

And your team, well, they're great.

They're committed, they work hard, they execute daily, they're doing their jobs.

But somehow it happens all too often that they go in the wrong direction.

They're building things you didn't ask for, or they missed the point entirely.

And you think, why didn't they get it?

I told them the plan.

Why aren't they following it?

Here's what's actually happening.

You told them once, but you are thinking about it every single day.

Your vision is evolving.

You have new ideas, you make small pivots, you're seeing new possibilities.

But your team, they can't read your mind.

They're still working from the version you told them three months ago.

In this episode, I'm going to show you why your team keeps missing the mark and how to fix it.

Let's talk about the gap between what's in your head and what your team actually knows.

I worked with a founder a few years ago, an impact driven company with a big vision and a super smart and super dedicated team.

And we kept running into the same problem.

Whenever Project Progress was shared, the founder would be disappointed.

He would say things like, this isn't what I meant.

Why did they build it this way?

Were solving the wrong problem and the team was confused.

They thought they were executing the vision, but somehow they were always off.

The problem was that the founder had articulated the vision once at the beginning, and then never again.

But in his head, the vision was constantly evolving.

He'd have a conversation with a partner where new insights would emerge and the strategy would slightly shift.

He'd see data from the field, which would create a new priority, and he'd adjust the focus.

He'd have a brainstorm with the board, with new ideas generated and the approach would change.

All of this was happening in his mind, clear as day to him.

But to his team, they were still working from the original brief, the one from six months ago.

It wasn't that they were ignoring the vision, they just didn't know it had changed.

And he didn't realize he wasn't communicating it, because to him, it was so obvious.

He was thinking about it constantly.

Every conversation, every decision, every moment.

But the team, they had their own work, their own priorities, their own day to day.

They couldn't read his mind, and he wasn't giving them the updates they needed.

Here's the shift.

Remember, other people don't get it the way you do.

Your Vision isn't a one time announcement.

It's an ongoing conversation.

Think about a construction site.

Everyone has the blueprint, everybody knows their part and they can build it perfectly.

But if the foreman suddenly changes the foundation plans and doesn't tell anyone, it's chaos.

Half the crew is framing to the old specs, half adjusted because they had a coffee chat and heard things were changing.

Nothing lines up anymore.

That's what happens when you evolve the vision in your head.

But don't tell your team.

And here's what's making it worse.

As a founder, you're supposed to have the ideas.

You're supposed to see the new opportunities.

You're supposed to pivot when things change.

That's your job.

But your team's job is to execute, to build and to deliver.

And they can do that in the right way if they don't know what changed.

The problem isn't that you're evolving.

The problem is that you're evolving alone.

So all you need to do is close the loop regularly.

Not once at the beginning.

Not just when something big changes.

Not once a month in a team meeting, but consistently.

Every week, every month, every quarter.

Because it will need a lot of explaining.

Constantly.

You need to make sure that your team knows what's in your head right now, not three months ago.

Here's what you'll do to make sure your team is up to speed.

Use a practice called the Vision check in.

This is a simple practice that keeps everyone aligned.

Every three months, ask your team these three questions.

Question one is, what do you think our top priority is right now?

Don't tell them first.

Ask them, then listen.

If everyone says the same thing, great, you're all on the same page.

If everyone says something different, you have a problem.

And now you know you do.

Question two, why are we doing this?

This one reveals whether they understand the bigger picture.

They might know what you're working on, but do they know why?

Because if they don't understand the why, they can't make good decisions when you're not in the room.

Question number three is why?

What's changed since we last talked about this?

This is where you catch the drift.

Maybe you pivoted slightly.

Maybe a new opportunity came up.

Maybe the market shifted.

Your team needs to know, and this question forces you to communicate it.

These three questions take maybe 15 minutes, and they'll save you months of misaligned work.

An optional addition to the three questions is to create a context document.

If you want to go deeper, write it down.

Not in a 50 page strategy deck just in a simple document that answers, what are we building and why?

Who are we serving?

What's our focus for this quarter and what changed recently?

Update it every three months and share it with the team.

When people can read it themselves, they'll stop guessing.

Now, here's what happens when you do this consistently.

Your team will stop building the wrong things because they know what you're actually thinking right now.

They stop coming to you with every decision because they understand the context well enough to decide themselves.

And you, you stop being disappointed because everyone's playing the same symphony and it sounds great.

Here's the thing to remember.

Your team can't execute a vision they don't completely understand.

And they can't understand it if you only told them once when they joined.

Your vision is evolving.

That's good.

That's what founders do.

But you have to bring your team along.

Not once.

All the time.

Ask those three questions every quarter.

What's your top priority?

Why are we doing this?

And what's changed?

That's it.

Fifteen minutes.

That keep everyone aligned.

Because the gap between what's in your head and what your team knows, that's where good work goes to die.

So if you asked your team right now, what's our top priority?

Would they all say the same thing?

If you're not sure that's your answer, ask them this week and see what you learn.

Because your team doesn't know what you are thinking and they shouldn't have to guess.