The unhappiness created by organizations lacking empathy and the importance of clarifying the vision

For a company or organization, a vision serves as a guidepost that points toward “the kind of future it seeks to create.” Companies with a clear vision enable employees to understand and embrace “why they work here,” giving meaning and direction to their daily tasks. In contrast, when a company’s vision is vague, employees lose their sense of direction, and their work devolves into mere routine. In this sense, a vision is not only a management strategy but also an emotional anchor for the people who form the organization.

Let us now look at the three key forces that a vision brings to an organization.

For a deeper exploration of what a vision is and how to create one, see TIPS185 and TIPS186.

1-1. Sharing Direction and Fostering Unity

Modern organizations are made up of individuals with diverse values, career goals, and motivations. Without a shared “destination”—a vision of the future the organization seeks to realize—teams can easily become fragmented and lose cohesion. A vision serves as a compass that clearly indicates which direction the organization should head toward.

For example, Apple’s vision—“to create technology that enriches people’s lives”—is more than a product development policy. It serves as a guiding principle that enables every employee to find meaning in their work. Regardless of department or role, everyone can answer the question, “Why are we doing this?” That shared understanding generates a powerful sense of unity within the organization.

Sharing a vision transforms motivation from something driven by “company orders” to something grounded in “personal empathy.” By respecting individual diversity while connecting through a shared image of the future, a team evolves from a mere collection of individuals into a true “community of purpose.”

1-2. Accelerating Decision-Making

Organizations with a clear vision make decisions far more quickly. This is because their decision-making criteria are unified around a simple principle: “Which option brings us closer to our envisioned future?”—rather than relying on “the boss’s preference” or “established convention.”

When facing multiple options—for example, in launching a new business or developing a product—a clear vision allows teams to determine direction simply by asking, “Does this align with our desired future?” This minimizes misalignment in discussions, reduces unproductive debates and blame-shifting, and dramatically improves both the speed and quality of decisions.

The reason many startups can respond so rapidly to market changes is that they have a clear vision. When the vision functions as a “core decision-making mechanism” within the organization, teams can act autonomously even in the absence of leadership. Such a “self-driving organization” becomes the ultimate competitive advantage in a fast-changing world.

1-3. Strengthening Engagement Through Empathy

When employees feel that their work directly contributes to realizing the company’s vision, their tasks cease to be mere duties and instead become “meaningful actions.” This sense of purpose is the most powerful source of motivation in the modern workplace.

Engagement-driven management builds a system where people are motivated not by external factors such as pay or benefits, but by “empathy” and “intrinsic motivation.” When employees resonate with the vision and feel, “I’m contributing to that future,” turnover decreases, while productivity and creativity naturally increase.

In fact, Gallup’s research shows that organizations with high engagement levels outperform others significantly. Companies in the top 25% for engagement report more than 20% higher profitability compared to those in the bottom 25%.

Reference: “What Is Employee Engagement and Why Does It Matter? Five Corporate Case Studies”

This demonstrates that employee engagement and well-being are core contributors to corporate competitiveness.

It’s important to remember that engagement is not built through salary or systems alone—it grows through “empathy with the vision.” Engagement nurtured through shared understanding and belief in the vision becomes the foundation of organizational culture, ultimately strengthening the company’s brand and its ability to attract talent.

A vision may take the form of “words,” but it is, in truth, the organization’s driving force. It aligns direction and unity, accelerates decision-making, and draws out intrinsic motivation. When these three forces work together, the organization transforms from a mere business entity into “a collective that creates the future together.”

Having understood the positive cycle a vision can bring to a company or organization, let’s examine the kind of “misery” that can occur when employees remain unable to empathize with the company’s vision. This may be something you have personally experienced, or it could be happening in your organization right now.

In fact, one of the most serious and least noticeable crises for a company is when employees continue to work without relating to the vision. At first glance, this state may seem unproblematic: no lateness, tasks progressing smoothly, and performance metrics maintained at a certain level. Yet beneath the surface, a “quiet misery” gradually unfolds.

2-1. Surface Calm and Internal Division

Employees who cannot relate to the vision constantly question, somewhere in their minds, “Why am I doing this work?” They may complete the tasks before them, yet fail to find any real meaning in them. It is like rowing a ship without a clear direction, gradually exhausting its energy.

As more employees enter this state, the following signs begin to appear:

・Lack of initiative and low motivation
・Low sense of satisfaction with results and evaluations
・Inability to perceive team achievements as “their own responsibility”
・Uncertainty about the direction of one’s own career

At first glance, these may seem like “individual problems,” but in reality, they stem from a disconnect with the organization’s vision. In organizations where the vision is not shared, purpose becomes fragmented, and team efforts fail to align.

2-2. Why Lack of Empathy Creates “Quiet Misery”

A vision can be seen as one answer to the question, “Why does this organization exist?” Working without relating to it means that daily actions lack a sense of meaningful connection. This is far more stressful than one might imagine.

For example, even with the same effort, if employees do not understand “why they are doing this work,” they cannot experience a sense of accomplishment or pride. As a result, their psychological energy is depleted, they adopt a passive attitude, and the tasks before them begin to feel like obligations rather than self-directed work. The organization, in turn, struggles to understand “why results are not achieved” or “why employees are not proactive,” deepening the disconnect between the organization and its members.

Thus, an invisible distance grows between employees and the company. This is the essence of “quiet misery.” On the surface, no one raises their voice, and no major problems occur, yet the vitality of the organization steadily erodes.

2-3. Effort Without Empathy Cannot Last

Empathy toward the vision is not merely a matter of liking or disliking it. It represents a proactive relationship in which employees feel, “I want to contribute as part of this envisioned future.”

When employees work without empathy, their efforts are not sustainable. Work that lacks connection to purpose provides no “return in meaning.” No matter how ambitious the goals, if the heart is not aligned, actions become mechanical, and creativity fails to emerge.

As a result, employees quietly disengage, much like a form of burnout. They may remain formally present, but their hearts have already drifted outside the organization—this is the state known as “silent retirement.”

2-4. Can “Quiet Misery” Be Prevented?

The solution for companies is simple: do not just “communicate” the vision unilaterally, but ensure that each employee can “relate to it personally.”

For example, instead of only leadership talking about the vision, teams can discuss “how to connect this vision to our work.” Through stories and success experiences on the front lines, moments can be created in which the vision connects to individual work. This is the only path to fostering genuine empathy.

In organizations where the vision is empathized with, employees take pride in their work and demonstrate resilience even in difficult situations. Conversely, organizations that lose the empathy of their employees see motivation quietly fade, and the “psychological energy” that fuels performance is depleted. “Quiet misery” is precisely this state of energy deficiency—a sign invisible in metrics, yet one that surely erodes the organization.

A vision is not just a principle; it is an “energy circuit” reconnecting the organization with people’s hearts. Restoring empathy is the first step toward sustainable growth.

Have you understood the quiet misfortune that occurs when, no matter how appealing a vision may sound, it fails to resonate with the very employees it is meant to inspire? This is a serious concern. An organization gathered to realize a vision may even harbor the potential to collapse if the vision does not genuinely connect with its members.

Of course, companies do not simply sit back and do nothing when it comes to helping employees understand and accept a vision. Yet many organizations falter at the stage of vision “penetration.” Here, we will introduce the three barriers that unconsciously hinder vision adoption within organizations.

3-1. Three Barriers That Impede Vision Penetration

① Top-down Barrier – A “Vision Without the Field” Fails to Resonate

The first common barrier seen in many companies is the “top-down barrier.” The process of management creating the vision and then announcing it internally may seem appropriate at first glance. However, if the voices from the field are absent, the vision feels merely “crafted.”

Employees on the front lines perceive it as an “ideal decided by the top” and mentally draw a line saying, “This doesn’t concern me.” At that moment, the vision becomes “the company’s” rather than “their own.”

For instance, a vision that does not incorporate real insights emerging from challenges faced on the front line or customer interactions tends to feel abstract and detached from reality. Consequently, the vision ends up as a decorative poster or slogan—a hollow statement rather than a lived principle.

The first step in penetration is to “think together” before “sharing” the vision. When management becomes a co-creator rather than just a communicator, only then does the vision ignite employees’ hearts.

② Language Barrier – Abstract Words Do Not Translate Into Action

The next obstacle is the “language barrier.” Visions often become abstract precisely because they are meant to inspire. Phrases such as “change the world” or “bring happiness to people” may sound impactful, yet they fail to convey to employees exactly what they should do.

If employees cannot understand at the ground level how their own work connects to the vision, it will not be reflected in their daily actions.

In other words, the vision has not been “translated.” Overcoming this barrier requires converting abstract principles into workplace language and actionable steps. For example, a company with the vision of “delivering delight to customers” should break it down into concrete actions such as “improve customer response speed by 30%” or “share small insights within the team.” By transforming the vision into words each employee can understand—clarifying what they should do—the vision begins to live in everyday work.

③ Habit Barrier – Unrewarded Actions Do Not Last

The third barrier is the “habit barrier.” No matter how much employees resonate with a vision, if it is not linked to their actions or performance evaluation, it will eventually become hollow.

For example, a company may promote a culture of “celebrating challenges” but reward only those who avoid mistakes. In such a scenario, employees cannot act sincerely. When words and systems contradict each other, the vision gradually becomes treated as mere lip service.

To truly embed a vision, it must be integrated into organizational culture and daily habits.
Effective initiatives include:

・Sharing and recognizing examples of vision-driven behavior internally
・Adding “contribution to the vision” as an evaluation criterion
・Discussing in 1on1 meetings how current work connects to the vision

It is through such integration into systems that a vision evolves from an ideal on paper into daily habits. Importantly, system design should be vision-driven rather than system-driven.

3-2. “Penetration” Is Not About Mere Communication

Ultimately, the main reason visions fail to take root lies in the way they are communicated. Many companies believe that an announcement, posters, or an intranet update is sufficient, but a vision is not something to be understood intellectually; it is something internalized through experience.

When employees experience the cycle of “acting in line with the vision, being recognized for it, and achieving results,” the vision finally becomes embedded in the organization.

In other words, vision penetration is not a matter of information transmission but a process of cultural formation. This must not be forgotten when designing systems. Therefore, it is essential to consciously design around the three steps: “empathy → translation → habituation,” not merely polishing the words.

4-1. What Is a Vision Session?

A vision session is a workshop-style dialogue designed for an organization or team to clarify “what kind of future we want to create” and share it collectively with all participants. It goes beyond simply confirming principles or creating formal slogans; the goal is to envision a future that connects to concrete actions and strategies.

・Participants: Executives, management, team members
・Format: Workshop, interactive meeting, brainstorming
・Duration: Several hours to a full day, or multiple sessions over time

The different session formats, such as workshops and brainstorming, are described in more detail in section 4-3.

In recent years, such vision sessions have gained attention in many companies as a process that generates both the “ability to envision the future” and a “shared axis of action” within the organization.

4-2. The Vision Session Process

Step 1: Preparation

・Clarify objectives: Define the session’s goal (e.g., envision the organization three years from now)
・Select participants: Include not only executives but also mid-career and junior employees to incorporate diverse perspectives
・Prepare materials: Organize current-state analysis, customer insights, industry trends, etc.

Step 2: Share the Current State

・Review organizational challenges, strengths, and weaknesses collectively
・Understand the “current state” objectively based on data and facts, and clarify the gap with the envisioned future

Step 3: Depict the Future Vision

・Individual work: Each participant freely sketches their vision of the future organization or team
・Group work: Integrate individual ideas and extract common themes
・Visualization: Create a vision map or diagrams to “verbalize and visualize” the vision so everyone can understand it

Step 4: Identify Priority Themes

・Organize the future vision based on feasibility and importance
・Narrow down to the “truly desired state” and form consensus across the organization

Step 5: Connect to Action Plans

・Tentatively set short- and medium-term actions to realize the vision
・Assign responsibilities and deadlines, linking the session to concrete next steps

The core of this process is the attitude of “thinking together, deciding together, and moving forward together.” Establishing a vision is not the goal itself, but a practice that allows the entire organization to take ownership of the future.

4-3. Key Methods and Tools Used in Vision Sessions

・Vision Map

A vision map organizes and visualizes everything from organizational philosophy (Why) to policies (What), initiatives (How), and the envisioned future (Future). It clarifies the flow from mission and values to concrete action plans※2※2A detailed plan specifying the actions required to achieve a goal, clarifying who does what and by when., making it easier for participants to understand how their own responsibilities connect to the vision. By consolidating complex information or ideas into a single diagram or illustration, a shared understanding is established for discussion and dialogue.

・SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis organizes an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It is used to objectively grasp the current internal and external environment, identify strengths, and plan measures to address weaknesses. This method is also useful for flexibly responding to market and competitive changes. Because discussions are based on facts and data, it ensures that the vision is grounded in reality and that action plans consider opportunities and risks.

・Brainstorming / World Café

Brainstorming generates a large volume of ideas by prohibiting criticism and encouraging free thinking. World Café involves repeated dialogues in small groups to share diverse perspectives collectively.

Both techniques are effective for generating initial ideas for the future vision and initiatives. Mixing employees from different departments, roles, and positions helps incorporate multiple viewpoints and gain deep insights even on complex issues.

Discussions among employees with different perspectives expand creativity, promote ideas beyond conventional boundaries, and enhance team cohesion through improved cross-departmental communication and shared empathy with the organization.

・Persona / Customer Journey

Marketing methods such as defining customer personas and mapping the customer journey—from initial engagement to purchase and experience—can be used to translate the vision into reality.

By framing the vision and strategy from the customer’s perspective, a more objective and realistic view of the future is incorporated, helping specify improvements to services or products and the value provided to customers.

Setting or revisiting personas and customer journeys allows the organization to verify whether its envisioned future directly addresses customer needs and expectations. At the same time, employees can understand how their own roles connect to customer value.

・Storytelling

Storytelling converts the future vision into a narrative so participants can emotionally understand and empathize with it. The key point is to transform the vision from mere words or diagrams into concrete stories.

Stories are easier for humans to remember than abstract concepts or diagrams, and they also serve as motivation for action. Employees can relate their own roles or teams to the story, and it is convenient for sharing in meetings or workshops. Storytelling provides a shared language for the team or organization to collectively grasp their future.

The following table summarizes the features and effects of the vision session tools introduced above:

By combining these methods and tools, a vision session becomes not just a “discussion” but a powerful process to concretely define the organization’s future and translate it into action.

・Organize the current state and direction with vision maps and SWOT
・Extract diverse ideas with brainstorming and World Café
・Incorporate customer perspectives with personas and customer journeys
・Deepen empathy and understanding with storytelling

Using these methods step by step allows all participants to envision the future as “their own” and translate it into concrete actions.

※2 A detailed plan specifying the actions required to achieve a goal, clarifying who does what and by when.

Sustainable corporate growth and employee well-being are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, research and practical experience have shown that when each employee finds meaning in their work and empathizes with the organization’s vision, it strongly aligns with rational corporate management strategies.

① Foster Empathy for the Vision

・Develop the vision through co-creation, incorporating employees’ opinions and frontline insights rather than relying solely on top-down communication.
・Example: Workshop-style vision sessions, employee surveys, or discussion forums

② Clarify the Meaning and Role of Work

・Demonstrate how each employee’s work contributes to the organization’s envisioned future.
・Example: Share connections visually through a vision map(see TIPS186)

5-1. Vision Empathy and Managerial Rationality

“Vision empathy” refers to a state in which employees understand and genuinely agree with the organization’s direction and values. It is not merely an emotional concept but a critical factor directly linked to organizational performance.

・Employees who empathize with the vision tend to act autonomously and take responsibility for results.
・Employees who feel that their work contributes to the organization’s future find meaning in their work.
・As a result, turnover decreases, knowledge and skills accumulate, and team collaboration strengthens.

Multiple studies have shown that employees’ psychological satisfaction and corporate performance are interrelated, with employee well-being directly impacting the organization’s sustainability.

5-2. Key Points for Balancing “Happiness” and “Sustainability”

There are several key points to consider when balancing employee well-being with organizational sustainability, which are outlined below.

① Foster Empathy for the Vision

・Develop the vision through co-creation, incorporating employees’ opinions and frontline insights rather than relying solely on top-down communication.
・Example: Workshop-style vision sessions, employee surveys, or discussion forums

② Clarify the Meaning and Role of Work

・Demonstrate how each employee’s work contributes to the organization’s envisioned future.
・Example: Share connections visually through a vision map(see TIPS186)

③ Provide Opportunities and Support for Growth

・Create an environment where employees can continuously grow by providing learning and career development opportunities.
・Examples: Training programs, mentorship, participation in challenging projects

④ Link to Evaluation and Reward Systems

・Establish mechanisms that reflect behaviors aligned with the vision in performance evaluations and rewards.
・Example: Add “contribution to the organization’s future” as a behavioral evaluation metric

Employee “happiness” and corporate “sustainability” are not mere ideals; they complement each other. Through empathy for the vision, employees take initiative and find meaning in their work, which contributes to long-term corporate growth, profitability, and competitiveness.

In other words, employee well-being is a critical “asset” of corporate strategy and forms the foundation for sustainable management.

As we have seen in this article, the essence of a vision lies in enabling both the organization and its members to face the same direction while maximizing their individual strengths.

However, continuing to work without genuinely empathizing with that vision is unfortunate both for the individual and the company. Efforts made while values and directions are misaligned are less likely to be rewarded and often fail to lead to meaningful outcomes or fulfillment for either party.

The significance of clarifying a vision is not merely to “unite the organization.” It is also a process that allows each employee to reflect on their own way of living and working, aligning their personal aspirations with the future the company aims to achieve.

A vision built on empathy transforms the relationship between company and employees from a “contractual employment” to a “co-creative partnership.” When employees resonate with the company’s vision of their own accord and actively engage in making it a reality, we find what a truly “happy organization” in the modern era looks like.

References:
・“How to Create a Vision in an Era with No Correct Answers” by Naoka Misawa
・“The Greatest Misfortune for Employees is Working at a Company Whose Corporate Philosophy They Cannot Empathize With” by Ken Fukazawa (Director, TBM Brand & Communication Center)
・“The ‘Unfortunate’ Work Style Reforms That Companies Which Make Employees Unhappy Tend to Implement” by Tomoyuki Otsuki, Certified Social Insurance Labor Consultant