It's important that these are kept to the minimum description of what is important. They are not goals  but reflect the fundamental values of the group. They provide a clear sense of direction without prescribing the way to achieve what is wanted.

Establishing these is not easy as it's all too easy to include extra elements - often "just to clarify the situation"! That is not what is wanted. The statement should be clear but open to being implemented in a number of ways (see Experimentation and Diversity). The intention is to encourage the organisation to find more than one viable way of expressing the vision. It's important to stop controlling from the centre and allow the organisation to discover the best solution to the demands made on it.

The thinking behind this concept originates in that of the attractor from chaos theory. This carries across to complex adaptive systems (CAS) where such systems are shown to operate around an attractor. It is then extended to human systems