My boss is Jon Pittman who is the VP of Corporate Strategy for Autodesk. John works with the Autodesk Executive Staff to define the strategy for Autodesk. Strategy is about delivering something that customers value, looking for competitive separation, and leveraging aspects of what a company has to offer that cannot be easily copied.

Autodesk has almost 8,000 employees around the world. How does a company make sure that all employees understand the strategy and are "rowing in the same direction"? One way is to have a clear vision.

• At Autodesk, we help people imagine, design, and create a better world.

Notice that the word "help" is in there. That's on purpose. Our customers are changing the world, and our aim is to provide them with the tools to do so.

Though precise wording leads to precise thinking, and vice versa, words are not enough. Recently a team of employees, including our corporate communications department, led by Director of Employee Communications, Michele Wolpe, came up with a vision map that tells the Autodesk story.

The content is company confidential (which is why I have pixelated it), but you get the idea. It's a web page that graphically depicts pieces of the Autodesk vision. Each piece is a hyperlink where employees can get more information. I think this will go a long way to ensure that everyone keeps rowing in the same direction. What does your company do to share its vision?

Visual strategy is alive in the lab.