Why "Painted Picture" became Vivid Vision

Executive overview

A confusing term was undermining a powerful planning tool. The Vivid Vision is a 3–4 page written description of what a company looks, acts, and feels like three years into the future — covering every function from sales to customer service.

"Painted picture" made people think of vision boards. A written description eliminates ambiguity; a picture leaves too much open to interpretation.

Words align teams; pictures mislead them.

The Vivid Vision defined

• A 3–4 page document describing the company three years out
• Covers sales, marketing, operations, IT, engineering, customer service — every aspect
• Written as if walking through the business and describing what it feels and looks like
• You don't need to know how it comes true — only describe it clearly

Origin of the term

• Concept learned in 1998 at an Entrepreneurs' Organization lunch in Vancouver from an Olympic coach
• Around 20 entrepreneurs attended; Brian (1-800-GOT-JUNK, then "Rubbish Boys"), Dan, and Cameron Herold all wrote their first documents that day
• Brian named his version "the painted picture" — that label stuck
• Herold later rebranded it "Vivid Vision" to remove ambiguity