8200’s vision:The lesson every leader must learn

As companies and teams prepare for the year ahead, the focus often shifts to big goals and KPIs. But the crystalising and the alignment of these goals and achievements with your vision and your values ensures successful execution in the most accurate operation mode for you and your teams. 

I’ve been on hunt to uncover an example that underscores how core values could make—or break—your upcoming year’s outcomes. 

But, instead of another inspiring success story I decided to rise up to one of my followers’ challenges and share a worst case scenario of what happens when your vision and/or values are off. 

Luckily and unfortunately this year, I found the perfect example: the story of unit 8200. This story  presents true alignment between the units revised vision and its somewhat surprising new values (since 2021). But more so, shows the effects of vision and values on an organization’s priorities, decisions and operation mode. And finally, what the wrong vision and set of values could cause.

The revised vision & values of Unit 8200 could be seen as a root cause for focusing on the wrong missions and an operation mode that resulted in  destruction to the extent of a whole country. 

A vision shift

On a warm August evening an investigative report by Omri Maniv aired on the program “News of the Week” with Dana Weiss. This item began with the question of why the Israeli Air Force was unprepared for Hamas’s “Jericho Wall” plan. A plan, which should have influenced the military’s overall preparations or even the prevention of the October 7th massacres and its domino effect.

Once it was clear that the reason was a lack of the intelligence flow to the right decision makers Maniv dug deeper to understand how that happened, and, this is what he found:  the revised vision of Unit 8200’s, including the removal of the words “warning” and “intelligence” from its strategy.

The Shift: When Technology Becomes the Goal

Following the intelligence force failure to issue a warning of the Yom Kippur War on October 1973, the unit’s vision and mission were honed. With a clear belief that knowledge is power, its mission was to obtain the best knowledge to support national security. And so, Unit 8200, Israel’s elite intelligence unit focused on obtaining the best knowledge by collecting intelligence through technology enabled measures and delivering them to the research arm of the intelligence force to analyze, cross check and report. 

The strong foundations were set and as the unit established and delivered its vision enhanced to “intelligence superiority” as far as the eye can see and anywhere technology could reach. 

The unit had always been technology-oriented. But technology was a means to an end. Over time, and particularly in the past two decades, the explosion in the amount of data and the growth of communication and information sources brought the need to handle the overload of information for collection, filtering, and warning. All through tech measures. While doing so 8200 experienced graduates became the new elite of wanted geeks as entrepreneurs or with a well paying position in a fast growing startup. 

According to Omri’s news item, this overload may have shifted the focus and priorities to developing cyber technologies to maintain superiority in the tech edge.

Still, the sharp turn in vision from intelligence superiority and the changes in mission took place in 2021. This new angle led this ship directly into the “iceberg” of October 7th 2023.

What is the Organization’s Purpose and Who is its Client?

In 2021, with the appointment of Yossi Sharel to lead 8200 the vision of the unit shifted again alongside its values. It became evident that the focus was increasing towards Cyber technological superiority, versus intelligence and knowledge for power.

Focusing on cutting edge technology and soldier experience is what’s referred to in the business world as “nice-to-have”. But who is Unit 8200’s client? Who should it serve? The primary client of the unit is the State of Israel, and its need is deterrence against threats. Whilst in the loop of chasing technological superiority and the unit’s fame, it became apparent that the primary client was its soldiers and commander, the quality of their service and their bright professional future when it would be time to integrate into the development world of technology companies.

The values changed too. Reminder: values are three to six words, memes of phrases that reflect a person, team or organizations belief system and operation mode. The unit committed itself to values like excellence and leadership, personal growth and the right to be different. Most of them putting the soldiers in the center, as if to motivate their productivity and Though these values are highly appreciable though they lack any focus on the reason why this unit stands for and is committed to.
*BTW,the value of “accepting the different” was a non issue even when I was in an army training at unit 8200, even back in the 90’s the course was as diverse as you could imagine, with a high percentage of gay soldiers, backgrounds and perceptions.

And so the race for technology superiority in the cyber space was the constant mission to serve the vision of the tech elite. This of course affected the decision making process and prioritizing cyber tech superiority drivers over those who simply detect ,inform and protect. 

The result: as the words “warning” and “intelligence” were removed from unit 8200’s vision and its strategy, projects were prioritized and resourced based on tech challenges and innovation versus to provide warnings and defend the state of Israel.  And, that both killed an ongoing project and system in the unit that could have been our savior. And also, its pretty much the reason the Israeli Air Force was unprepared for Hamas’s “Jericho Wall” plan to crystal clear.

When Vision Loses Direction

Unit 8200’s story offers a broader lesson. A precise vision defines purpose, guides priorities, and aligns resources. The core values of a unit reflect their motivation system and operation mode as well as the common denominators with its audience and partners.

The same principle applies to businesses: misaligned values can derail even the best-laid plans.

As you map out your yearly strategy, don’t overlook the power of core values. They’re more than ideals—they’re one of the wings of your core-4 compass that ensures your vision and mission come to life through aligned decisions and actions.

Numerous studies worldwide have already proven that success is impacted by a clear vision by more than 40% compared to entrepreneurs without one. Also, When it comes to execution of plans 77% of successful companies have an established operation mode to translate their strategy into operational terms and evaluate (Palladium). But, that can’t be enforced unless the execution is aligned with strategy including vision, core values, mission and your promise as a compass.