V2MOM Generator

Describe the goal and get a complete V2MOM, with methods in priority order and a number on every measure.

Example

Here's the kind of result this tool produces:

Vision

Digital ordering is how most new customers first buy from NorthBrew.

Values

  • Customers first, in the app and at the counter
  • Speed over polish
  • One scoreboard for every store

Methods

  1. Rebuild the app checkout
  2. Ready every app order in 10 minutes
  3. Launch the app in every store with a first-order offer

Obstacles

  • Store staff are measured on counter sales
  • The espresso line slows app orders at peak
  • Western expansion competes for the same budget

Measures

  • 40% of new customers order digitally by December
  • 95% of app orders ready in 10 minutes by June
  • Checkout conversion from 26% to 30% by Q3

A coffee chain growing digital ordering, written as a V2MOM.

By Tom Olajide · FounderLast reviewed

01

Check the draft before you share it

Marc Benioff wrote the first Salesforce V2MOM in 1999, in the company's first weeks1. He had developed the method earlier, as an executive at Oracle2. A generated V2MOM is a first draft. It knows your goal, not your numbers, your people or your budget. Read it against four questions before anyone else sees it.

  • Is the order right? Benioff ranks values and methods by importance, because ranking forces a choice between competing priorities1. The draft puts them in an order, but it is a guess. Argue about it, and move the item the team would defend first to the top.
  • Are the values about this vision? Salesforce asks for the few principles that will guide everyday trade-offs for this goal3. If a value could hang on any office wall, such as "integrity," replace it with one that would settle a real choice.
  • Does every obstacle have an answer? The draft names what is in the way but not what you will do about it. Salesforce's training asks for both3. Add a response and an owner to each one, or it stays a worry on paper.
  • Does every measure have a number and a date? Each measure the tool returns has a number, but not always a date or your real starting point. Salesforce contrasts "Dominate the U.S. market!" with a market share target and a date3. Replace any guessed figure with your own.
02

A weak draft and a stronger one

These rewrites use the coffee chain example shown above. The business and its numbers are invented for illustration.

PartWeakStronger
ValueGreat customer experienceCustomers first, in the app and at the counter
MethodImprove the app1. Rebuild the app checkout (ranked first, because checkout is where orders are lost)
ObstacleStore staff are measured on counter salesStore staff are measured on counter sales: count app orders in each store's results from April; owner, head of operations
MeasureGrow digital orderingCheckout conversion from 26% to 30% by Q3

Every entry on the right either settles a choice or can be checked. Specific, hard targets help. Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, summing up 35 years of research in the American Psychologist in 2002, found they lead to better performance than a vague "do your best"5.

03

How many methods to keep

The generator drafts three to five methods for the one goal you give it. For a whole personal V2MOM, Salesforce's training suggests five to eight3. At company level the list tends to grow, and the ranking is the only brake. If you run the tool for several goals, merge the results into one page and rank again. Give each top method at least one measure.

04

Make it the team's, then keep it alive

A draft one person wrote is not yet a plan the team holds. At Salesforce the chief executive drafts the company V2MOM with his direct reports and changes it on feedback2. Then each team writes its own, starting from the one above. Salesforce warns that people copy their manager's V2MOM and call it done4. Ask each team to write methods and measures of its own.

Then use it. Bring it to one-on-ones and budget calls, update it each quarter, and refresh it at mid-year4. A V2MOM nobody opens again until next year changes nothing.

For where V2MOM came from, what the research says and how to run a first cycle, read the V2MOM framework guide. To turn the top methods into quarterly goals, see OKR vs V2MOM.

Frequently asked questions

What is a V2MOM?
A one-page plan in five parts: Vision (what you want), Values (what matters in getting it), Methods (how you will get it, in priority order), Obstacles (what is in the way) and Measures (how you will know). Salesforce made it popular and still writes one every year.
How is V2MOM different from OKRs?
OKRs are an objective with measurable key results, usually for a quarter. A V2MOM wraps more around the goal: the values, the methods in order, and the obstacles. Many teams write a V2MOM for the year and use OKRs to track the quarter.
What makes a good V2MOM measure?
A number and a date. "40% of new customers order digitally by December" can be checked; "customers love the app" cannot. This generator only returns measures with a number.
Who should write the V2MOM?
The leadership team writes the company one together, usually at an annual planning retreat. Each team then writes its own, with methods that serve the company’s.
Can I edit the result?
Yes. Download it as Markdown and it opens in any editor, Notion, Google Docs or a wiki.
How many methods should a V2MOM have?
Enough to reach the vision, in ranked order. For a whole personal V2MOM, Salesforce's training suggests five to eight methods3. This generator drafts three to five for the one goal you enter. The ranking matters more than the count: Benioff ranks methods by importance so the page says what comes first when two good ideas compete1.
Who created the V2MOM?
Marc Benioff, the founder of Salesforce. By Salesforce's own account, he developed it while he was an executive at Oracle2. He and his cofounders wrote the first Salesforce V2MOM in 1999, in the company's first weeks, and Salesforce still uses it1.
What should go in the obstacles section of a V2MOM?
The real things that could stop you, including ones inside the company, and what you will do about each. Salesforce's training asks for a response to every obstacle, not only a list3. An obstacle with no answer and no owner is only a worry on paper.
How often should a V2MOM be updated?
Write it once a year, then keep it in use. Salesforce brings it to one-on-ones and budget calls, updates it each quarter, and refreshes it at mid-year4. Anyone who changes role writes a new one3.

Sources

  1. Marc Benioff, "Create Strategic Company Alignment With a V2MOM," Salesforce blog, first published 2013, republished December 2024. salesforce.com
  2. Salesforce, "Create Organizational Alignment Through the V2MOM," Trailhead module Organizational Alignment (V2MOM). trailhead.salesforce.com
  3. Salesforce, "Write a V2MOM," Trailhead module Organizational Alignment (V2MOM). trailhead.salesforce.com
  4. Salesforce, "Manage the V2MOM," Trailhead module Organizational Alignment (V2MOM). trailhead.salesforce.com
  5. Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, "Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey," American Psychologist 57(9), 2002, pp. 705 to 717. doi.org

Written by Tom Olajide, Founder. Last reviewed September 24, 2026.