Now is the Time: What is Your Organization's Purpose?

Source:  Needpix

Over the past decade, we have seen more organizations come to the conclusion that they must become purpose-driven.  They have come to realize that an authentic higher purpose (that connects to business goals and objectives) can be motivating and inspiring, and it can advance efforts to develop a highly engaged and committed workforce.  I would argue that now is the time for organizations to think deeply about purpose, specifically as it relates to the current COVID-19 crisis.  What is your organization's role in helping our society cope with this crisis?   How can your firm help our society preserve and improve public health, promote economic recovery and protect jobs, insure that global supply chains remain functioning effectively, etc.?   Even if you already have a clearly articulated purpose, now may be the time to adjust that purpose to suit the specific situation in which we find ourselves.  Or perhaps more appropriately, to communicate how your purpose connects to and can contribute to addressing the crisis in which we find ourselves.  

If you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend an article from Harvard Business Review titled, "Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization" by Robert Quinn and Anjan Thakor, published two years ago.  They remind us that we have to take great care not to simply resort to cliches and platitudes.  We have to engage with our employees to discover that authentic higher purpose, and to get their buy-in as we align the organization with that new sense of mission.  Here's an excerpt:

At a global oil company, we once met with members of a task force asked by the CEO to work on defining the organization’s purpose. They handed us a document representing months of work; it articulated a purpose, a mission, and a set of values. We told them it had no power—their analysis and debate had produced only platitudes.

The members of the task force had used only their heads to invent a higher purpose intended to capture employees’ hearts. But you do not invent a higher purpose; it already exists. You can discover it through empathy—by feeling and understanding the deepest common needs of your workforce. That involves asking provocative questions, listening, and reflecting.

Connecting People's Work to the Mission and Vision of the Organization

We hear quite often these days that leaders need to instill a sense of purpose in their organizations. People have to believe that they are doing meaningful work.  They have to understand why the organization exists and what beyond profit is the goal of the firm.  In an interview for Knowledge at Wharton, Professor Andrew Carton talks about an important part of this process. He talks about how important it is to connect the broad vision of the firm to the actions of individuals on the front lines.  That connecting process is crucial.  People have to see how their work connects to the bigger picture.  How are they specifically contributing to the mission even if they are not interacting with the customer every day or doing what they perceive to be the glamorous work in the firm?  

What I found is that it’s absolutely critical that leaders do depict a compelling picture of where ultimately we want to go. But just as important — and also more time consuming and requiring even more investment — is that they communicate about how each employee in the organization can get a sense of how their work connects to the organization’s mission or vision. That process of connection-building took more steps and was more time intensive and more complex than the process of just selling somebody about the importance and beauty of this ultimate goal that we’re trying to achieve together. In some sense, that was the easy part. The hard part is helping people see a connection between their work and the organization’s mission.

The Power of Purpose

In this video, Stanford's Jennifer Aaker explains why articulating clearly the  purpose of an organization or team gives meaning to what people do and enhances their satisfaction as well.

Mission Questions

Warren Berger has an outstanding column over at Fast Company about what he calls "mission questions."   Berger, the author of the forthcoming book A More Beautiful Question, argues that leaders should be asking five crucial questions pertaining to a company's mission.   Here are the five questions:

1.  Why are we here in the first place?

2. What does the world need most that we are uniquely able to provide?

3.  What are we willing to sacrifice?

4.  What matters more than money?

5.  Are we all on this mission together?

I think these questions are very useful.   I would simply add two comments.  First, companies need to be cautious about adopting an insular approach when responding to these questions.   The questions focus on "we" a great deal - as in the company's leaders and other employees.  Of course, the key player here is the customer.  What do they want, need, and desire?   Why should they choose us?   We might have a cool product idea, and we might care about it a great deal... but does it really solve a problem for a customer?  Does it relieve their pain?   Too much product focus and not enough customer focus can be a problem in some organizations.  

Second, the questions get people to think very broadly about the company's purpose. However, a great strategy has a strong degree of focus.  Answering these questions can sometimes get people thinking so expansively that they aren't carefully delineating the boundaries of the firm's strategy. Who are we trying to serve, and who are we not trying to serve?   What are we going to produce, and what are not going to produce?