by Dr. Cecil Clements (24th January 2012)
This morning, instead of Harvard Business Review, I decided to look at London Business School’s magazine, ‘Business Strategy Review – Insights for Global Business’. An article which caught my attention was entitled ‘Work With Meaning’. Some of the things mentioned intrigued me. It basically said that there must meaning and purpose in the work that we do. Not only does that give us a better perspective or create a better environment for people to work in where there is purpose, but it also helps in the long run when there is economic instability. In the course of writing the article, they had spotted a number of winning organizations who had been able to weather the financial crisis that had hit them by transforming their business models, redirecting their strategies or simply build momentum by recommitting to their long-held guiding principles and sense of purpose – going back to their reason for existence.
Thomas Edison said, “The object of all work is production or accomplishment; and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose as well as perspiration.” That quote sums up what can be called ‘purpose-driven enterprise’.
The article goes on to say that these companies i.e. the purpose driven companies, know why they exist, what they want to accomplish and how their values will serve as guideposts along the journey. Because they understand that humans seek meaning in their work, they have infused their workforces with a compelling and ambitious purpose that serves as a gravitational force – one that binds disparate people together, enabling them to achieve together what none could accomplish alone. The purpose is more foundational than the ebbs and flows of the economy. It’s about why you exist in the first place. We believe that for companies, clarity on this question is crucial for sustained business success.
That’s what the article said at the outset in a paragraph entitled ‘Unsung Heroes’.
But as it went on to talk about purpose, they said that there are different ways in which companies look at purpose. But purpose continues to be at the center of all that a company must do. It’s the company’s reason for existing, its core mission as an enterprise. But they also talked about the Collective Ambition Compass – different things that must revolve around purpose for companies to be able move forward.
That’s a question I need to pose to all of you on this call. Do you know your purpose? Do you know why you are where you are and why you are doing what you are doing? Is there purpose in the things that you do? Why does my company exist? What will the world lose if we were to disappear? Why is this purpose motivational for me? What do I uniquely contribute to my company?
Drukker would disagree. He defined the purpose of business as: “to create a customer. Only this is operationally defensible.”
T. T. Ram Mohan, professor of Finance and Accounting at the Indian Institute of Management, comes out with a definition that throws in crust as well. He says, “Purpose of business is creating customers and making profit so that people who do these things have a sense of pride and well-being. Pride, respect, trust are the means to profit and customers.” And then they ask the question, “Are they ends in themselves?”
All of this focuses us on Purpose. At a very broad level, we can look at the purpose of the place where we work and ask the question, “Am I providing a place that has purpose as the core? Do the people around me and below me, whom I provide leadership to, know where they are going? Do they know what they are doing and why they are doing it? Is there a sense of purpose? Have I been able to take a group of different eclectic people with different strengths and bring them together and give them a sense of hope?”
Here’s a philosophical question. In my own life, do I have purpose? At a broad level, I can look at the company or the office that I work in, but at a focus level, can I ask the same thing of my life? Is there purpose in my life?
Thomas Carlyle quoted, “The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder; a waif, a nothing, a no-man.”
You have purpose. Sometimes you are driven by different things that are not really productive in our life – guilt, running from regrets. Therefore we are only manipulated by memories; or driven by resentment or anger.
In the Bible (Job 5:2) it says, “To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, a senseless thing to do.”
Resentment or anger can drive us. Or fear. Often we miss great opportunities because we are afraid to venture out; we avoid risk, we play it safe, we maintain the status quo. Or even materialism can drive us; acquisition becomes the goal. We want more, based on the misconceptions that having more will make me happy or important. Or approval. We allow the expectations of parents or spouses or children or teachers or friends to control our lives. All of these are misguided purposes because they lead to unused potential, unnecessary stress and an unfulfilled life.
What then is your purpose in life? Why is purpose so important for us? Because purpose always produces passion. I was looking at a book that I have read over and over again – ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren; forty days of purpose. Purpose always produces passion. And people with passion are people who know what they are doing and have excitement, goals and enjoy life. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose. On the other hand, passion dissipates when you lack purpose.
George Bernard Shaw wrote, “This is the true joy of life; being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
You have purpose – at a macro level in your company; at a micro focused level in your own life. You have purpose, because purpose produces passion and passion fuels the things of our life which provide the zest and the excitement that we all need.
God Bless Us All.
Reference -
This morning, instead of Harvard Business Review, I decided to look at London Business School’s magazine, ‘Business Strategy Review – Insights for Global Business’. An article which caught my attention was entitled ‘Work With Meaning’. Some of the things mentioned intrigued me. It basically said that there must meaning and purpose in the work that we do. Not only does that give us a better perspective or create a better environment for people to work in where there is purpose, but it also helps in the long run when there is economic instability. In the course of writing the article, they had spotted a number of winning organizations who had been able to weather the financial crisis that had hit them by transforming their business models, redirecting their strategies or simply build momentum by recommitting to their long-held guiding principles and sense of purpose – going back to their reason for existence.
Thomas Edison said, “The object of all work is production or accomplishment; and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose as well as perspiration.” That quote sums up what can be called ‘purpose-driven enterprise’.
The article goes on to say that these companies i.e. the purpose driven companies, know why they exist, what they want to accomplish and how their values will serve as guideposts along the journey. Because they understand that humans seek meaning in their work, they have infused their workforces with a compelling and ambitious purpose that serves as a gravitational force – one that binds disparate people together, enabling them to achieve together what none could accomplish alone. The purpose is more foundational than the ebbs and flows of the economy. It’s about why you exist in the first place. We believe that for companies, clarity on this question is crucial for sustained business success.
That’s what the article said at the outset in a paragraph entitled ‘Unsung Heroes’.
But as it went on to talk about purpose, they said that there are different ways in which companies look at purpose. But purpose continues to be at the center of all that a company must do. It’s the company’s reason for existing, its core mission as an enterprise. But they also talked about the Collective Ambition Compass – different things that must revolve around purpose for companies to be able move forward.
- Purpose: At the center of the hub is purpose, the company’s reason for being; why it exists; its core mission as an enterprise.
- Vision: the position or status a company aspires to achieve within a reasonable time frame.
- Targets and milestones: the metrics that are used to assess the extent to which a company has progressed towards its vision.
- Strategic and operational priorities: the actions taken (and not taken) in pursuit of its vision.
- Brand promise: the commitments made to stakeholders (customers, communities, investors, employees, regulators and partners) about the experience it will provide.
- Core values: the guiding principles that dictate what the company stands for as an organization in good times and bad.
- Leaders’ behavior: how senior management acts, day-by-day, as they seek to implement the company’s vision and strategy in pursuit of fulfilling its brand promise and living up to its values.
That’s a question I need to pose to all of you on this call. Do you know your purpose? Do you know why you are where you are and why you are doing what you are doing? Is there purpose in the things that you do? Why does my company exist? What will the world lose if we were to disappear? Why is this purpose motivational for me? What do I uniquely contribute to my company?
Drukker would disagree. He defined the purpose of business as: “to create a customer. Only this is operationally defensible.”
T. T. Ram Mohan, professor of Finance and Accounting at the Indian Institute of Management, comes out with a definition that throws in crust as well. He says, “Purpose of business is creating customers and making profit so that people who do these things have a sense of pride and well-being. Pride, respect, trust are the means to profit and customers.” And then they ask the question, “Are they ends in themselves?”
All of this focuses us on Purpose. At a very broad level, we can look at the purpose of the place where we work and ask the question, “Am I providing a place that has purpose as the core? Do the people around me and below me, whom I provide leadership to, know where they are going? Do they know what they are doing and why they are doing it? Is there a sense of purpose? Have I been able to take a group of different eclectic people with different strengths and bring them together and give them a sense of hope?”
Here’s a philosophical question. In my own life, do I have purpose? At a broad level, I can look at the company or the office that I work in, but at a focus level, can I ask the same thing of my life? Is there purpose in my life?
Thomas Carlyle quoted, “The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder; a waif, a nothing, a no-man.”
You have purpose. Sometimes you are driven by different things that are not really productive in our life – guilt, running from regrets. Therefore we are only manipulated by memories; or driven by resentment or anger.
In the Bible (Job 5:2) it says, “To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, a senseless thing to do.”
Resentment or anger can drive us. Or fear. Often we miss great opportunities because we are afraid to venture out; we avoid risk, we play it safe, we maintain the status quo. Or even materialism can drive us; acquisition becomes the goal. We want more, based on the misconceptions that having more will make me happy or important. Or approval. We allow the expectations of parents or spouses or children or teachers or friends to control our lives. All of these are misguided purposes because they lead to unused potential, unnecessary stress and an unfulfilled life.
What then is your purpose in life? Why is purpose so important for us? Because purpose always produces passion. I was looking at a book that I have read over and over again – ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren; forty days of purpose. Purpose always produces passion. And people with passion are people who know what they are doing and have excitement, goals and enjoy life. Nothing energizes like a clear purpose. On the other hand, passion dissipates when you lack purpose.
George Bernard Shaw wrote, “This is the true joy of life; being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
You have purpose – at a macro level in your company; at a micro focused level in your own life. You have purpose, because purpose produces passion and passion fuels the things of our life which provide the zest and the excitement that we all need.
God Bless Us All.
Reference -
- Working With Meaning - London Business School / Business Strategy Review
- More on Collective Ambition Compass from IEDP
- Peter F Drucker on Wikipedia
- T.T. Ram Mohan's Blog - The Big Picture
- Thomas Charlyle on Wikipedia
- Bible Job 5:2 in different versions
- Rick Warren's - Purpose Drive Life Resource Page
- George Bernard Shaw on Wikipedia
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