Purpose in Context:

In our previous article, the first of our three part series, we explained that in order for purpose to drive performance, a company needed a purpose that was authentic, aligned and advanced. These are the components that enable a company to engage its people in realizing their potential, collectively attaining peak performance and delivering meaningful social impact. Understanding this is critical to putting purpose into action, as our next article will explore. But, if your company doesn’t yet have a clearly defined purpose, how do you discover it and then articulate it in a way that resonates and is clearly understood?

To clearly articulate your company’s purpose we recommend using our Purpose Discovery Model which provides a simple methodology for leaders to implement, along with our 5 characteristics of an effective purpose statement.

Discovering your purpose:

Some ground rules –

Firstly, it is important to state that every company has a purpose, just as every individual has a purpose. To be clear, a purpose can be effectively embedded at any stage in a company’s existence but first it has to be unearthed, i.e. discovered, then articulated.

Secondly, purpose needs to be people driven. In other words is has to be real, alive, something employees exhibit & embrace. While it may not be realistic that every employee will be actively living the company’s purpose, it is fair to suggest that the most effective purposes would be those that demonstrate common good through collective input. As a result, discovering a company’s purpose, starts with engaging its people in that process. While it may be logical to start with leadership, it needs to embrace every level within the organization to reflect the reality of the organizational system and, in our work, would also include key organizational stakeholders external to the company itself. Further, given the critical contribution people play in discovering, defining and delivering the company purpose – in our work – we spend time not only discovering company purpose but also individual purpose. We firmly believe that in order to attain and sustain peak performance, a company needs to be operating at the intersection of both.

Lastly, before we dig into the process, it is important to consider purpose within the broader context of the company’s brand promise. While there are various frameworks and methodologies to this, there clearly needs to be alignment between the company’s purpose, mission, vision, values, principles, ambitions and operating priorities. So, the purpose discovery model outlined below should be conducted alongside a review of, or at least, with reference to this brand promise.

So how do you discover purpose?

Essentially, discovering purpose is like discovering most things below the surface – you ask a series of what and why open questions, to dig deep. We have a range of questions we typically use, although we also encourage you to come up with your own, but to help ensure you’re asking the right questions, you need a game plan. Our model has been adapted from the Japanese concept of Ikigai which stands for ‘reason for being’, which was recently popularized in a book entitled Ikigai The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life[1]. For reference, the individual model is widely available online (type Ikigai, search by image) and forms the basic structure for our Company Purpose Discovery Model, below:

So, where do you begin? Start by asking the 4 headline questions, which frame the process of ‘dig-deeper’ questioning you would undertake:

1) What do we love?

2) What impact do we want to leave in the world?

3) What drives our profit?

4) What are we best at?

As the model demonstrates, there are three levels of intersecting circles but only in the last are all four components overlapping (let’s call this Level 3 – the bullseye at the center of the model).  Level 3 of the model therefore represents the company’s purpose. It is here, at the center where that is the epicenter of experiences through which employees individually realize their potential, and collectively, the company attains peak performance and delivers meaningful social impact.

As it is helpful for designing your discovery questions, the other two levels of intersection, as described in the model are worth understanding further, too:

Level One (two intersecting circles): These four intersections reflect employees’ passion, the meaning they derive from the work, the company mission (what and how you do what we do) and the value you deliver to your clients or customers. So, thinking of questions, workshop activities, practical examples, experiences and memories that represent these areas is a good second level of questioning to undertake.

Level Two (three intersecting circles): This is where things get tricky because at this level, the company is so close, certainly demonstrating some valuable benefits whether it be to employees, owners, customers or society but not being in a position to sustain that benefit or satisfy all its key stakeholders, because one thing is missing. This is where questioning can become more specific and also where there is material value from engaging multiple levels of employees and a selection of key organizational stakeholders. We are firm believers in the value of collaboration in discovering purpose.

Now, once you have discovered the magic and essence of your purpose, you want to do it justice by clearly articulating it. It should go without saying that it needs to meet the AAA Purpose test from our last article. Moreover, we have 5 suggested characteristics you should focus on in order to do your discovery work, full justice. Check out our next short article for these purpose articulation must-dos.

[1] Authors Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles (2017).