The illustration for this note, ‘Sword of Purpose’, comes from the highly developed work of Wylie Beckert who posts on DeviantArt as ‘Wylielise‘.  I would strongly recommend anyone with the slightest interest in visual art to visit her website to see the magic she has created and reflect on the skill and care she brings to each work of art.  She writes the following comment to this work:

“If I could give any gift, unfettered by the logistics of time, I would give my younger self the bright sword of purpose, and with it a warning:

“this is unwieldy and it will weigh you down, but carry it close, and guard it. There are those who would take it from you, and you will not survive without it.”

It would have saved her many lost years, and a great deal of wandering.

Sadly, the drifting continents of time have carried my past self away, empty-handed and purposeless; and so the sword must find another bearer. I will carry it for now, keeping it safe for whoever needs it next.”

Have you found your ‘sword of purpose’?

Purpose – Why are you in business?

Do you have a clear purpose in your organisation? Does everyone in your organisation have the same view of your purpose? A clear statement of purpose provides focus for activities in your teams. Your purpose statement describes who you are and what you do in a way that breathes life into your planning and execution.

In developing a purpose statement I like to use the ‘Business Concept’ developed by Jim Collins.

Your business concept is a simple, crystal clear concept coming from a deep understanding of the overlap between three circles:

• what are you deeply passionate about?
• what can you be the best at?
• what drives your economic engine?

When I use this in workshops I like to illustrate the components in the following way.

Purpose: Your passion

The first question is “What are you passionate about?” Not “what should be passionate about to succeed?” Or “What have we been told to be passionate about?” But what ignites your passion?

This is Dane Petersen ‘noseriding’ at Mailbu. Talking about the break, he said “…the way Malibu peels and bends down the point on an outgoing tide is absolutely flawless, and it’s got so many perfect nose-riding sections that it almost drives you nuts out of pure enjoyment. I remember having little heart palpitations as a kid because I would get so amped.”

I like to ask teams “What in this business gives you heart palpitations?”

Purpose: Best at

When you look at your industry and the capacities in your organisation, what can you be the best at? Jim Collins asks “…in the whole world?” But perhaps your universe of influence is smaller than this. Perhaps it is your continent, your country, even your town. The question will plumb your intent and also to gauge your reality. And thinking “in the whole world?” opens up areas of intent.

Looking at who you are, what is it that you can do better than anyone else around? What niche is not taken or unassailably defended?

This may be illustrated by the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad in the USA. The history makes an interesting read.

“Transcontinental railroad route”. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

Once the Golden Spike had been hammered in (actually there were two) there would be no new transcontinental railroad. For a while. However a glance at the USA railway map illustrates another rule governing ‘Best-At’.

Advantage (Blue Oceans) is rarely, if ever, unassailable and may need defending.

Purpose: One key measure

This thinking is extremely powerful. What one ratio or measure describes the economics underlying your business? Embracing this ratio will make you see your offer in a whole new light?

The example we probably all come across is when retailers moved from measuring profit per region, to profit per customer visit. The led them to carefully evaluate what customers were buying the most. What are the most popular ‘baskets”? “milk, bread and toilet paper’ is popular before snow-storms in the US. Google this to see the memes. The merchandisers put other attractive items en-route. .

Your business concept

The business concept is the statement that pulls together the three considerations of Passion, Wiring and Economic Denominator.

Notes on Business Concept

Jim Collins suggests that companies that went from good to great found was that companies who became great developed a clear sense of what they would focus on, and they stuck to it. He calls it ‘The Hedgehog Concept’. Clem Sunter argues that the foxes in business are more successful. Some of the 11 ‘Great’ companies no longer exist. Whatever! This model is useful in thinking about purpose.

Purpose – use the concept statement to fill it out

I like to supplement the concept thinking with an exercise to reflect on:

• Your target market
• You value proposition
• What is important to your organisation
• Your unique intellectual capital advantage
• The difference you make and why you matter
• What you want to achieve

All of this thinking can be distilled down into a single statement describing your purpose.