Purpose is the Cornerstone A hospital creating a healing environment for its patients; a mortgage bank enabling people to realize their dreams; an outdoor clothing manufacturer equipping people to work in the world. These organizations have purposes that engage and connect people. Their purposes speak to a higher meaning than the daily routine of meeting budgets and achieving production goals. Purpose provides a way for everyone to see how they connect to the larger whole. When people understand how they fit, a new sense of engagement and connection is created, and you see great things happen:
Who wouldn't want to work in such a place? Many organizations identify purpose by creating a business case for change-au very logical and "head- based." Leaders believe that logic will carry the day. While creating this case for change is a necessary first step, it does not create a purpose powerful enough to produce connection. Purpose must also connect to the yearnings in people's hearts. If a hospital has to cut 30 million out of its budget, that may be the logical reason for change, but it lacks meaning. "Improving healthcare so we care for people in the way we envisioned when we entered the profession" has meaning. An emergency room nurse spoke with great emotion about her experience treating trauma patients in the ER. "The trauma cases became pieces of meat to move along. I stopped seeing them as human beings. What we are proposing here, the organization change strategy, will allow me to feel human again, because I will be able to treat patients as human beings." She found meaning in a cost-cutting organizational change. Here are a few things we've learned that may help your clients create meaning and purpose for their enterprise. 1. Involve as much of the
organization as possible. 2. The process is as important
as the product. As the planning team goes out to engage the rest of the organization in the change effort, they internalize the purpose. It is a touchstone, something to check with, a direction. They know that together they have created this purpose. They believe that others can work together to create needed changes for the organization. They have done it so they know it works. In the process of doing this they have dealt with differences, told stories, used reflection, listened, brain-stormed, shared different roles, and learned about moving from part (them) to whole (total group). They have become aligned around their co-created purpose. 3. Revisit your purpose. This we have learned: Creating a compelling purpose is the cornerstone of any change process, in small or large groups. Building communities that are ready and willing to act requires a search for meaning. A purpose that appeals to our head (logic) heart (meaning) and hands (one in which we can actively participate) produces engagement and connection. This is a formidable task for leaders. They must risk widening the circle of involvement, connecting people to each other and ideas, embracing the democratic principles of equity and fairness. Nevertheless those who have stayed the course report that it is a task well worth doing. Questions that uncover purpose
and meaning Different for myself? How can I find meaning for me in this process, and leave space for you to find meaning to? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Axelrod Group, 723 Laurel Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091 Phone: 847.251.7361 Fax: 847.251.7370
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