What is the point?
There is a lot of talk these days about ‘brand purpose’ and the need for everything to have meaning. So much so, that it’s guaranteed to cause a few eyes to roll, and ears to close, especially among the more ‘old school’ colleagues who have become accustomed to focusing on the job that needs doing, rather than why it needs doing in the first place.
Organisational purpose has become a buzzword, and in so doing, it has somehow managed to perfectly exemplify how organisational purpose can, and is, so easily lost.
You see, the idea of an organisation having a purpose is actually really important. No one would ever bother to set up, or invest in, a business that was pointless. It makes no sense and will almost certainly make very little money. But, over the years of trading, competing, operationalising, optimizing, and navigating a path through the many challenges of simply ‘being’ in business, it’s all too common for businesses to lose sight of why they were set up in the first place.
To cut through some of the eye rolling and ear closing that happens when consultants just like me ask about organisational purpose, I often reframe the question and ask more plainly “what is the point, of what you do?”. This more tangible and practical approach can stop business leaders and team members in their track. A simple reframing that makes you stop and think in much simpler terms – it’s not about having a lofty ‘brand purpose’, but it is about having a job to do that fulfils a need for someone else, with so great an upside that they are willing to pay you for it. There is usually an obvious answer – we provide heat, light, food, shelter, but then so do a lot of other things, so that’s when you have to dig little deeper.
Clay Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor identified this in his ‘Jobs to be done’ study when he identified that a MacDonald milkshake isn’t actually competing with another fast-food chain’s milkshake, but actually with chocolate and bagels. The job that milkshake was doing was at times more emotional than it was physical. It’s often not the product that people need, it’s a solution to a unique set of physical AND emotional needs that they have, which can be met by your product or any number of other things. So, when we challenge again on “what is the point?” we aim to go deeper. That’s where we connect with the true value that a brand is creating. We tap into the physical, emotional, social, and economic drivers of where your brand really adds value. Its only when we hear a detailed response that talks to need, want, and setting, and considers customers personal values, choices, affordability, and access that we know a brand really understands why they exist.
Typical questions we ask a business to help identify their own purpose include things like:
Why was your organisation set up in the first place?
Who was your organisation set up to serve? And who is your actual customer?
What makes someone choose your product? And when don’t they choose your product?
How does your customer use your product or service? And who do they use it with?
How does your product or service make your customer feel?
In what context is it most used/bought? Alone? When entertaining? With friends? At work?
7What do you / does your business want to achieve, at a macro social level?
If the answers to all these questions are aligned and focused, then congratulations. If not, don’t worry, you are no different to many other organisations out there, but it may be time to reconnect with the big questions around why you started in the first place, what you hope to achieve, and then unify what you do with why you do it.
For us at Cogent Action, we started out in business because want to join the greatest fight in our generation, the fight against climate change. Within that, we saw a growing number of business leaders wanting to act but struggling to make the transition from carbon intensive operating models to cleaner brighter future focussed organisations. We talked at length with business leaders who knew they needed to do something, but either didn’t know what or were so busy staying in business that they needed help navigating and wayfinding.
Between Scott and I we have a depth of experience in decarbonising and growing organisations. Our whole team actually are inherently ‘guide’ oriented – i.e. we find joy in helping others achieve, and we are pragmatic optimists – we believe we can make a difference and will leave the world in a better place as a result of our work, supporting sustainable business. Beyond that, we are parents. We hope to leave our children with a healing planet, a robust economy, the opportunity for gainful employment and access to what they need for a healthy and happy life.