Hack:
How a dictatorship over corporate purpose sets everyone free

By Tom Nixon - Founder at NixonMcInnes

September 1, 2013 at 11:51am

purpose

founder

source

Vision

mission

Moonshots

Redefine the work of leadership

Expand the scope of employee autonomy

Reinvent the means of control

Summary

The most successful companies have a higher purpose beyond profit and shareholder value. Yet many companies are adrift, without knowing why they exist. So how does a company find its purpose? And how can we align an entire organisation behind an authentic purpose, without crafting a statement so watered-down to satisfy everyone that it inspires nobody?

Problem

Solution

My colleague Peter Koenig has discovered through over 60 workshops with founders, that in all businesses, the search for purpose starts with a single founder - what he calls the 'source'. Even when it appears that 'we' created a business (like Apple’s Jobs & Wozniak), when you unravel it there's always one person, the source, who took the first risk which started the venture.

A new venture is born the moment the source takes that first risk. And the risk is an expression of a need the source feels deeply. It could be a need for adventure, creative expression, freedom, power or justice. There are an unlimited number of possibilities, but there's always a need which becomes embedded into the company's DNA from the beginning, intrinsically tied to the source.

So the key to finding higher purpose in a company - even democratic one - is not a job for a group. The purpose is already there in its DNA, being served consciously or unconsciously. Once the purpose is truthfully articulated and communicated, everyone in the organisation can be set free because they understand the creative field in which the company exists - the need it must satisfy. With this creative field clearly defined, others can start and run their own initiatives as sub-sources within it - with full autonomy - that support the source’s need, and find ways in which their individual needs might align with the purpose to create truly fulfilling, meaningful work for all.

Practical Impact

This gives everyone in the company the ability to contribute to its purpose because the direction of the orgainisation is completely clear. People understand what's in and what's out so they spend far less time asking for permission and resorting to hierarchy to make decisions. This leads to:

Agility: New initiatives are started much faster in response to new ideas, customer needs and external trends;
Creativity: With a clear purpose to work towards, creativity is unlocked and people can use their unique talents and ideas to contribute to the company;
Engagement: By creating a high level of autonomy and connection to a higher purpose, work becomes meaningful and fulfilling, leading to better results;
Better resourcing: As new initiatives explicitly start with individual needs, people can be allocated to projects based on how much they have invested in those needs being met.

Challenges

Discovering who the source of the company is, and what need the company is satisfying can seem like a scary idea, and even appear threatening if the person with the formal authority in the company isn't the source. There may be resistance to accepting who has the creative authority to dictate the purpose of the company.

In our experience, this challenge can be overcome by a group storytelling exercise to play back the history of the company. It becomes apparent very quickly who the source is and what their need was, and rather than it feeling like a threat or problem, it actually creates a huge sense of relief and clarity. It will often explain why their have been tensions and frustration in the company. It de-personalises these problems because they're not really about the players involved, but the lack of clarity about whose need the initiative is trying to satisfy.

First Steps

The search for purpose begins by identifying the source of the company. Don't look on the org chart because it's not about formal power. You'll find the source by asking people to tell you the story of how the company started, and who took the first risk. Then working with the source you wind back the clock to identify the moment when the first risk was taken that started the venture. The need that was being expressed through taking this risk is the purpose of the company. It might not be the same as your marketing message, but it will be truthful.

Once the source and the purpose are clear, they must be clearly communicated to the whole company. The purpose isn't up for debate - it's in the company's DNA and exerts a force on the company whether people like it or not. But whilst this is very dictatorial, the paradox is that it actually sets everyone free. With the company's purpose clear as the true north of the initiative, a wave of creativity can be unleashed, finding new ways to serve the purpose, understanding how individual talents contribute to the whole, and how the individual needs of others are served by their contribution to the initiative.

Materials

More about the role of Source:

My collaborators in this entry: Peter Koenig who developed the theory with the help of Charlie Davies.

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November 28, 2013 at 2:08am

Peter Koenig

@Martin Schillig
There's nothing in the principles related to the Source person (founder) which suggests that his or her purpose does not evolve over time.
What remains static/fixed are the values. If/when there's a departure from the originating core values there's confusion.

October 28, 2013 at 7:02am

Martin Schillig

I really enjoyed reading “The biggest truth about leadership that you didn’t know”. I think it makes very much sense to take the "source" into consideration. However, I question if the „source“ is as important as the concept describes. Isn’t the source closely related to the initial business purpose? Personally, I don’t think that the business purpose has to be static over time – Every business started for a certain purpose but it can change and adjust to different requirements.