Finding Your Organization’s Purpose

Purpose is one of three fundamentals for what it takes for an organization to become "Teal", along with Wholeness and Self-Management.

Purpose is vital for all organizations looking to become something better, not just to make money, but to make an impact.

Experts around the world have been saying and showing what they mean by "purpose" for years, each calling it something different.

Simon Sinek, the de facto expert on meaningful purpose, which he calls the "Why", sometimes describes it as: "The one constant that will guide you toward fulfillment in your work and life."

Reinventing Organizations, the book which made "Teal" a worldwide concept, describes purpose as: "The deepest creative potential to bring something new to life, to contribute something energetically, valuably to the world."

And Morning Star, one of the most successful examples of how a company can self-manage, revolves every piece of their organization around its "Mission Statement" (talked about in detail below).

What Is Purpose?

Whether you call it a why, mission statement, BHAG, or something else, a purpose always comes out with the same intent -

What good do you want your organization to do in the world?

A purpose means you are doing what you do for more of a reason than simply making money.

You don't want to do work just so that you can make money. Rather, you want to make money so that you can accomplish something grand.

Making money is important and necessary, but it should be a byproduct of work, not the goal.

Why Is Purpose Important?

Purpose is not just a new-age, fancy-sounding word that makes you popular. It has real meaning and value behind it.

Build a Team with Values

First, it helps you, your hiring, and your branding by separating you from most companies.

Most people inherently want to contribute to something larger than themselves - something that makes a real difference and adds value to the world.

By making it known you are striving for something greater, employees and customers will join you in the journey because they want to be part of helping you succeed.

They resonate with your mission, and that will mean just as much to them as the quality of your product and service.

Sense of Direction

Furthermore, purpose can provide a lot of direction for all levels of your company. We will look at the aforementioned Morning Star mission statement for guidance.

Their mission statement is (in short):

"To produce tomato products and services which consistently achieve the quality and service expectations of our customers in a cost effective, environmentally responsible manner."

The company has a mission, and every department within the company has a mission which is clearly a portion of accomplishing that.

Their engineers don't just try to use the newest and coolest equipment - they aim for equipment that lowers cost-effectiveness, improves quality, and is more environmentally responsible.

Their client contracts aren't just focused on making the company money, but achieving the service and quality expectations of their customers.

Everything they do in every department, in every interaction, uses the company mission statement as a compass to help them make the right decisions.

Finding Your Organization's Purpose

There are lots of tips and strategies on how to find your purpose and many different techniques that all work for different people.

Below, we've provided some of the best resources we know of to help you figure out how to discover your own purpose and put it into words.

Don’t have time to go through all these resources now? We’ve included them all in a free PDF you can download at the end of this post for future reference.

On the Importance of Purpose

Matt Dunsmoor, who trained others on Holacracy at Zappos.com and worked with Simon Sinek, talks about the importance of purpose.

How To Find Your Why And Communicate Your Purpose

This is a great article that explains how to think about purpose, how to find yours, and how to write it in a way that provides direction and is clear to outsiders. This is an incredibly valuable article!

If you’d like to hear from the “WHY” expert himself, check out this interview of Simon Sinek by Jordan Jarbinger. Pro tip: the transcript is available below the podcast stream if that’s more convenient for you.

Avoid Common Pitfalls

Matt Dunsmoor again with an article about things you strongly want to consider and be aware of before you try making "Purpose" an important part of your organization.

Find Inspiration

As ever when learning about and discussing “Teal”, the Reinventing Organizations’ Wiki is a great source of inspiration.

It includes numerous examples of organizations that have found their purpose.

How to Define Your Organization's Purpose in Holaspirit

Purpose is important, so Holaspirit makes sure every member sees the organization's purpose on the main screen.

If you wish to define or update your organization's purpose in the Holaspirit app, you can do see by following the instructions in this article and editing the Purpose field.

Next Step: Finding Your Organizational Model

Now that you've defined your organization's purpose, it's time to move on to the next step: finding an organizational model. This framework will help you clarify how work is organized, how authority is distributed and how decisions are taken in your organization. Implementing an organizational model is thus a great way to get everyone aligned and make sure people everyone is working toward the same purpose. So, what are the best organizational models out there? Which one is the best fit for your organization? And how can you implement it? Download our white paper to know more 👇

Access White Paper

In our white paper "The Ultimate Guide to Organizational Models", you'll get: a comprehensive overview of innovative organizational models (like Agile, Teal, Holacracy, Constitutional Management, and more), testimonials from pioneer organizations that have successfully adopted it, best practices for choosing, implementing and measuring the effectiveness of our model, as well as digital tools to facilitate the transition.