Purpose is essential when working in a team.
It can improve the quality of work,
the efficiency of the team, and the overall satisfaction
of team members.
But there is often something missing
in the discussion of purpose.
As much as we praise its virtues,
we may overlook some of its critical mechanics,
the how and the why.
Ernest Shackleton was a polar explorer
who lived from 1874 to 1922.
He's especially known for the Shackleton add,
a startling call for the bravest men
to join him on his expedition to Antarctica.
This guy was as intense as they come.
He was the kind of strong personality who led by example
and guided his team through extreme danger.
As Shackleton was preparing for an exploratory voyage
to the Arctic, he purportedly ran an ad in a London newspaper
that went like this.
"Men wanted for hazardous journey, low wages,
bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness,
safe return doubtful, honor and recognition
in event of success."
For someone accustomed to the comforts
of a modern environment, those phrases
don't sound particularly inviting,
but somehow there's something primally alluring about the ad.
Is it that we crave dark days, extreme cold,
and the likelihood of dying in the Arctic tundra?
No.
It's that we crave purpose and meaning.
Purpose matters now as much as it
has throughout human history.
Most humans desire to live their lives in pursuit of something
bigger than themselves.
If the greatest motivation in our day
is the promise of spending a few evening hours basking
in the glow of our 75 inch 4K Ultra HD television,
then we probably lack a greater purpose in life.
Living life with the absence of purpose
is a recipe for discouragement and disillusionment.
Purpose is one of the most fundamental of all human needs,
and it matters for things that you care about in your job.
Simon Sinek's famous TED Talk makes it plain
that business without purpose is fruitless.
His golden circle model puts the "why"
at the very center of life and work.
In any work environment, those who do the work
must understand the purpose for which they work.
If your organization lacks purpose,
you're essentially telling your workers
we don't really care what the business is all about,
we care that you're here to fill a desk and do what you're told.
Now obviously, no sane manager would say that.
Such is the effect, however, that lack of purpose
has organizationally.
It's not enough to possess a corporate purpose or mission
statement, you must take that purpose
and use its power in your daily work.
Here's how.
A true purpose is one that rewards the team as a whole,
not merely high-achieving individual contributors.
Our fascination with heroes like Batman,
Superman, or James Bond, reflect our penchant
for rugged individualism, one man or woman
who can bring down malicious government,
save entire civilizations, and make the world a better place.
This belief in the power of individualism
spills over into business, creating catastrophic results
for productivity and purpose.
Some businesses are built on a faulty foundation where
the soloist, a single overachiever or the loan ladder
climber deserves the rewards.
This kind of environment is an environment bereft
of a collective purpose.
Harvard Business Review Contributor Mark Bonchek
writes, "It's hard enough to find a purpose in life
if you're an individual, let alone an entire company."
Many people find their individual purpose
in religious belief or social good.
That's valid and worthy.
In a work situation, the purpose must
be connected to the other members
within the organization.
When a purpose requires the contribution
of a team as a whole, it inevitably
improves collaboration.
Much of the discussion of collaboration
centers around technology, what tools, software,
and SAS products can provide the best collaboration.
The answer is tools, software, and SAS products
facilitate team collaboration, but they don't produce it.
Meaningful collaboration occurs when
a team is driven by purpose.
And when that purpose requires the involvement of others.
In other words, a shared purpose drives
productivity and collaboration.
A business' purpose doesn't have to be grandiose or world
changing, but it should be something
that the entire business can embrace.
That way, the team can work together
to achieve goals that no individual could
achieve by themselves.
It's easy to think that if you can just
find the right purpose, things will take care of themselves.
Employees will find their motivation,
productivity will increase, and team members will be fulfilled.
In reality, a truly powerful purpose
needs someone to carry that purpose forward,
a strong and capable leader.
This doesn't mean that the leader needs
to be a Type A extrovert who is outspoken about the purpose,
instead it requires that the leader themselves
be the one whose actions and decisions
are guided by that purpose.
When a leader acts from purpose, the employees
will recognize this and be able to align their own work
behavior and contributions with that purpose.
Being productive is a good thing.
We're champions for hacks and techniques
that can channel your energy and improve your work,
but being productive just for the sake of being productive
is completely pointless.
Why?
Because such productivity is detached from purpose.
This is precisely where many businesses go wrong.
They attempt to improve productivity,
but they fail to understand how team productivity increases.
And how does team productivity improve?
It improves when the team has a shared purpose.
In a 2014 article, The Guardian published this information,
"A growing number of businesses are
learning that employee satisfaction and employee
productivity go hand-in-hand."
If your employees aren't happy, then why
would they be productive?
This introduces the next logical question, how can you
improve employee happiness?
The answer requires purpose, according to Aaron Hurst.
"Employee happiness hinges largely on a sense of purpose.
I've seen it over and over.
What people want from their careers
are things that help them boost purpose in their lives."
Call it happiness if you want.
Whatever it is, it's rooted in purpose.
Purpose fuels productivity.
We all want more productive teams.
A productive team can raise profit margins,
reduce delays, beat deadlines, and earn more revenue.
These are wonderful things that every organization
would enjoy more of.
Achieving productivity, however, is more than a matter
of a few smart inbox hacks or time management tools.
Achieving productivity means defining an organization's
shared purpose and finding motivation in that purpose.
Once you do that, you're hyper-productive team
will emerge.
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