CHAPTER SEVEN

STEP 1 Envision the Purpose-Driven Organization

For years our friend Horst Abraham has made a practice of visiting inmates in prison. He was surprised to learn that the prisoners he has visited were less likely to return to prison than prisoners in formal recovery programs. We asked him, “Why do they do better?”

In responding to this question, he told us he sees prisoners as human beings who are full of potential. To help us understand, he shared a note he received from one of the men he visits.

I don’t know whether you know, I always look forward to my contact with you. It is a lifeline. I look forward to take pen to paper and write to you, as I know you are listening. Your replies are consistently “more questions,” not advice such as we get plenty of from prison guards, counselors and clergy, just curious questions. Our exchange makes me think about life and its greater meaning beyond these walls, thought walls that are even more confining than the cement walls. Thanks for being my pen pal. Your writing provides me with “oxygen.”

Thought Walls

We are all prisoners. We are confined within our “thought walls.” We each have a set of beliefs we have accumulated from experience. In this book we refer to these beliefs or assumptions as “the conventional mind-set.” The conventional mind-set leads authority figures to give advice. People of purpose, like Horst, tend to let go of the expert role. They seek to inspire learning and nurture the rise of meaning. Success in the endeavor leads to empowerment and freedom from one’s own thought walls.

Two things can challenge and pull us out of the conventional mind-set. One is crisis and the other is the choice to reflect on experience in a disciplined way. Horst helps people make the latter choice.

One way to change perception so people can see beyond thought walls is to expose them to positive exceptions to the rule. Consider this July 2015 blog post by Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs, about an experience he had at a Hampton Inn:

I left my hotel room this morning to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, and saw part of a man standing in the hallway. His feet were on a ladder. The rest of him was somewhere in the ceiling.

I introduced myself, and asked what he [was] doing. Along with satisfying my natural curiosity, it seemed a good way to delay my appointment with gravity, which I was in no hurry to keep. His name is Corey Mundle. . . . We quickly got to talking.

“Well Mike, here’s the problem,” he said. “My pipe has a crack in it, and now my hot water is leaking into my laundry room. I’ve got to turn off my water, replace my old pipe, and get my new one installed before my customers notice there’s a problem.”

I asked if he needed a hand, and he told me the job wasn’t dirty enough. We laughed, and Corey asked if he could have a quick photo. I said sure, assuming he’d return the favor. He asked why I wanted a photo of him, and I said it was because I liked his choice of pronouns.

“I like the way you talk about your work,” I said. “It’s not, ‘the’ hot water, it’s ‘MY’ hot water. It’s not, ‘the’ laundry room, it’s ‘MY’ laundry room. It’s not ‘a’ new pipe, it’s ‘MY’ new pipe. Most people don’t talk like that about their work. Most people don’t own it.”

Corey shrugged and said, “This is not ‘a’ job; this is ‘MY’ job. I’m glad to have it, and I take pride in everything I do.”

He didn’t know it, but Corey’s words made my job a little easier that day. Because three hours later, when I was trying to work up the courage to leap out of a perfectly good airplane, I wasn’t thinking about pulling the ripcord on the parachute—I was thinking about pulling MY ripcord. On MY parachute.⁴⁸

Corey Mundle is a purpose-driven employee. Instead of minimizing effort like the typical agent, he takes ownership. The fact that he and other people like him exist is important. When we’re coaching executives on how to do purpose work in their organizations, we often tell them, “If it is real, it is possible.” If you can find one positive example—a person, a team, a unit, that exceeds the norms—you can create a sense of hope by helping people examine the excellence that already exists. Look for excellence. Examine the purpose that drives the excellence. Then imagine a purpose-driven workforce.

When we learn to do as the prisoner did and “think about life and its greater meaning,” we increase in understanding. We often acquire a sense of purpose. As we pursue a higher purpose, we open up to feedback. As we move forward shaping the future, we begin to discard old beliefs. As we grow, we gain a sense of empowerment. Like the prisoner, we begin to feel free.

One purpose of this book is to invite the reader to take a more inclusive view of organizations and leadership and ponder how to create a purpose-driven organization. So in each chapter in part 2 we state a conventional assumption and follow it with an assumption from the inclusive perspective and a counterintuitive step for building an organization of higher purpose. The first step is: Envision the purpose-driven organization.

Breaking Down Thought Walls

We recently had a collective experience like the individual experience reported by Horst. We worked with a major company that tends to have a narrow focus on profit. Managers tend to be cynical. In the first day of a leadership program, we introduced the executives to higher purpose and the acquisition of the inclusive, positive lens. They were not buying it.

They shared arguments of learned helplessness. It became apparent that the thought walls were thick. They told us, “The culture is determined from the top. I can’t do anything about it.” They also said, “We can only respond to the culture. There is no opportunity to exercise positive leadership in a top-down company.”

The Power of Inquiry

We asked them to do an exercise. We divided them into four groups and gave each group a question:

   What is the difference between a good conversation and a great conversation?

   What is the difference between a good marriage and a great marriage?

   What is the difference between a good team and a great team?

   What is the difference between a good organization and a great organization?

We gave the groups time to discuss their experiences and asked each group to make a list that answered their given question. Here are their answers:

What is the difference between a good conversation and a great conversation?

   Both people are completely engaged and present.

   The conversation is highly energized.

   Both parties feel emotionally and intellectually stimulated.

   There is a sense of mutual inspiration, discovery, and creation.

   Each person leaves with more than they brought.

   The memory is vivid, and there is a desire for more.

What is the difference between a good marriage and a great marriage?

   The relationship is rich.

   There is mindfulness and attention to little things that create respect, empathy, and trust.

   There is mutual understanding and oneness; there is a mind meld.

   Conflicts are resolvable.

   Partners operate around shared values.

   Both partners are continually growing.

What is the difference between a good team and a great team?

   There is a shared purpose or vision.

   Team members feel challenged and engaged. They even challenge themselves.

   Team members are passionate.

   There is diversity, but it is integrated.

   Trust and collaboration are high.

   Team members enjoy doing what they do.

   There is a sense of high achievement.

   There is impact beyond the immediate team.

What is the difference between a good organization and a great organization?

   There is deep purpose in the existence of the organization.

   The intent is shared.

   The people willingly contribute their energy.

   There is synergy. The organization is greater than the sum of the parts.

   There is continual learning, adaptation, and innovation.

   There is a sense of impact and success.

   The organization develops an extra dimension; it becomes a magnet that attracts resources.

An Emergent Vision

We congratulated the executives on their thoughtful responses. We then asked them to look at the four lists they had constructed and create a new list. We asked, What does excellence look like in any social system? After much discussion they proposed the following:

   A higher purpose emerges.

   The people become committed to shared values.

   The people become energized, fully engaged, and they want to contribute.

   There is integrity.

   There is respect, and the people begin to trust each other.

   Egos fall off and conversations are more honest, vulnerable, and authentic.

   Mutuality increases. Everyone shares and everyone is heard.

   Ideas are built on one another.

   Conversations become both passionate and logical; they are inspirational and generative.

   Individual differences are integrated, and the sharing becomes synergistic.

   The conversations produce new resources.

   Learning becomes constant. Individuals and relationships are growing and evolving.

   Potential is actualized.

   Outcomes exceed expectations.

   The results matter; there is a culture of success.

   The success breeds success, it is inspiring, and it attracts new resources.

We asked the executives if they believed in their theory of excellence. They said they did. We told them that their theory was an emergent vision. We asked them where their vision came from. Had we given it to them? They said no—they had collectively drawn on their experiences and on their mutual discussions of those experiences.

We asked the executives to identify the implications of what they had just created.

They paused, and then a golden moment unfolded. They recognized, despite all their statements of helplessness and disbelief, that social excellence emerges from time to time in a variety of settings. It emerges often enough they could even describe it.

We asked the executives if excellence is attractive. Would they like to live in great conversations, great marriages, great teams, and great organizations? They replied in the affirmative. We told them that if excellence is real, that is, if it occurs in the world, excellence is possible. So the question is, How do you create excellence in any context, including their conversations, marriages, teams, and organizations?

Creating Excellence

We told them that two things tend to bring about social excellence. One is crisis and the other is genuine leadership. Not management, but leadership. This statement was painful. It suggested they were not leading.

A quiet woman raised her hand. She timidly told us that her unit had all the characteristics of excellence. We pressed her for details, and she told an impressive tale about her unit. We asked the group if they believed her. After all, everyone knew it was impossible to create excellence in their harsh, top-down company.

Two others came forward with similar claims. We asked for insights. One of the two said, “Creating a positive, purpose-driven unit is hard, but the payoffs are high; everyone wins. Why lead in any other way?”

This strongly expressed, unexpected statement brought a thoughtful silence. The group had come a long way from their initial statements of helplessness. Like the prisoner, they were breaking down their own thought walls. We were preparing them to envision and create a positive, purpose-driven organization.

A Visioning Exercise

In workshops, participants often ask something like this: “In practical terms, what is a positive, purpose-driven organization?” We no longer answer. Instead, we invite them to create their own vision. We put them through the following brief exercise. You may find it helpful.

We ask people to think about their organization as a dynamic system that ebbs and flows over time. We then ask them to focus not on the typical points but on one of the most extreme points: “What is your organization like when it is at its best? Please write some key words.”

With their list in hand, they examine the checklist that appears in the Getting Started section at the end of this chapter. They then identify any phrase or word that they want to add to their existing list of key words.

With their expanded list in mind, they write their own vision of what their unit might look like if it was functioning at full potential. We emphasize that they should write only what they believe is possible, and they should write it in a language that can be understood by all. They then write a strategy that might turn their unit into a positive, purpose-driven organization.

The process of writing tends to have high impact. The participants create an unconventional image that they find believable. The process shifts their minds from what cannot be done to what they believe can be done. They end up inspiring themselves. As one participant said, “Writing this changes everything. I want to try some things I’ve never before imagined.”

In some programs, we spend an entire week exploring how to create a positive, purpose-driven organization. In the example of the group we worked with, the group came to an inspiring outcome.

As the participants were sharing their insights, a man raised his hand. He said, “I am going to say something I never thought I would say. I came into this week genuinely pissed off at the senior leaders of this company. Now my anger is gone. I realize that they do not matter. Regardless of how they act, I can lead. I can clarify our highest purpose and create a positive organization, and that is what I am going to do.”

There was silence in the room. This executive had just become the voice of a subset of the group. He did not express the voice of helplessness. Some of the executives were now seeing beyond their own thought walls. They were envisioning the purpose-driven organization. Bob walked over and gave this man a high five.

Summary

The principal–agent model focuses on the role of explicit contracts, and organizations spend a great deal of time and money in designing incentive contracts to produce the desired behavior by their employees. This model makes it hard for leaders to believe that their employees can be motivated by higher purpose to do things that are not contractually rewarded. However, for leaders to take higher purpose seriously, they must imagine an unimaginable organization of excellence in which people are purpose-driven, sacrifice for the common good, and collaborate beyond expectations. The first counterintuitive step in creating a purpose-driven organization is thus to drop the assumption that employees cannot be inspired by higher purpose and to envision a purpose-driven organization.

Getting Started: Tools and Exercises

To envision a purpose-driven organization, try the exercise described in this chapter. Identify some key people from different parts of your organization, and ask them to engage with you in the following way:

First make a list of words or phrases that describe the organization at its best. Then examine the following checklist. Identify other words and phrases that capture aspects of your aspiration. When you are done, write a paragraph that describes what you believe is possible. Share and integrate your visions. In doing this, you help your people envision the purpose-driven organization.

Checklist: The Positive, Purpose-Driven Organization

MEANINGFUL INTENT

   We have a higher purpose.

   We have a shared vision.

   We are driven by a strategic plan.

   We are pursuing possibilities we believe in.

SPONTANEOUS CONTRIBUTION

   We surrender our self-interest.

   We sacrifice for the common good.

   We spontaneously give of ourselves.

   Our ego goals become contribution goals.

FULL ENGAGEMENT

   We care about what we are doing.

   We are engaged in our purpose.

   We are giving all we have.

   We are fully committed to our purpose.

FULL INCLUSION

   We make the outliers feel invited in.

   We see the obstinate people beginning to believe.

   We all feel like we belong.

   We lose no energy dealing with resisters.

POSITIVE PEER PRESSURE

   We see more positive norms emerge.

   Our expectations align with the purpose.

   Negative peer pressure becomes positive.

   Peers confront the underperformers.

COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS

   We have a win-win mentality.

   Our competition becomes collaboration.

   Our teamwork is natural.

   We become a dynamic whole.

CREATIVE EFFORT

   We try new ideas.

   We take intelligent risks.

   We improvise.

   We make discoveries as we move forward.

POSITIVE REGARD

   We use affirming language.

   We do not judge anyone.

   We express positive appreciation.

   We value one another.

SHARED VULNERABILITY

   We share personal vulnerability.

   We reveal our own mistakes.

   We ask questions when we fail to understand.

   We ask one another for help.

CONSTRUCTIVE CONFRONTATION

   We see truth as more important than power.

   We communicate in an authentic way.

   We share what we really feel.

    We respectfully challenge ideas.

SPONTANEOUS LEADERSHIP

   Our leadership emerges spontaneously.

   Our leadership moves from person to person.

   Each of us leads as appropriate.

   Each of us initiates as needed.

COLLECTIVE LEARNING

   We co-create learning.

   We piggyback on to one another’s contributions.

   We create a shared mind-set.

   We feel we can figure out anything.

TIME DISCIPLINE

   We maintain a quick pace.

   We keep to our planned schedules.

   We deliver results on a timely basis.

   We persist as needed to meet deadlines.

RECOGNIZABLE SUCCESS

   We experience recognizable success.

   We receive praise from those we serve.

   We attract new business.

   Outsiders want to work with us.

JOYFUL ACHIEVEMENT

   We take joy in our outcomes.

   We infect one another with positive energy.

   Our growth creates enthusiasm.

   We love the work.

ATTRACTION OF RESOURCES

   Our success breeds success.

   New people want to work for us.

   New customers flow to us.

   Our work is in high demand