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conscious business
August 2009 
Purpose
Jeff Klein
"When the dust settles from this Armageddon, the only companies left standing are going to be the ones that stand for something that improves people’s lives.” ~ Roy Spence
Purpose is the essential, core, single underlying or overriding reason we move, as individuals and organizations. It is the big “why” underlying what we do. On the most basic biological level, we may be driven to survive and reproduce, yet that is hardly the purpose of our existence. In the words of Ed Freeman, author of the stakeholder model of business management, “We need red blood cells to live (the same way a business needs profits to live), but the purpose of life is not to make red blood cells (the same way the purpose of business is not to exist to make profits).”
Purpose is an activating, motivating, and animating force. It is what moves us to get up in the morning to dive into life with our full being. Purpose sustains us when times get tough, and serves as a guiding star when we stray off course.
Purpose is one of the three core principles of Conscious Business™ as articulated by John Mackey and Conscious Capitalism, Inc (aka FLOW). Knowing and embodying our purpose focuses our business’s products, services, and processes toward goals larger than just making money.
Purposeful people build purposeful companies. And purposeful people make an impact through whatever their work or role may be.
Jim Collins, author of the bestselling Built to Last and Good to Great, defines purpose as a company’s fundamental reason for being—its soul. In It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For, Roy Spence Jr. and Haley Rushing tell great stories of the power of purpose in the success of clients like Southwest Airlines (to democratize the airways: “Freedom to Fly”), Wal-Mart (to save people money so they can live better: “Save Money, Live Better”), and BMW (to enable people to experience the joy of driving: “Sheer Driving Pleasure”). Great companies with the most significant impact and influence invariably have clear and compelling purposes.
The same is true for great beings!
“This is the true joy in life—the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.... Life is no “brief candle” to me. It is sort of a splendid torch, which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
LINKS
It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For
The High Purpose Company by Christine Arena
Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
Access: Public
I've read a great deal about how symbolically-laden money is–for some people it represents freedom, for some security, for some power. Is it possible to honor money as (a measure of) purpose? Or does that seem the wrong direction to move in, and instead decoupling money and meaning (in an attempt to not confuse the two) is the better choice?
Hi Siona,
Great question/comment. Tami Simon (publisher of Sounds True) recently asked a similar question during our recent video podcast taping. Nancy Smith (a ST video producer) and I continued the conversation after the podcast taping, and came to this insight - that money (as purpose) is like the Yin or Yang to another type or aspect of purpose. Together the two make a whole. Money or results alone as a purpose is not enough, and other, animating, essential purpose, without the results, reward, and kind of sustenance that come from money et al is not enough on its own, but together, they make a dynamic whole.
What do you think?!
You said Tami was a great interviewer; you were right. :)
And I am beyond delighted, now, that I asked! I love that yin / yang articulation. It makes sense. There's a part of me that wants to ask for clarity or definition about 'money' itself–I think as a practical matter people don't necessarily understand what money is, and that it's thus difficult to have a dialogue about it–but this is probably part of a longer conversation. You said “money or results,” though, which I find interesting, because what if money, too, is seen as something animating and 'process' like, rather than an end? Currency flows and money evolves; is it possible to see that process (or the pleasure or enjoyment or experiencing of it) as part of the purpose?
Bravo Siona!
Yes, money certainly is more than an end, it is embodied energy, animating, and part of the process! I appreciate this conversation, as well as money and other aspects of purpose!