Sustaining Organizational Purpose During Long-Term Change

Making Purpose Practical Again

Sustaining the organization’s purpose will take intent. While we can use initial enthusiasm as a vehicle to have meaningful generations of purpose, leaders need to seek meaning in purpose frequently and not just when they have broadcasted it before. They need to do this especially when doing it feels redundant.

Yet doing it this frequently and meaninglessly will eventually not lead to the desired outcomes of having the organization’s purpose be a driving force behind the organization. Their employees will notice when the organization’s purpose becomes merely a tagline for their organization and will disengage slowly over time by finding a new company to work for. So how often one does this is only part of the challenge; it must also be done sincerely.

The method targeted to make purpose more practical is to connect purpose with everyday decisions. Not abstract strategy but real or tangible trade-offs to determine why we are prioritizing projects over similar projects or alternate expectations during a specific timeframe.

Allowing Purpose to Evolve

There is also ambiguity in sustaining an organization’s purpose. Purpose is not necessarily definitive; the market can change; the contextual landscape can evolve or develop therefore; the leaders may need to continue to refine their understanding of purpose over time. This should not be misconstrued as a sign of weakness but rather as just being realistic.

Some may argue that achieving performance is more important than purpose because performance improves an organization’s continued viability. And they are correct to a degree; however, how an organization accomplishes its performance is influenced by the purpose of the organization; an organization without purpose will have results that are unsatisfactory; in fact, the results may be misaligned with the organization’s overall performance objectives or goals.

Maintaining purpose is less about sustaining a written statement as it is about sustaining a cohesive direction among the organizations’ members (i.e. employees) although the path may change over time.