How to become a purpose-driven organisation?

Reflections on our June 2018 webinar “Change Your Workplace!”

On 21 June 2018, people from many different countries participated in a new initiative from soul.com: a monthly webinar called “Change Your Workplace”. The purpose of this space is to empower and support people who aspire to bring about meaningful organisational transformation. We discuss themes relevant to bringing positive change at the workplace and reflect on our own personal development.

At soul.com, we wish to inspire, train and accompany millions of people to dedicate their lives to making the world work for 100% of humanity. We see that people can use their daily work as a means to contribute to society. But this requires organisations to transform so that people can see their work as service to humanity. Such transformation of organisations is not done by expensive consultants, but is initiated and facilitated by people like yourself.

The topic of our June 2018 webinar was: How to become a true purpose-driven organisation? Many of us wish to work in a company where we can see our work as meaningful. Doing good to society. But how can we move beyond “corporate social responsibility” or nicely written “purpose statements”?

What is a purpose-driven organisation?
We invited Dr. Astrid Kersten as our special guest at this webinar. Astrid moved from the USA to Vanuatu a few years ago. She founded a NGO called Human Capacity Development International (HCDI). A small organisation dedicated to promoting resilience, self-reliance, and inclusion of people of Vanuatu. HCDI is to walk with people to build their capacity to providing for themselves and for the community.

For 35 years, Astrid served as Professor of Management/HRM at La Roche College, Pittsburgh, U.S.A.. She explained about her academic research over the years about dysfunctional or sick organisations versus beautiful organisations. According to Astrid, beautiful organisations or purpose-driven organisations are not only serving something good, but also operate through unity and collaboration. People are able to use their talents and everyone is contributing.

Through an online interactive tool, people enriched our shared understanding of the characteristics of a purpose-driven organisation. Some of the points mentioned are:

• The organisation is not only concerned with survival or interests of its stakeholders, it is imbued with a sense of purpose of benefiting society
• There is a culture of trust, collaboration, and learning
• There is a sense of community where people can use their talents
• It has a long-term perspective and is making sustainable decisions
• It is authentic / transparent in its values and decision-making process

In short, a purpose-driven organisation has a twofold purpose: on the one hand it is committed to contributing to the society, AND on the other hand, it carries out its work in a sustainable, collaborative, and unified manner.

Path of transformation
To understand the path towards becoming a purpose-driven organisation, we discussed a simple model developed by soul.com. It proves to be helpful in understanding the reality of your organisation better and to have clarity of how to promote meaningful organisational development. We call this model the “Four Phases of Transformation” or the “Four M-model”.

The model is based on the understanding that the organisation and ourselves are organically connected to one another, that we form one whole together. We cannot separate ourselves from the organisation and think that once the organisation is changed, the people have also changed. Our thoughts and actions are shaped by the organisation and at the same time we each have an impact on the organisation. Striving towards a purpose-driven organisation automatically means that individuals become more purpose-drivened. Organisational transformation and personal transformation therefore go hand in hand.

Another important concept is that transformation is not a project, but a process. A process of constant learning where people act, reflect, and consult together about their next steps. The loops in the picture below represent the ongoing cycles of learning where small changes are made each time. Thus, transforming into a purpose-driven organisation is not a gradious expensive structured project coordinated by “Change Managers”, but a process of building unity within the organisation that promotes a growing collective awareness about what it means to be a purpose-driven organisation.

Creating a new mind
The first phase in the transformation of an organisation is generally referred to as “creating a new mind”. Most organisations are at this stage. This is a beautiful stage where one or a handful of individuals aspire for positive change in the organisation. He or she realises that the current way of working is not ideal and that their work and organisation can be more meaningful. This person learns to see through the eyes of potential: not what the reality is right now, but what it could potentially become; the potential of the organisation, of the colleagues and of oneself. Oftentimes, this person starts to engage colleagues in meaningful conversations about positive change in the organisation. This calls for the development of certain qualities, such as courage, determination and hope since the person is already changing the status quo of the organisation.

Creating a movement
Gradually, the number of people wishing to see positive change increases. The meaningful conversations result in meaningful actions. As a result, more people start to take personal initiative and are making small changes in the organisation. People also begin to spontaneously collaborate together and support each other. The culture slowly changes. Gossip, backbiting, criticism, and cynicism are replaced by mutual support, encouragement and collaboration. We refer to this stage as “Creating a movement”.

Creating new models
As the movement builds momentum, new ways of working are being introduced. The learning process within the organisation becomes more systematic, and existing structures and processes are being refined in order to accommodate the growing desire to collaborate. Gradually, certain structures are eliminated because they perpetrate a sense of injustice or promote short-term thinking or a spirit of competition among people. Such profound structural changes can now be made because the majority of the people has been involved in the previous stages of “creating a new mind” and “creating a movement”. We refer to this stage of organisational transformation as “creating new models”.

Creating meaning
The last phase in the development of a purpose-driven organisation is “creating meaning”. The organisation has transformed to such an extent that it makes a profound impact on its surroundings. Just like an individual who started involving others within the organisation, the organisation as a whole is also including other organisations and people within the same industry or sector in meaningful conversations and actions. It becomes a magnet of attraction and a source of inspiration to other organisations to become purpose-driven.

Becoming a purpose-driven organisation requires the knowledge of where we are along the spectrum of development and what is needed for progress to occur. Remember, it is not a judgement of how good or bad your organisation is, but it means to provide greater clarity about the next step. It doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you know where you are. Moreover, it should be noted that these stages are not so rigid or follow each other in an orderly fashion. Reaching another stage requires a constant strengthening of the previous stage. An organisation may go through these phases several times. As an organisation progresses to the different stages, it may find itself back at “creating a new mind” once it reaches a more profound understanding of its twofold purpose.

“Keep your mouth shut”
Through the online interactive tool, the participants indicated that most of their organisations are at the phase “creating a new mind” or “creating a movement”. Astrid reflected on her experience of moving from the stage “creating a new mind” to “creating a movement”. She found that to involve more people, it required her to keep her mouth shut. Indeed, from soul.com’s experience, meaningful organisational transformation starts just there: to learn how to truly listen to others. Through simple exercises one can learn how to listen more effectively, thus engaging others in meaningful conversations.

Becoming a learning community
Our next webinar “Change your workplace” will be held on 20 September 2018 at 20.00 pm. The theme will be “learning organisations”. You can register on the website https://soul.com/change-your-workplace-webinar/