20,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Steel your team against the unexpected by planning for uncertainty Extraordinary Outcomes presents an innovative approach to thinking and planning, giving leaders a playbook for dealing with uncertainty. Written by internationally recognized authorities on problem solving and creativity in organizations, this book provides an alternative outlook on business strategy and people management for leaders navigating uncertain waters, where the future is anything but guaranteed. The framework is the result of research in multiple fields and the authors' experiences with individuals, teams, and organizations, with examples from real-world situations that illustrate the concepts and dynamics at work to give readers deeper insight. The focus is on conquering uncertainty - eliminating it where possible, reducing it where it can be reduced, and embracing it when it's inevitable. Traditional ways of thinking and planning do not work in the face of an uncertain future. Frequently there are just no guarantees, nothing written in stone, and even a fortune-teller couldn't accurately predict the outcome. Extraordinary Outcomes helps leaders prepare for that, with strategies geared toward preparedness and embracing uncertainty. * Learn why skills and talent are only two pieces of a bigger puzzle * Discover how to better galvanize the team, and keep them motivated long-term * Connect to a purpose that inspires enthusiastic engagement * Conquer uncertainty, and develop a strategy for dealing with mistakes No one likes to be caught off guard, and the consequences can be severe at the organizational level. Leaders can't be psychic, but they can plan for possible outcomes and always have a solution at the ready. For those who like to have an answer for everything, Extraordinary Outcomes provides a roadmap toward an uncertainty-proof strategy for doing business.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 379
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014
Ähnliche
CONTENTS
Cover
Praise for Extraordinary Outcomes
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1: Skills and Talent are not Enough
Stars and Success
What Awaits
Chapter 2: Connect to a Compelling Purpose
The Purpose of Purpose
Purpose in an Organization
Team Purpose
Individual Purpose
Evolution of Purpose
Define Purpose
Chapter 3: Galvanize Your Team
The Team as Organism
Forging a Team Identity
Building Your Team Standards
Universal Values to Establish Standards
Trust
Respect
Integrity
Empathy
Inclusion
Communication
Standards Are Unique to Each Team
Chapter 4: Amplify the Positive
Breathe Life into Standards
Chance Favors the Prepared Mind
Positive Deviance
Expand with “And”
Small Wins
How's Life?
How Much Recognition Is Enough?
What Good Is All This Positivity?
Celebrate, Encourage, and Prime to Shape Success
Chapter 5: Conquer Uncertainty
Complicated Systems and Complex Systems
Perils of Ignoring Uncertainty
“Satisfice” versus “Optimize”
Information and Uncertainty
Bring the Future to the Present
Perceptions
Together We're a Genius
What Were They Thinking?!
Deliberate Chaos
Visit the Future
Partnering
Embrace Uncertainty
Chapter 6: Acknowledge, Learn, Correct
Fear
The Fixed Mind-Set and the Growth Mind-Set
“Life Isn't About Finding Yourself. Life Is About Creating Yourself.”
Use Your Mind to Change Your Brain
Facing Difficult Situations
Healthy Negative Emotion
Personal Defeat
Organizational Defeat
10,000 Hours
How You Practice Matters
Creating the “Culture of ROI”: Relentless Ongoing Improvement
Unintentional Failures
Chapter 7: Shape Your Future
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Figure 6.1
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Pages
i
ii
iii
iii
iv
viii
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
Praise for Extraordinary Outcomes
“Firstenberg and Rubinstein present an excellent, absorbing, and multi-faceted book. It is a deep and wide-ranging guide for thought and action. This book will help leaders guide the organization to identify and concentrate on the major significant factors related to its mission in the face of data overload in a rapidly changing environment.”
— Dan Tolkowsky
Former Commander of the Israeli Air Force; Former CEO, Bank Discount Investments
“Iris and Moshe have tied together the latest thinking in business management, behavioral economics, neurology, and psychology into a must-read management strategy treatise. This well-researched and well-written book will help my officers, both ashore and at sea, achieve extraordinary outcomes.”
— Alan B. Buckelew
Chief Operations Officer, Carnival Corporation
“Iris Firstenberg and Moshe Rubinstein have written a truly remarkable book that is a joy to read. The examples, stories, and illustrations are by themselves a treasure trove of lessons that can guide individuals, teams, organizations, and companies to a happier and more successful future. The authors, however, go much further. Drawing on findings and concepts from decision-making, learning, and brain research, they construct an interpretative framework that provides a guide for achieving the ‘extraordinary outcomes’ that are the focus of their book.”
— Robert A. Bjork
Distinguished Research Professor, UCLA
— Elizabeth L. Bjork
Professor, UCLA
“Inspirational leadership can be achieved by applying the concepts of this book, an essential guide for today’s leader striving to create extraordinary outcomes.”
— Ana Duarte McCarthy
Chief Diversity Officer, Citi
“Get ready for an entertaining read, practical advice, insights, and leadership lessons that you’ll want to put to use immediately!”
— Sonya Sepahban
Sr. VP, General Dynamics
“I cannot heap enough praise on Extraordinary Outcomes. The concepts are straightforward, intuitive, and when applied—with purpose and deliberate practice—can literally change a culture. I’ve experienced it firsthand in my organization and witnessed the excitement and commitment from my team. The book will help create a culture of ROI—relentless ongoing improvement—well into the future! The book is awesome! I am having my kids read it and plan to give it out to my team.”
— Katherine Adkins
VP and General Counsel, Toyota Financial Services
“My team and I were fortunate to experience the content of Extraordinary Outcomes when Iris spent a day with us. Iris has mastered the art of educating, inspiring creativity and empowering people to perform beyond even their own expectations. Her riveting stories and practical exercises have helped unite my team and foster a strong sense of purpose. As a result, we are constantly seeing new possibilities, achieving ambitious goals and setting our sights even higher.”
— Christopher Owen
VP, Integrated Marketing, USAA
“Iris and Moshe have done it again! Their new book is a clear, informative road map to extraordinary outcomes. This gem should be read by people in business, government, and by anyone focused on self-improvement. We are fortunate to have Moshe and Iris tell us their story.”
— Steven Lee Yamshon
Chief Investment Officer, Stevens First Principles Investment Advisors
“Extraordinary Outcomes will engage your heart, your mind, and is a blueprint for excellence at work and at home.”
— Robert Maurer
Author of One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way
“This remarkably readable treatise guides the reader to become a champion of change and adaptation. Firstenberg and Rubinstein show how inevitable failures and temporary setbacks can become opportunities for cohesion, commitment, and creativity. The authors expertly blend concepts with application to produce extraordinary outcomes.”
— Col (Ret) Mike McKeeman
The Red Knight, U.S. Army and Raytheon Program Leadership Deployment Manager
“I had the great fortune to learn from Moshe as a young college student over 25 years ago, and his framework for thinking and problem-solving has impacted my career every step of the way. Extraordinary Outcomes captures the brilliant thinking of Moshe and Iris with elegance and simplicity. Moshe has spent a lifetime studying, understanding, and teaching how decisions get made, what leadership is really about, and how to think simply but differently. Iris has added to that with expertise on how the human brain works: Not just what happens, but why. These two perspectives blended together in a way only a father and daughter could achieve provide a compelling formula for achieving extraordinary outcomes.”
— John Gavan
President, KPFF Consulting Engineers
“If you are waiting for the world to stabilize, you will be waiting a long time. Constant change and increasing complexity are here to stay, and successful organizations embrace that fact. In this insightful book, Iris Firstenberg and Moshe Rubinstein show how you can create resilient, confident and adaptable teams to achieve extraordinary results in turbulent times.”
— Richard F. Ambrose
Executive VP, Lockheed Martin Space Systems
“What is the meaning of life? This question has stymied philosophers for centuries. Extraordinary Outcomes gives the reader the answer to a more relevant question, ‘What is the meaning of your life?’ And this extraordinary book, so aptly titled, goes a step further. It provides pathways to achieve meaning and success in one’s own life. It will make a difference in your life.”
— Arthur Gilbert
Author, Under Submission: The First Twenty Years
“This is an important and thought-provoking book for anyone who aims to promote and better the management of his profession and day-to-day life. The content is conveyed in lucid, vivid language and incorporates relatable and interesting examples and stories. Illustrating applicable methods to define purpose and overcome future uncertainties, the book is brimming with insight, experience, and such fundamental suggestions that the reader will wonder why he had not thought about them before.”
— Itzhak Zamir
Former Supreme Court Justice and Attorney General, State of Israel
Extraordinary Outcomes
Shaping an Otherwise Unpredictable Future
Iris R. Firstenberg
Moshe F. Rubinstein
Cover design: Wiley
Copyright © 2014 by Iris R. Firstenberg and Moshe F. Rubinstein. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with the respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Firstenberg, Iris R. 1957—
Extraordinary Outcomes: Shaping an Otherwise Unpredictable Future/Iris R. Firstenberg and Moshe F. Rubinstein.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN: 978-1-118-93833-1 (cloth); ISBN: 978-1-118-93834-8 (ebk); ISBN: 978-1-118-93835-5 (ebk) 1. Leadership. 2. Organizational effectiveness. 3. Organizational behavior. 4. Strategic planning. 5. Employee motivation. 6. Uncertainty. I. Rubinstein, Moshe F., II. Title.
HD57.7.R825 2014
658.4′092–dc23
2014013527
1Skills and Talent are not EnoughEngage the Head and the Heart
The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.
—Robert Frost
If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.
—Woody Allen
In an October 2008 briefing before Congress, a humbled Alan Greenspan, formerly chair of the Federal Reserve Board for almost 19 years, admitted that he had failed to anticipate the ongoing financial collapse, and was in “shocked disbelief” at the way events had unfolded.1 The world is inherently uncertain, and his inability to foresee the future is only one of endless examples; there are many stories of people and organizations derailed by the emergence of the unexpected. Movie-rental industry leader Blockbuster Entertainment, for example, met its demise when it failed to anticipate the impact that the Internet would have on the way people watch movies. Each of us has our own stories of being blindsided and asking, “How did I not see that coming?”
Conventional ways of thinking and planning fall short in the face of uncertainty, making us vulnerable and ill equipped to respond to the unforeseen. To succeed and thrive in a changing environment, we need strategies that make us more resilient against a shifting future.
In this book we take uncertainty to task, showing that you can conquer it and shape the future to create extraordinary outcomes. You will find an innovative approach to thinking and planning, as well as strategies to navigate uncertainty—to eliminate it where possible, to reduce it where you can, and to be ready to embrace it effectively everywhere else.
Our framework has three components: embracing purpose, engaging people, and expanding the range of possibilities. In the chapters ahead, we weave these components into strategies for thinking and principles for action. Using this framework, you will develop the adaptive capacity to lead both yourself and others into the future.
The ideas we share with you are the result of research in multiple fields and our work with numerous organizations. Our examples reflect a wide spectrum of the human experience and illustrate the broad applicability of our approach to individual, team, and enterprise-wide pursuits. The principles can be applied to your personal as well as your professional life. Along the way you will be introduced to cutting-edge research into how the brain can be harnessed to think more effectively, as well as powerful stories that illustrate how others have successfully created ways to think, plan, and shape their futures.
We start with a story.
Stars and Success
In 1989, a rule change by the International Basketball Federation allowed professional basketball players to compete in the Olympic Games. Fans of the sport in the United States were ecstatic; they felt like they had been handed a permanent ticket to the gold medal. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) thought so, too. The formula would be simple—recruit top NBA players, send them to the games, and success would be assured. After all, who could hope to compete against the elite of the sport? Uncertainty about who would bring home the gold was over.
The 1992 Olympics were the first games to feel the effect of the rule change. The team roster included Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Scottie Pippin, recognizable names even to people who know almost nothing about the sport. Experts dubbed them the “Dream Team,” and many considered this group to be the greatest sports team ever to play together. Although these players had more experience competing against each other than collaborating, the combined force of their talent would make them unbeatable.
The athletes arrived in Barcelona, site of the 1992 games, and after little more than 15 practice sessions together, they won every match. In fact, the games were more like a massacre than a competition. The point spread between the Dream Team and other teams averaged 44 points per game and, for the first time in Olympic history, Team USA did not call for a single time-out. And how did the other teams react? Athletes on the opposing teams were in awe of these guys. In fact, the other players seemed more interested in photo opportunities with Michael Jordan and getting Magic Johnson's autograph than trying to win.
For the USOC, the results validated their definitive formula for success: send in the stars and bring home the gold. And so, four years later, the formula was applied again. NBA players were recruited, and they showed up, won every game, and brought back the gold in 1996. Ditto for 2000. The USA felt invincible.
In 2004, once again NBA players were recruited and sent to the games in Athens, under the assumption that the formula for success was a certainty. To the astonishment of the entire country, Team USA did not win gold. They didn't even win silver. They ended up with the bronze medal…and even this was not assured until the final minutes of the game against Lithuania. The team was in shock, the country was in shock, and the USOC was in shock—what had gone wrong?
Reflection
Lack of talent was clearly not the problem. The NBA players on the 2004 Olympic team in 2004—including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Lamar Odom, Carmelo Anthony, and Allen Iverson—were athletes at the top of their game and extraordinarily skilled.
Serious soul searching was needed. To help rethink the formula for success, the USOC recruited coach Mike Krzyzewski, the highly successful head of the men's basketball program at Duke University, to help them make sense of the 2004 debacle. Coach K, as he is affectionately known, agreed to analyze the game tapes. Thorough review surfaced amazingly clear signals that had been ignored.
Although the teams from 1992 to 2000 had been undefeated as they played their way to gold, what nobody had paid attention to was that the point spreads were getting smaller. The Dream Team's margins of 44 points per game were closer to 32 points per game in 1996. In 2000 the margins were about 21 points per game, and several of the wins were absolute nail-biters, with Team USA winning some games by only two points. When a match takes place between a strong and a weak contender, the weaker side has much more to learn from the strong team than the other way around. While Team USA basked in the glory of their wins, the teams from competing countries had become relentless in their study and desire to improve.2
After analyzing the tapes, Coach K's assessment of what was missing was provocative in its simplicity and its application, both to basketball and, more widely, to all domains of human affairs. He identified two core troubling issues.
Lack of Purpose
Coach K found the first problem to be a lack of team purpose. He vividly explained the problem by saying that each player was playing for his own personal reputation and the name on the back of his jersey; what they needed to play for was the three letters on the front of the jersey, USA. The players needed an emotional connection to a more meaningful purpose than individual glory.
The first challenge, then, would be to engage their heart.
Lack of System
Coach K found the second problem to be a lack of a system. He saw that the players were great but the system was not. The tapes showed that each player was playing his own game. LeBron James was playing the LeBron James game, Dwyane Wade was playing the Dwyane Wade game, Carmelo Anthony was playing the Carmelo Anthony game, and so on. Each player was an exceptional athlete in his own way, but there were as many different games being played as there were players on the court. There was no coordinated, collaborative effort that could be described as the Team USA game. And it wasn't their fault. There was no system in place.
The second challenge, then, would be to create one mind, a mind of Team USA.
To create a path for future success, Coach K accepted the role of head coach for the 2008 Olympic men's basketball team.
We Begin with the End
The athletes on the 2008 USA men's basketball team won the gold medal. But the defining moment came during the medal ceremony, just after the players were awarded their individual medals. In team Olympic sports, each player gets a medal but the coach does not. An unprecedented scene occurred when all the players spontaneously took the medals off their necks and hung them around Coach K's. He stood there, wearing all the medals, surrounded by his team, a testament that they were truly in it together, a team of one heart and one mind.
Coach K repeated his successful program when he coached the 2012 men's basketball team, and he has agreed to coach the team for the 2016 Olympics.
What did Coach K do to shape the success of Team USA? We are going to hit “pause” on the story for now, but don't worry, we will come back to it. In the chapters to come, we will reveal the strategy Coach K used in the context of principles each of us can apply to create extraordinary outcomes.
What Awaits
We hear of the one-shot wonders that are in the right place at the right time and achieve a remarkable result, or the group that sacrifices everything to meet an audacious goal, only to collapse from exhaustion and burnout in the aftermath. There is no surefire guarantee that Team USA will win the gold medal in all future Olympics.
Shaping a rewarding future and achieving extraordinary outcomes does not mean flawless and certain perfection forever. It means that we have a system in place that gives us the optimal framework to think bigger and reach farther, to quickly recover and adapt when plans meet unexpected circumstances, and to perpetually find value as we strive for relentless improvement in pursuit of our goals.
The question we have asked ourselves is:
How can we create extraordinary outcomes in a world of uncertainty?
The story of the 2008 basketball team, and the stories of many other types of teams that we have worked with and studied, have given us insight into the answer to this question. Whether building your personal journey, coaching teams in sports, or leading teams in organizations, the same principles apply. We need to embrace purpose, engage people, and expand our range of possibilities. In the following chapters we describe the principles of the system needed to successfully navigate and shape the future. Along the way we will share lots of stories of individuals and organizations that have created remarkable value, and as we discuss principles, we will also describe in detail how Coach K helped the athletes of Team USA become a team of one heart and one mind.
In Chapter 2, “Connect to a Compelling Purpose,” we begin with the importance of purpose in the pursuit of extraordinary outcomes. To be an effective leader of both self and others requires a connection to a purpose that fuels curiosity and helps us navigate into the future, weathering the storms that inevitably arise. We discuss how to find and define a strong and meaningful sense of purpose.
To achieve purpose in a complex world, we can seldom do things alone and even collective efforts are not enough without the right environment. In Chapter 3, “Galvanize Your Team,” we describe how to create the environment that builds team alignment for seamless action.
People bring their whole brain to work—both the rational and the emotional. Research in neuroscience has created greater understanding of the profound role emotion plays in human thinking. Positive emotions help to optimize functioning of the rational brain, and in Chapter 4, “Amplify the Positive,” we discuss ways to bring out the best in ourselves, our teams, and our organizations to enhance resilience, engagement, and sustainable change.
In Chapter 5, “Conquer Uncertainty,” we present a novel way to think about the future, describing ways to eliminate, reduce, and embrace uncertainty as needed. The approach will help you see more possibilities, become more agile and adaptive, and create strategic advantage in the pursuit of purpose.
Chapter 6, “Acknowledge, Learn, Correct,” teaches how to turn failure into learning opportunities for improvement. We will share the provocative strategies experts use to hone their skills in order to excel. You will also learn how people and organizations can recover more quickly from setbacks, and how you can motivate yourself and others when challenges arise.
In Chapter 7, “Shape Your Future,” we conclude with a story to inspire you on your journey to conquer uncertainty and create extraordinary outcomes.
Notes
1.
Edmund L. Andrews, “Greenspan Concedes Error on Regulation,”
New York Times
, October 23, 2008.
2.
For more information on the journey of the U.S. Olympic men's basketball teams, see Mike Krzyzewski and Jamie K. Spatola,
The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team
(New York: Business Plus, 2010); David DuPree,” U.S. Men's Basketball Falls Flat on World Stage,”
USA Today
, August 15, 2004; Pete Thamel, “After Sitting in 2004, Ready to Stand and Deliver,”
New York Times
, July 28, 2008; Kelly Whiteside, “Mike Krzyzewski for His Country: ‘The Ultimate Honor,’”
USA Today
, July 20, 2012.
2Connect to a Compelling PurposeFuel Curiosity and Ignite Future-Focused Thinking
The Purpose of Purpose
In Greek mythology, the deceitful King Sisyphus is doomed to spend eternity pushing a large boulder up a steep mountain, only to have it roll back down just before it reaches the top, forcing him to start over again. In another Greek myth, Penelope, wife of the absent Odysseus, sits all day at her loom, painstakingly weaving a burial shroud, only to unravel it each night and start again the next morning.
The repetitive work of Sisyphus is frustrating and meaningless, and is designed as punishment, to torture its victim. But what about Penelope's? She has willingly chosen a task that on the surface appears to be no different from the burden of Sisyphus—doing, undoing, and redoing work. However, her work has great meaning. Her husband has not returned from war but she believes he is still alive. To ward off suitors while she waits for his return, she agrees to choose one of them as a new husband, but only when she finishes weaving the shroud on her loom. To buy time, she gladly commits to the repetitive job because it holds purpose. Even mundane activity can become meaningful when embedded in the richer context of purpose.
Purpose is the magnetic pull that draws us into the future, injecting us with resilience to overcome stumbles and reinterpret tedious tasks along the way. Purpose acts as a filter, helping us determine what we have to pay attention to, and what we can safely ignore. Purpose creates focus and fuels our curiosity, helping us more quickly identify uncertainties that are unfolding so that we can more quickly adapt. Imagine an airplane on the runway at JFK. The pilot's purpose is to safely deliver passengers to a particular destination. He does not take off unless he knows where he is heading. Whatever turbulence there might be along the way to force the plane off course, the pull of the destination helps the pilot navigate the plane back on track. Without a clear destination, any storm the plane encounters becomes the force that controls it, dictating the direction it will go. Without purpose, we are like the plane without a destination; the turmoil of uncertainty overpowers and controls us. With a clear and compelling purpose, we prevail despite unfolding turbulence; we adapt, improvise, and adjust our course of action.
Purpose and Meaning
Victor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist, developed a theory about the importance of purpose while he was held captive in a Nazi concentration camp.1 He observed that physically stronger people, under the most horrific and inhumane of conditions, could die before those who were weaker—prompting him to wonder what could be a factor in survival beyond physical strength. Frankl isolated the critical difference: people who had a purpose, a reason to go on living, found the inner strength to prevail and survive; those who had lost their purpose would soon succumb and die. In his book Man's Search for Meaning, he explains that pursuit of meaningful purpose is more crucial as a path to happiness in our lives than the pursuit of pleasure. We want to feel that our lives have meaning and that we are engaged in endeavors that matter. With a clear sense of purpose the narrative of our life has coherence, and we have greater resilience and ability to persevere despite setbacks that inevitably unfold. Those who spend their lives in the pursuit of fleeting pleasures often feel like Sisyphus—no matter how much they try, it's never enough to fill the void they sense within, and the slightest disappointments can be derailing.
Work with Purpose
In 1942 the world was engulfed in war. It was believed that Nazi Germany was moving swiftly to develop the atomic bomb. Before war had broken out, Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, and other leaders in the scientific community of the free world had been alarmed that the United States was not responding urgently enough to counter the efforts of the Nazis. When President Roosevelt finally realized just how imminent the threat was, he responded by launching the Manhattan Project. For this top-secret mission, the best brains in science secretly gathered in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Their goal would be to beat Nazi Germany in unlocking the power of the nucleus and be first to build the atomic bomb.
At Los Alamos, Richard Feynman, only 24 years old, was appointed to a role we would today call CIO (chief information officer). He would lead a group of top math and science students from the best universities to serve as human computers; they would do all the detailed calculations to provide the data needed by the physicists. They used only slide rules and primitive calculators, so you can imagine how tedious, tiring, and boring the long hours of cranking out numbers quickly became for these students. They were unaware of the purpose of the mission, and the results reflected just how uninspired they were. The accuracy of their work left a lot to be desired, and their lagging pace frustrated the scientists as well.
Feynman realized that his team was not living up to its potential. It dawned on him that they were unmotivated because they had no clue what they were working on—what the purpose of the work was. He met with Robert Oppenheimer, one of the project leaders, and shared his frustration. They petitioned for and received a clearance from the highest level of government to share the purpose of the project with these young students. After they were sworn to secrecy, the purpose of the project was revealed to them. Imagine how these students felt when they were told that the project for which they had been recruited was so awesome, important, and secret that the fate of the entire free world might depend on their work, their dedication, and their utmost discretion.
Feynman found that in the following days the accuracy, pace, and amount of work produced by the students increased dramatically. They no longer thought of the work as a burden to bear, but as a responsibility to fulfill as their contribution to the noble purpose of saving the free world.2
Team USA Finds Its Purpose
Coach K also understood that his players needed a grand purpose to galvanize their efforts, a purpose that was compelling and meaningful. A terrific opportunity to give voice to this purpose and engage their hearts occurred on a promotional trip that the team took to New York City in June of 2008.
As part of the itinerary, they sailed to Ellis Island for a team photo in front of the Statue of Liberty. Aboard the tour boat, Coach K spoke movingly to the team about his grandfather, who had emigrated from Poland and who undoubtedly had made great sacrifices to create a life for his family in the land of opportunity. Now, here he was, just two generations later, with the opportunity to coach the team representing that American dream. He reminded each one of them that they, too, had ancestors who had struggled in this country—ancestors who worked long and hard, fueled by their hopes for the future, to make it possible for their children and grandchildren to have the incredible opportunities they were now living.3
Coach K suggested that each of their ancestors deserved to be recognized. He proposed that while singing the national anthem at the start of each game, they should each hold their hand over their heart, look at the flag, think about their ancestor, and then get on the court and play basketball to honor that person. The players were visibly moved.
To broaden and deepen their connection to a purpose larger than themselves, Coach K also introduced the players to three wounded soldiers who had returned home from war. Each of these soldiers had put the needs of others above their own, and even now, despite their intense injuries, they insisted on continuing their careers in the military to serve their country. The soldiers were invited to meet the team at one of its early practice sessions, and each one told his story, about selfless service and why he wanted to continue to serve. The colonel who accompanied the visit gave each player a small flag, the same flag worn by every soldier serving abroad. He asked them to wear the flags on their uniforms, as a reminder that they, too, were representing the values of their country. The tears in the eyes of the players convinced Coach K that they now had a shared sense of their purpose.4
In the rest of this chapter, we will discuss three levels of purpose; the organization, the team, and the individual. We will discuss why purpose matters at the level of an organization, how a team articulates the meaning of their work, and what each individual can do to identify their personal sense of purpose.
Purpose in an Organization
Just as Coach K helped Team USA identify a compelling shared purpose, it is equally important to articulate in the corporate setting. People in organizations are caught up in the busy-ness of business, often juggling several projects at the same time. While all assignments require a baseline of effort, certain projects get our discretionary effort—the attention that is voluntary and goes well beyond the minimum required. To which projects do we dedicate ourselves more wholly? To those projects that are meaningful, to those that reward us intrinsically with a sense of purpose, the projects we believe will make a difference. The role of a leader, then, is to involve a team in a conversation about why the work matters, before focusing on what tasks need to be done.
Leaders Inspire with Purpose
The most effective leaders have rallied people to action by articulating a noble purpose that rouses emotions. A noble purpose that grabs the heart is what fuels hope. It gives us the courage and fortitude to take a stand even when the present appears bleak. Abraham Lincoln is remembered for the Gettysburg Address, a speech that is only 10 sentences long, which took Lincoln less than three minutes to deliver. It still stirs people today, because the speech is about purpose—invoking the principle of human equality spelled out in the Declaration of Independence, and exhorting citizens to ensure that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” John F. Kennedy mobilized a generation by urging them to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” From this purpose emerged the Peace Corps and (even years later), AmeriCorps, to name but two of the socially redeeming projects it inspired. Kennedy then challenged the nation to reach for the stars when in 1961 he declared that the nation would commit to the goal, “before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Thousands of students flocked to schools of science and engineering to be part of the dream. Years later, Barack Obama moved people to vote by firing their imaginations with his simple “Yes, we can.”
You don't have to be a historical giant to do what these famous leaders have done. The common thread in these inspiring calls for action is their brevity, simplicity, and focus on value. A friend of ours, a project manager at a large network communications company, was charged with designing the software for the home screen of a new smartphone. His tech-savvy team was uninspired; for them it was just another software project. He realized that he had to shift their frame of mind and mobilize them around the purpose of their work. “We're not just writing software code,” he told them. “Every one of us knows someone who is intimidated by technology. Our task is to make it more accessible. Our work touches people and will give everyone an equal chance to connect.” This shift in perspective galvanized the team and they came up with ideas that exceeded all expectations. He was amazed at the power of purpose.
Although the popular adage tells us that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” we would argue that “a word, properly placed, can be worth millions of pictures.” A statement of purpose that engages the heart can create expansive pictures of possibilities in the millions of minds that resonate with the message. Just as social leaders create great change by first engaging emotions, so must leaders of organizations inspire people to invent the future by engaging both the head and the heart.
Crafting a Statement of Purpose
Articulating purpose is an art, because in a few short words, it must be compelling and inspiring, give people hope, and stimulate ideas for expanding the scope of possibility. For example, in the late 1980s, President Ronald Reagan sensed that Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev might be open to strengthening ties with the West. Standing next to the Berlin Wall, Reagan intended his challenge—“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”—to mean that the concrete wall literally should be dismantled, but more broadly he was asking the Soviets to show that they were serious about partnering for peace. His purpose, using the vivid imagery of tearing down a wall, was instantly and unambiguously understood.
Unfortunately, for many organizations the purported purpose is so vague that it either fails to generate any innovative thought for action, or is so mundane that it fails to inspire. “To be the world's best in our industry” exemplifies the type of vague, self-centered statement that fails to generate a call for action. What constitutes best? Best at what? And why does it matter? Barbara Waugh, a former director at Hewlett-Packard, relays in her book, The Soul in the Computer,5 the crisis of purpose when the company decided to focus its efforts on becoming “the world's best industrial research lab.” She bemoans this purpose as too narrow, too inwardly focused. It asked people in the company to think about how to improve the organization, but this dream was just not big enough. Waugh challenged the company to think outward rather than focusing inward, asking not how HP could be “the best industrial research lab in the world,” but instead “the best industrial research lab for the world.” By changing just one word, the purpose became expansive, noble, compelling, and contagious. Ideas for contributions to medicine, education, and the environment surged; people became passionate about their work and the contributions they could make toward the purpose.
Statements of purpose that speak to profits or shareholder value also fail to inspire; they don't appeal to our desire to engage in work that is noble, meaningful, and connected to something that transcends ourselves. Profits and shareholder value are outcomes that will ensue if we create something of value; they are not something that can sustainably be pursued in a vacuum of purpose.
Team Purpose
Conversations about purpose do not need to wait for an all-hands, authorized company retreat. Every team can begin today to ask itself, “What is our purpose?” The answer should include not just what you do, but why what you do matters. It can be extremely enlightening to have each team member answer this question individually, by writing it down in a few sentences. If it makes people more comfortable, it can be done anonymously on sticky notes, and then all the statements can be collected on a wall with an opportunity for everyone to look them over. It can be eye opening to see how different the perceptions of colleagues can be. If we don't have this conversation, we might assume that we have a shared team purpose, unaware of the uncertainty that perhaps we do not. Teams that engage in this conversation and emerge with a sense of purpose that resonates with everyone find that they approach their work with renewed vigor, a sense of urgency, and increased creativity.
A powerful example of a conversation about purpose took place with the janitors of a large pharmaceutical company. The leader of the maintenance department had just taken over from her predecessor and was grasping for a way to motivate the team to improve their work ethic. The workers were apathetic and their efforts were sloppy; prior attempts to reward or punish behavior had not resulted in any sustained change. The new leader of the team decided to engage them in a conversation about purpose.
Inviting them into the large conference room, she began by asking questions about their relationship to certain diseases. When it was clear that several of them had family and friends with the diseases she was naming, she said, “You know, the purpose of this organization is to find cures and improve the quality of life for people with those diseases.” To her astonishment, there were people in the room who had no idea that this is what the company did. They only knew that they came to work at night to empty trash cans, clean restrooms, and tidy up offices and labs. She realized that sharing this grand purpose of the organization was only part of the missing message. It was not enough to know that the organization did meaningful work; each one of the workers wanted to know why his or her specific efforts added value.
So she continued, “When the scientists come to work in the morning, they are conducting experiments, looking for cures to save lives and improve the quality of life for people with these diseases. If there is dust, or contaminated glass, or missing papers, these problems can potentially compromise the experiments. If we don't do our job, they can't do their job, and cures will not be found. We are part of the team that is going to save the lives of these patients.” The change in energy in the room was palpable. People bombarded her with questions and she noticed that they sat up straighter. This was the conversation that turned the team around. She now gets them together once a quarter to revisit the purpose, to reinforce the message that their work matters.
Finding Nobility of Purpose
A TV executive attending one of our classes felt challenged to find the purpose that would motivate his team. He said, “It's pretty easy to see the compelling purpose when you're saving lives. I work for a TV network, and our job is to broadcast garbage. How am I supposed to inspire my team with that?” The other class participants were stunned and there was a moment of complete silence in the room.
Out of this silence, one student stood up and said, “How can you say that? Do you know how important your shows are to me and my family?” He described his elderly, disabled parents, who were living in a full-care facility. With limited mobility, their only entertainment was television and they looked forward each evening to their favorite shows. Most importantly, they had started to watch the same shows as their grandchildren, so that during Sunday family visits they would have something in common to share with the kids. Another class member told him that her young sons found comfort in a particular show that they loved watching with their dad, who was now deployed by the military thousands of miles from home. When they watched the show they would giggle about how much Dad loved a funny character, and it made them feel closer to their absent father.
