Purpose

Every organization has a purpose, an answer to WHY the organization was born. The purpose could be seen as the core or foundation for the organization and a large part of its identity. It doesn´t matter if the organization is a community, a family or a business. There is always a purpose, even if no one talks about it. Do you know why your organization was born?

The purpose forms the organization together with the assumptions from those people who were in the organization from start. An example: if the purpose is to make money for its owners and there is an assumption that some people are less worth than others, the business could be to sell slaves or transport refugees from one continent to another in poor ships. If the purpose is to make money for its owners and the assumption is that nature is important, the business could be to work with ecotourism. So even with a similar purpose, the form it takes depends on the assumptions around it. Now, most organizations have other purposes than to make money. Making money and also allocating other recourses is a requirement to be able to achieve the purpose of the organization.

When the purpose is never discussed, the people in the organization sometimes make up their own picture of what the purpose is and why they are there. In that case the organization could end up with many different purposes, that allows people to go in different directions and disagree on how the work should be done. With diverse visions it is natural that there are disagreements on the strategies that will lead to reaching the vision. It could really create a mess.

The purpose is an important component of an organizations identity. Sheila Margolis, Core InSites inc. and Carol D Hansen, Georgia State University, have in a study discovered how the central purpose and distinctive philosophy constitute the organizational identity. Priorities and practices are also attributes of the identity but could be changed without losing the distinctive and enduring essence of the organization. Relating to this, when people are unsure about the purpose of their organization it will have an impact on the organizational identity. According to Mary Jo Hatch, University of Virginia and Majken Schultz, Copenhagen Business School, this also affects the employee´s sense of belonging and level of commitment, their relationship with the organization.

So when the organization looses its focus of the purpose with which it was started, it not only could move in different directions, which is a fast way to disperse its recourses and the energy of its people. It could also mean that the identity of the organization, its image of self, is scattered and thereby its reputation. So let´s start to talk about purpose!

From the Genuine Contact© program,  created by Dalar International Consultancy.