Blog

The Rhythm of Being ON PURPOSE

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 13:00:00 GMT

You know you don't have to 'be ON PURPOSE®' every day - you only need to know that you have a purpose to ensure you get through to tomorrow.

Simply acknowledging you have somewhere to be, someone to care for, and something to achieve - whenever or where ever that may be, actually makes it easier to take a day off sometimes. The momentum of knowing that this mission you are on is tracking ok, you are getting to the next point as planned and that the efforts you are putting in actually are taking you there is in itself a liberating feeling. Being so focused and knowing where you are on your journey can make it so much easier to truly relax and recharge when you need to.

On the other side of this is the issue of never slowing down and being driven unendingly towards an imagined finish line - at some stage you have to rest the mind! But imagine getting through your days and not really having a clear destination in mind. Imagine if you will, the endlessness of crossing what feels like a desert without having a compass and a reason to cross it in the first place. It makes those thirsty days endless. Knowing that there is a point to it and where the best places to camp are, simply enable you to stop and revitalise yourself as you go and ease the pressure a little on the way, and sometimes that's just really nice to do.

Happy holidays to everyone and best wishes for the coming New Year,
Andrew

Friction Helps Us to Grow

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:00:00 GMT

I was reminded of the line recently: To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life. ~Alan Coren, The Sanity Inspector, 1974

I take this to mean that when we are fed up, and our spirits rattled and our energies fractious, we create the need to move forward in some way inside. Whether it is to march off to the council and lay a complaint, or gather a troop together and march in protest, it’s the irritations and frustrations that actually get us moving. The friction that ignites inside from where creativity, and communication can rise up in meaningful ways, and solutions be discovered to those challenges.

That’s really important.

Imagine if you will, a world where nothing ever goes wrong in your day. The day starts well, ends well and nothing much of anything is in the middle of it. It is as you planned it and wish it to be. While we all want such days – and sometimes I know I NEED them – if every day were like that, we’d soon struggle to get up each morning.

Sameness and certainty do not help us to grow – friction does. How we learn to cope with it is what shapes us.

Living or Dying ON PURPOSE?

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:53:00 GMT

An 'unemployed' existence is a worse negation of life than death itself. ~José Ortega y Gasset

What a great quote – to do nothing is to be useless, and to be useless is to die inside while still existing.   How can any of us justify simply meandering through our lives with no purpose or reason to get up every day?

I believe we all have skills, talents, and abilities, even though for some, these are very well hidden and let’s also consider some of us don’t truly find our calling or vocation until later in life, but to sit idly on the sidelines of life and simply wait is inviting our lives to become meaningless, and this surely is dying while our bodies take a slower path.

I also like the way Johann Wolfgang von Goethe expressed it: "A useless life is an early death".

Knowing Why is a Big Part of Your Business Strategy

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 01:49:00 GMT

You know the more I think about this ‘WHY’ business, the more I see it being used, or in many cases not well understood and therefore not used well. You see, I believe the easiest way to understand purpose and being ON PURPOSE® is to get your head around how your head works as a decision maker.

Think of it this way – when you wish to convey to your market that you can provide a service or products, consider that WHAT you do is generally understood by your marketing, the image you portray, and the communications relating to your products and services.

How you are going to provide this service is explained by your words. You can tell anyone about the way you work, the customer service levels you wish to provide and who John in Accounts is in case there’s any issue with the billing.

But the WHY is what comes from deep inside. The Limbic part of the brain deals with feelings and intuition and we as customers tune into this often without even thinking about it and whether we know it or not will usually base our decisions on what this part of our brain is telling us.

The WHY is also the purpose behind what you do as a business operator (or teacher, parent, friend – but let’s just talk business for today). It’s the driver and motivator. If you don’t have a clear reason for doing what you do, customers tend to be less engaged, and often will seek alternatives to what you are offering from people who knowingly or not are connected to their purpose.

Let’s consider APPLE for a moment. Their overriding purpose behind everything they do is to be the counter culture maker in design and technologies as they provide solutions to what their customers want, often coming up with solutions to things we didn’t even know we were challenged by yet. Wow – that’s really thinking differently.

You see APPLE knows that by ensuring the company’s WHY is understood by people who want new, innovative and counter culture solutions (that we often don’t quite know we need yet) they can build a huge fan base of customers like me; many of us being early adopters who also think of ourselves as being innovative and fresh consumers. Their WHY is what drives us to become so passionate about buying APPLE iPods, iPhones, iPads in their millions.

Do Dell, HP, IBM, Compac, SONY etc have the same levels of talent, innovators, technology, and resources that APPLE have? Of course they do. And collectively they also make outstanding products, but they don’t have the passionate fan base that APPLE have become so famous for having. The people who will argue over dinner about the merits of APPLE technology and innovation as passionately as others will debate politics and religion.

But APPLE has a unique point of difference – it’s in how they think, the WHY. This is powerful beyond measure, and the best thing of all is, we all have the potential to develop our WHY’s. To be ON PURPOSE® in all that we do too.

The Reason Why

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 04:29:00 GMT

'Why' is the driving force behind purpose. It starts by understanding what Simon Sinek calls the Golden Circle. The outside layer is about What we do. The middle is about How we do it. The inside circle is Why we do what we do.

Sinek believes that Most of us ask: What, How, Why? Some of us ask: Why, How, What?

For example, it’s not enough that our iPods produce great music quality, have outstanding technology behind their production or that they are highly fashionable and ‘cool to have’. As consumers we buy into the purpose behind Apple’s existence more than we do Dell, or Sony now. Apple state that: “Everything we do is designed to challenge the status quo – we believe in thinking differently”. This is what millions of Apple fans around the world feel first and last about Apple products. They love that Apple feels what they do about pushing boundaries.

Too many business operators and marketers don’t get that the way we think about how we spend our time, money and resources has changed. It’s not enough to see a product and think, “wow, that’s cool; I like the colours and how many features it has”. Now we want to know why it’s better than the other ones like it.

We feel more intensely about what we spend our time, energy, resources and money on than ever before. We want to do business with people who are like us. An increasing number of consumers also need reassurances that our money is going back into the ‘do good’ pot in some way. And we make decisions based on how we feel the company we are committing our money to for any product or service is worthy of our investment. We ask questions like, do they recycle, put effluent into river ways, re-plant trees and so on. It’s not just about the product or the best price any more – and so companies need to consider this in their own business strategy and marketing communication more so than ever before.

The goal in business is to do business with those who believe in what you believe. Why you do what you do – not just ‘what you do or how you do it’. Being ON PURPOSE® is critical to this line of thinking.

What Drives You?

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:52:00 GMT

I saw an advertisement for something recently that talked about 'what drives you'. It asked the questions: "What drives you to... get up early, get across town, meet with someone new, invest in a project, return home at the end of the day". The answer of course is 'purpose'. Being ON PURPOSE® in anything is crucial to arriving at the end of 'it' (what ever the particular 'it' may be at the time) and feeling good about the outcomes.

Your purpose may be long reaching - or far reaching. Perhaps many people, or much time needs to pass for the results to become real. But at the beginning, the purpose must drive a plan. Some thought must go into making all the parts work, and all the pieces fit together.

Do you have a plan?

Does your plan have purpose?

Does your plan have room for flexibility?

Do you know what the variables are?

Whatever it is that you are working towards, whether it's "getting up early, getting across town, meeting with someone new, investing in a project, or returning home at the end of the day..." if you know the Why (have purpose) then the How will follow, and will often take care of itself.

ON PURPOSE Parenting

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:15:00 GMT

Being an ON PURPOSE® Parent

In considering Purpose in all its contexts, I believe we must have it behind everything we do, not just our work or sports, but also in how we play, and how we raise our children and manage our family relationships. From the moment we are born, we strive to grow, learn and get ready to venture out into the world, and our parents have expectations of our future and the type of people we'll grow up to be. So we as parents, need to consider the outcomes we expect for our children and start applying purpose to our parenting skills. This is what drives us to move forward, but also it keeps us ready and willing to pick ourselves up during those tough times when we're exhausted, frustrated, and dealing with tantrums, tears and spilled milk!

Our temperamental two year-olds eventually move out of this stressful phase, start school, and move through various stages of loving us and distancing us, then loving us again as they prepare for leaving home and taking their places in the world. What we can do to help them is to let them know our sense of purpose and commitment to ensuring that the day when they pack the car, or leave us tearfully at an airport that we know they are completely ready, capable and able to adjust to what ever comes their way henceforth.

I've a friend who's son recently left home and country to seek his fortune, and as he left, she realized that had she not had a strong sense of purpose leading up to that moment, it would have been a much harder goodbye and she'd have worried so much more. But having known that her dedication as a mother (who encouraged independence and responsibility) had contributed to the making of a 'good person' she felt "mostly ready" to let go when the time came.

We have the right and the responsibility to plan our childrens' futures, and while we may not have a lot of control over what they do, where they end up living, or who they partner up with, we can plan ahead for us all to be ready to launch good people out of our nests.

Being an ON PURPOSE® parent makes for a wonderful journey.

The Strong Purpose Behind Winning Gold

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:00:00 GMT

The Strong Purpose Behind Winning Gold

What makes athletes get up every day, repeat the same training routine, day after day, and grow their ability to improve second by second, day after day? Purpose! Their dream of attaining the greatest of results – be it winning gold at the Olympic or Commonwealth Games, National Championship titles, or breaking world records – it all starts with purpose.

When a child starts with a dream, and has the skill and talent to match it, then works at achieving excellence in their chosen field, their dream is usually nurtured by their parents, coaches and mentors. But if that child does not have their own sense of purpose around their dream, then there will simply not be enough drive and determination to get through the failures, the disappointments of not winning sometimes, the pain and anguish of exhaustion and sore muscles. They just won’t have enough inside to get them across the finish line.

This is not just about setting goals, but having the absolute passion and determination to see your goals become reality. That’s what being ON PURPOSE^TM is all about. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers1, maintains that it takes an average of 10,000 hours of practice to get outstandingly good at something. He says that talent and natural skill are not enough – virtuosos are made, not simply born. Sure the talent has to be there, but alone, it’s not enough to sustain a childhood of ongoing practice and determination to reach the top!

The Commonwealth Games in New Delhi next month will be an exceptional celebration of hundreds of athletes who have the drive and determination to get them to the top of their respective sports, and achieving a place in their countries’ teams is in itself a significant achievement. Most of them are actively nurturing that strong sense of being ON PURPOSE^TM every day, and for some, this will result in taking home Gold, Silver or Bronze.

When you know the Why the How follows naturally.

1. Outliers, Gladwell M. Penguin 2008

What About Learning New Things?

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Have you decided to go forth into something and realized that you don’t have all the skills needed to achieve great outcomes yet? Maybe you need to up-skill, or maybe you just need to know enough to be able to hire someone highly skilled so that you truly understand what it is that they are really great at so that you can get the best out of them.

Start by considering these two things:

Do you need or even want to become technically brilliant in order to run a superior level technical team or department?
Or would it be enough (or maybe more than enough) to simply attend some good refresher courses so that you at least know the quality of the candidates you could hire to do some specialist work?

Many great leaders recommend hiring people who are smarter than you are as a means of achieving much more than you can do by yourself. Perhaps the best use of your time is to improve your leadership or management skills so that you can truly harness the effectiveness of others who are experts in their field.

This is a good time to consider your own strengths, and weaker areas of ability. What do you love to do and what are you best at focusing on? It’s all very well to know that you have the ability to do the $10 per hour jobs like filing, or data processing, but what if your own top skills are better spent on the $100 per hour jobs.

Thinking about these things from mindset of being ON PURPOSE® gives you clarity about what is truly important and what it is you are aiming for beyond the details.

Do You Need Help?

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 03:09:00 GMT

In order to make great things happen, you nearly always need to work with other great people. These may not be Abraham Lincoln ‘great’, but certainly exceptional in their field and therefore of significant value to you in your endeavors. Regardless of your work, industry, objectives in moving forward into greatness, your best mentors, guides and teachers should be those you seek out and express a willingness to learn from. (It should be noted that at this level you are looking for a lot more than a business advisory appointed free mentor.)

So who are your ideal ‘greats’? And how do you meet them, then get them to work with you?

Start by defining exactly the type of guide, teacher or other kind of helping hand you need. What would be the ideal situation from your point of view? If it’s someone to mentor you, then begin with identifying what makes you an ideal person to mentor from their perspective. How will you step up and prove you’ll take real value from their encouragement, support or advice?

Many people who are really great at what they do are often targeted for mentoring and rightfully may become quite selective as to whom they agree to work with. You have to impress upon your chosen ‘greats’ that you are willing, able and committed.

Do you need to do anything to make this a reality? Are you ready to be mentored by someone who is truly great?

Your purpose in preparing for being mentored by someone who is absolutely perfect and is your most desirable mentor is part of being ready. So invest time in thinking this part through, ensure you’re able to answer any and all questions you may be asked when you approach your target, and above all else, be professional. You should also have done some homework to be sure you know a fair bit about him or her, so that they know you’ve taken the time to do so. This is important.

Get ON PURPOSE® with getting help to become all you can be.

Opportunities

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

What you want today is not necessarily going to be the same thing that you want tomorrow. What you would ‘die for’ as a teenager, is going to be quite different to what you would literally die for when you have children. The opportunities you would move heaven and earth to seize right now might be ones you would walk away from in another phase of your life. So how do you know which ones to seize?

If something keeps you awake at night, and bugs you every time you think about it, then consider all the possibilities that it might offer you if you were to fully explore it. The way you think about something and the positive attitude you bring to an opportunity will be quite transforming. Glass half full is always better than glass half empty, and sometimes it takes practice to really look clearly at what golden opportunities are inside an offer. So start practicing that. You’ll be surprised at the way you view things when you start regularly thinking in terms of: why not?, how can I?, what if?

When you've got to the point of being able to say I am ready to do something about this opportunity, then create a plan and see if this is aligned to what you believe is your purpose. If it is, and you feel strongly about it, then move forward.

Why Innovation Bonuses Won't Work!

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Why Innovation Bonuses Won’t Work!

Studies have shown that the three things leading us to find significantly better job satisfaction and improved personal performance are Autonomy, Mastery and having Purpose. Let’s face it, managers are missing the point if they think that just offering a bonus is going to get more creativity and better results out of their employees – when psychologists, economists and sociologists have already worked out that money is only a motivator when the tasks are basic and require relatively less creative input. In fact – if you pay someone for doing more, there’s a point where you can either pay them too much or not enough, and it will affect the outcomes.

If you took money off the table as an incentive (beyond taking the stress factor out of not having enough in the first place) but offered more scope for employees to be self directing, able to step up on their own terms to being able to operate at a satisfactory level of excellence, and ensured they had a great reason for doing something then people will focus on the outcomes in an entirely different way.

Atlassian, an Australian software development company gives their staff one day every quarter to work on anything at all they wish to – no restrictions, but they have to share their results and findings. On this one day, they solve more problems, get more creative and innovative ideas flowing and staff are more highly motivated than at any other time each year.

So – if you were going to create a company with the best ideas, happiest workers, and a reputation for both these things, would you do it based on how much you pay them and the size of the Christmas bonuses, or on giving people the space and place to play and develop in interesting fresh ways that is ‘out of the box’ thinking at its best.

The Link Between Profit and Purpose

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Profit and Purpose – The Link!

Essentially we like to get good as stuff we do – just because most of us are wired that way. If we have a talent or skill, and we get enjoyment (not necessarily money) from doing it well, we will work on getting good or even great for personal satisfaction that is not always commensurate with our actual return or rewards for doing so.

We also like to contribute – well most of us do. The exception confirms the rule in this case I’m sure. I like to believe and many others do too, that if we are able to we’ll give and give for the satisfaction it gives us to do so, not because there is necessarily the guarantee of reward, recognition or even maybe awareness of our having done so. Because it just feels good to help others when and if we can.

Many companies are starting to realize that profit and recognition are not the be-all and end-all in terms of profitability and creating good companies. Instead there is a movement in the world towards ensuring that purpose is placed higher on the list of importance than profit. Perhaps the world is finally coming of age in the realization that a disconnection between profit and purpose leads to such things as less than ideal customer service, low quality products, and decreased job satisfaction. Maybe we as a society are getting better at understanding the value of having a powerful purpose in our organizations and seeing our customers voting with their wallets and supporting those who stand of for something good, vs turning away from companies who do bad things. Take a look at BP’s share price following the Gulf oil spill?

If you get up to work every day and go to work feeling like just a number, you’ll struggle to maintain your enthusiasm for long. This will affect every part of your working day and then spill over to your personal life if you don’t have something driving you and moving you forward. Managers need to ensure that staff are engaged, motivated and really feeling a sense of purpose in their work. Simply managing by ticking the boxes is not enough anymore.

Here is a great animated explanation by Dan Pink about the powerful reasons we need purpose in our work and our lives.

Some people’s purpose is to serve as a warning to others.

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:53:00 GMT

Some people’s purpose is to serve as a warning to others.

by business speaker Andrew Darbyshire

Telstra must take note of the demise of AT&T as the dominant player in telecommunications throughout the United States. Beginning in 1984 when it was forced by the government’s antitrust laws into the breakup of the Bell System.

At the core of the company’s troubles had everything to do with people and managements failure to understand that.

The CEO at the time took the stance of instigating layoffs and cost cutting. But what AT&T needed more than financial measures, was a reason to exist, it had lost its purpose.

What gave employees of AT&T reason to go to work everyday was that they were delivering a telephone service for all, rich or poor, suburban or country. When that purpose was lost to competitors, the company’s employees lost there reason to come to work everyday and the rot set in.

Instead of trying to reestablish its purpose, AT&T’s CEO focused on charismatic leadership as the solution to the problems, which only made matters worse.

If Telstra isn’t careful, history will repeat itself through the forced shift in its reason for been, that been to provide basic telephone access for all Australians.

How do you create your ON PURPOSE statement?

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:49:00 GMT

How do you create your ON PURPOSE statement?

by Inspirational Speaker Andrew Darbyshire

Follow these simple steps.
It should be kept as small as possible, preferably three words.
For instance, Disney's purpose statement is "Make People Happy"

The first word, the action word, should be a verb such as; Make, Move, Be.

The second word, the about word, should be a noun or pronoun, such as; Children, Myself, People.

And the third word, the outcome, an adjective, such as; Safe, Happy, Wealthy.

That's it, simple and to the point. Try it and see what you come up with for your business. Then focus yourself and your team on being ON PURPOSE, and watch what happens.