The Culture Engine

Chapter 3Clarify Your Organization's Purpose

Company mission or purpose statements have been around for many years. For example, Nature Publishing Group's first mission statement was formalized and published in 1869.¹ Mission or purpose statements came into vogue for many businesses in the 1960s and in the years since.

Research² indicates that mission or purpose statements are consistently beneficial to companies' success and long-term survival.

What is your team or company's raison d'être, its reason for being? Why does it exist? Whom does it serve? Why should customers—or even employees—care about your team or company?

I want you to do some research before you go any further in this chapter. Ask 10 people in your company or on your team what the purpose of your company or team is.

Take notes. You might even video them answering this question.

Unless your team or company has been intentional about its reason for being, it is likely that you will hear very tactical ideas about your team's purpose. Respondents will typically say things like:

• We print catalogs (or sell cars or make medicine or deliver whatever your core product or service is).
• Our purpose is to make money for stakeholders or stockholders.

When you pose this question, you might hear some exasperation in respondents' voices or see it in their body language. They may feel as if there is a different answer you're looking for and that they should know what the real answer is, or that the question is dumb because ...