Purpose.
Task.
One cannot really exist without the other.
Purpose without task is mere dreaming.
Task without purpose is meaningless labor.
My friend Sam, who inspired this Ramble, spent the day at the Disney Institute in Orlando. It’s an amazing place where the magic of Disney meets the reality of corporate need. Check this out:
http://www.disneyinstitute.com/
Now I am a sucker for Disney magic, but even Harry Potter’s wand waving requires a lot of hard preparatory work, and Disney is no exception.
I won’t go into all the details – spend some time on the website to get a taste of it – but I will share the notion of Purpose and Task – core to the Disney philosophy.
Here is how it works.
Everyone has a task. Someone empties the trash and someone is the CEO. All very clear and differentiated. But – all believe in the same purpose. No matter your rank, level, task complexity or whatever the purpose remains the same. Never changes – no matter how many times your task might.
So if the purpose of Disney is to create a magical experience for all its ”guests” – and even if my task has nothing to do with garbage – my belief in, adherence to, and full and unconditional acceptance of that purpose requires me to pick up any garbage I might see as I stroll the grounds.
Knowing our task – although not always as clear as we’d like it to be – is relatively straightforward. Believing in our purpose is not always so easy – in fact, knowing it and understanding it – where belief begins – is often the most difficult and confusing.
Listen:
“The secret of success is constancy of purpose.” -
We can change tasks, move up the ladder, do new things, add new value – but we have to remain true to our purpose.
Ask yourself what is your purpose – in life, in business, in relationships, in the world. Then see how you support that purpose and make it come alive…as in what task….
Do you know your purpose? Have you matched tasks to the bigger picture?
What do you think?
This highlights a good question for each of us. Would it be a good idea to work with our clients to identify their overall purpose and in turn our purpose as their agency?
Emerging media and changing landscapes make it difficult to do today what used to work yesterday if we stay focused solely on tasks. Perhaps identifying a purpose might help us deal with all the twists and turns in the road as we try to find ways to bring more value to our clients.
Good text. Good point and inspiring to move. In fact, purpose has to be checked and refreshed every once in a while, for we sometimes tend to loose visibility of it.
Question is about the co-living of different drivers. How to manage business and personal purposes that might not be exactly the same?
cuando el fin es el mismo todos ponen
excellent question/thought — what if business and personal purpose are at odds — do they have to be?
To the business and personal purpose at odds point – should it be that individuals defines for themself what their ultimate purpose in life should be and then all other elements – profession, relationships, activies, etc., all serve that purpose? Each of those elements may have their own purpose, but they ulitmately ladder up to that larger purpose. Like the idea of Master Brands to Sub-brands.
I like that idea of a Master Brand of Purpose. In fact, if they are too different (personal and business), there might something out of place on that equation. They can be different but converging.
bottom line — do you pick up the trash……..
David,
Very thought provoking post. Alignment of purpose across all dimensions of our life’s would be Wunderful (no pun intended) indeed. The challenge is to get everyone else aligned with that. I think clients, our own organizations, communities, and individuals get caught into the trap of defining ways to measure success. We often muddle the definition of success with our definition of purpose. While the two needed to be linked, in fact must be; they are very rarely aligned which creates inherent conflict. I’d love to hear more from you and your readers!