4 questions that cut through the strategic blah

Have you ever worked for or with a company where there's a big announcement: our new purpose. Or mission statement. And, when it's announced, everyone nods enthusastically but really thinks: so TF what?

The company has spent a ton of money with consultants to create this new amazing statement that will set a new ambition, drive revenue and motivate its people. And - guess what? - they're going to make the world a better place. Honestly.

They may even have wonderful new values beneath them. Here's what they are (adapt acording to your own context):

• One company - we operate as one company x
• Our people and communities - we really really care about the world and have great people
• Delight our customers - we really care that they're happy
• Make a bit of money along the way - but it's not our primary motivation, obvs

Now as a person who makes his living as a consultant, trainer and coach, you may say it is a bit cheeky that I'm poking fun at the kind of work I actually do. But here's my key point: so much of this is done as a 'messaging exercise', with no real intent behind it, that it is just corporate blah. In fact, it backfires because you involve people in the process and then...nothing changes.

Cynicism results.

Purpose, shmurpose

I'm prompted to write this by a podcast where a consultant was asked to come up with a powerful purpose for a theoretical client. She came up with some words which - if they were announced to the pretend workforce of this imaginary business - would no doubt lead to actual sniggers and real raised eyebrows. They would, in short, be seen as - what's the technical term? Strategic bollocks.

What frustrated me was that she used the questions which really should drive focus and value. If I was to speak to this client after her they'd say 'oh, we've done that work.' But they would have scratched the surface.

The 4 questions are the obvious ones, of course. Who, why, how, what.

But they can lead to just warm words if you don't dig beneath the four big questions - and connect purpose to what you actually do as a business, the value you provide for your customers, why they buy from you and how you are special, different and great. The graphic at the top of this article sets out these dimensions.

This involves a challenging and full exploration of your culture, how your people turn up, what it feels like to work with you - and with whom you can make the most impact. In other words, with what type of customers are you the very best fit? And why should they choose you?

Turning this into a clear and well articulated Strategic Narrative gives you a much fuller and stronger foundation for change than developing a purpose alone. Because it connects culture to value, your mission to your purpose, what you care about with what your customer cares about.

Everything has to connect. And be true. And be easily understood. And be distinctively you as an organisation. And genuinely drive decisions, actions and behaviours. So that it becomes even truer.

Trust me, I'm a consultant

So when this is true, people trust what you say. Clients trust you because there's a real match. The teams are aligned and pointing in the same direction. We all know what we're doing and why, how we make sure it's special and which kind of clients we're looking to grow.

That is why clarity is the foundation of the Trust Triangle we developed for our new book on trust for The Economist. Common understanding is the starting point for collaboration.

Consider the opposite: if we have different views of what we're expected to do, chaos results and trust is damaged.

The other two dimensions of the Trust Triangle are character - the behaviours we all demonstrate - and capability - how we combine competencies in a structured way to achieve much better outcomes together. These both become possible if we're clear about the ambition for our relationship.

Then your values can have real impact - I call this turning values into value. Because they become the way we do things around here, the basis of our culture and distinctive approach. The 'how' in the 4 great questions.

In short, we turn warm words into real behaviour.

No, of course this nirvana doesn't exist 100% anywhere. There is no silver bullet for anything. But as a driving principle, being clear on your narrative, then truly acting and behaving accordingly, is a solid foundation for greatness.

Or, like the podcast host, you can ask a very expensive global consultancy to develop your purpose for you - and tell everyone this is now who you are. Good luck with that one!

If this resonates with the issues you face in your organisation, get in touch. [email protected]