Why You Must Have Purpose Before You Pivot

Markets move fast.

Businesses need to change their direction to keep up with the market. They constantly need to course correct. They need to pivot.

But, most companies don’t have a place to pivot from.1

When a company only chases profits or market share, they only have the whims of the market to anchor their business. And when those whims change, their anchors get dislodged and they have to scramble for a new spot to give them stability.

But pivoting shouldn’t involve a radical leap. It shouldn’t dislodge your anchor.

You should still be the same company at your core. A pivot shouldn’t change the function of an organization. A pivot only changes its form: what you do is the same, but how you do it becomes different.

To know how you should pivot, you must start with what anchors you and what never changes in your business: your purpose.

These reflections have dispelled the agitation with which I began my letter, and I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven; for nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose,—?a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.? —?Robert Walton in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Your purpose is the why behind your business. It’s why you exist beyond profits.

A purpose gives you a certain view of the world: the way you believe the world should be.

A true purpose also needs an opposite that it stands against: without a possible negative outcome, there is no tension. And without any tension to solve, a purpose has little motivating force. So when you create a purpose, it’s essential to make it not only stand for something but also against something else.

A purpose is not what you’re excited about: excitement fades.

Purpose carries you unwavering and committed through not only the high points but also the difficult times. Your business’s purpose should be what you’re most passionate about?—?what you’d do in spite of any difficulty.

It doesn’t have to be big, but it has to be bigger than yourself.

If it’s only about yourself or a small group of people, it runs the risk of having selfishness creep into decision-making?—?consciously or unconsciously. And when a purpose is selfish, it runs the risk of being only about profit.

If it’s about profit, it’s no longer a true purpose.

When you create a purpose, you can’t just consider what the purpose is.

You also need to consider why everyone working for an organization should be motivated by it. This is because the purpose ultimately leads to the formation of core values and core values guide the everyday behaviors of employees.

A purpose provides focus and clarity. It helps you act so that the organization you become is the one you want to be.

And what you do today determines the type of organization you can become tomorrow.

Find this article useful?

Then, click here to subscribe to my FREE weekly newsletter where I give you the latest marketing and branding tricks and strategies that turn your business into THE choice for high-value customers.

References

1. Eric J. McNulty, “Find your pillar before you pivot,” strategy+business, 2019.

This article was originally published on Medium.