Building a Mindful Culture: Org + Team + Individual Purpose
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When we talk about mindfulness at work, we often discuss specific practices that we can embed, like meditation. But what cultural pre-conditions are necessary or helpful to build a foundation for mindful practices to thrive? How do you build a mindful organizational culture where the individuals, teams, and organizational philosophy are uniquely experienced but still collectively aligned? This workshop reveals how the tenets of mindfulness—namely awareness and intention setting—can be used to help design successful organizational cultures. The session will teach concrete tools to set intention and define purpose at three levels: individual, team, and organization. Brad Wolfe, from the Zappos-inspired culture consulting firm Delivering Happiness, will draw on his work with Twitter to provide a clear understanding of how to create a deeper sense of meaning and authenticity at work and how an organization can use a mindful culture as a unique competitive advantage.
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Building a Mindful Culture: Org + Team + Individual Purpose
- 1. Building a Mindful Culture Org + Team + Individual Purpose
- 2. This Is Just to Say I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold -William Carlos Williams, 1883 -‐ 1963
- 3. “Mindfulness is an effortless process that consists of drawing novel distinctions, that is, noticing new things. The more we notice, the more we become aware of how things change depending on the context and perspective from which they are viewed.” “To invest the mundane with meaning and beauty, and in so doing to make the world personal, is to live a personal renaissance.”
- 4. *gallup
- 6. 33% 50% 17% Source: 2015 Gallup ENGAGED employees work with passion and feel a profound connecHon to their company. They drive innovaHon & move the organizaHon forward. DIS-ENGAGED employees are essenHally “checked out.” They sleepwalk through their workday, put Hme – but not energy or passion – into their work. ACTIVELY DISENGAGED employees aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acHng out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish. 67% US Workers
- 8. “CULTURE”
- 10. 3 types of happiness
- 12. In 2010…
- 13. ñ ñ ñ WHOA. 2010 100 COUNTRIES GLOBAL MOVEMENT Delivering Happiness
- 14. Delivering Happiness Culture consulting using the science of happiness and best practices
- 15. 1996 – 1ST CINEMA IN AUSTIN TODAY – 30 CINEMAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY “COOLEST MOVIE THEATER IN THE WORLD” – CONCEPT OF HIGHER PURPOSE WAS NONEXISTENT, WE WORKED ROBOTICALLY WITH OUR VALUES AND MISSION. THE EXEC ALIGNMENT SESSION WITH DH CHANGED IT. From SMBs…
- 16. GOVERNMENT OF DUBAI PMO …To Governments
- 17. Happiness, Delivered. 39% MONTHLY SALES 92% UNPLANNED ABSENCE 250 COMPANIES 30 COUNTRIES ñ ñ
- 18. ConsulHng My happiness heartbeat
- 19. Purpose
- 20. Mantras or intentions act as filters. Like a pair of glasses, they shape the information that goes into our brain.
- 23. “I think every team is different. The night before training camp, we had a team dinner, and the big theme was strength in numbers. We’re going to use our depth throughout the regular season and in the playoffs, and that’s been a big part of our team.” – Steve Kerr, Coach
- 29. Purpose: So Hot Right Now
- 30. Having a sense of purpose in your job means that you feel that your work makes positive contributions to the world, beyond earning yourself a paycheck or improving your company’s bottom line—you feel a commitment to something bigger than yourself. Purpose Defined
- 31. Org Purpose Team Purpose Individual Purpose
- 32. Org Purpose Team Purpose Individual Purpose
- 33. Zappos Higher Purpose: Deliver Happiness Higher Purpose in Action:
- 34. Patagonia Higher Purpose: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis Higher Purpose in Action:
- 35. Higher Purpose in Action: BRAD TO INSERT VIDEO 5:25 -‐-‐-‐ 6:38
- 36. Tangible Benefit (our value proposition) Low Fare Airline 3rd Level Benefit: Relationship Building 3rd Level Benefit: Freedom 2nd Level Benefit: Ease of Travel Benefit Tracing Tool
- 37. In the Freedom Business We knew that being in a higher-‐calling business long term is a clearer and more compelling place to be—not only in the minds of the consumers, but also in the hearts of the employees. At Southwest Airlines, every decision we make, we have to decide if it enhances people’s freedom to fly or curtails it. ”! “!
- 38. Starting With Your Value Prop Focusing on user outcomes & simplicity, we minimize risk and increase your product’s success with quality code & quality humans.
- 39. Org Purpose Team Purpose Individual Purpose
- 40. Twitter’s Team Purpose Process reflect compose share
- 41. 1. Reflect
- 42. 1. Reflect: My Team’s Responses
- 43. 2. Compose: Our Process
- 44. 3. Share: Our Statement
- 45. 1. Reflect: 9 minutes
- 46. 2. Compose: 5 minutes Setting Twitter up for success, setting tweeps up for life: Designing opportunities to grow + learn everyday. here. & in the world.
- 47. 3. Share: 10 minutes What do you like? What is confusing? How could it be more clear? Unique? Passionate? Brief? Inspiring?
- 48. Org Purpose Team Purpose Individual Purpose
- 49. Find to help realize my purpose. companies individual Purpose is Mutually Beneficial company’s individuals
- 50. People with Purpose Have: ü More overall life satisfaction ü More positive emotions ü More self-esteem ü More resilience ü Less negative emotions Source: Zika & Chamberlain 1992, On the Relation Between Meaning in Life and Psychological Well-Being
- 51. Source: Crofts 2008, Authentic Transformation How? TAP Into Your Purpose Talent + Anger + Passion Talent Passion Anger My Purpose
- 52. What comes easily to you? What do your friends or coworkers ask you to help them with? What do you bring to a relationship? What do others complement you on? Talent
- 53. Toast to Your Talents
- 54. What makes your blood boil? In the workplace/home/ world? What stands in the way of your productivity or goals? What triggers you into a state of conflict? Anger
- 56. What could you not do without in the world? What would you be willing to sacrifice a lot for? If you could do anything without having to think about money or limitations, what would it be? Passion
- 58. Talent Design Thinking Anger Closed Minds My Purpose My life’s purpose is to tap into my talent for ____(T) and my passion for _____(P) to change or do _____(A) Passion Learning TAP into Your Purpose: Draft
- 59. My purpose is to tap into my talent for design thinking and my passion for learning to open minds. TAP into Your Purpose: Combine Talent Creative Self- Expression Anger Unjust Human Conflict My Purpose Passion Developing Authentic Relationships
- 60. What comes easily to you? What do your friends or coworkers ask you to help them with? What do you bring to a relationship? What do others complement you on? Talent Anger Passion What makes your blood boil? In the workplace/home/ world? What stands in the way of your productivity or goals? What triggers you into a state of conflict? What could you not do without in the world? What would you be willing to sacrifice a lot for? If you could do anything without having to think about money or limitations, what would it be? Individual Brainstorm: 10 min Brainstorm a list of your Talents, Angers, and Passions.
- 61. What comes easily to you? What do your friends or coworkers ask you to help them with? What do you bring to a relationship? What do others complement you on? Talent Anger Passion What makes your blood boil? In the workplace/home/ world? What stands in the way of your productivity or goals? What triggers you into a state of conflict? What could you not do without in the world? What would you be willing to sacrifice a lot for? If you could do anything without having to think about money or limitations, what would it be? Buddy Up to Find Themes: 10 min Give little coaching: listen, encourage, use plussing (yes, and, what if) to help them find common threads to arrive at a theme.
- 64. Oh purpose, my purpose! Purpose Proclamation
- 65. 2016 is around the corner… How will you change your world?
- 66. What is one thing you will do?
- 67. Want bootcamp or community info? email kelsey@deliveringhappiness.com brad@deliveringhappiness.com Thank You
Editor's Notes
- Think about your team and why you exist as a team. For this consider, whether you’re on a traditional team, or you’re a team of 1, or you’re looking to build a team. Think about who you work most closely with at work -- use that for this exercise. Need a north star for the org; doesn’t just work to have org purpose -- people don’t connect with the org purpose as they do with something job / team specific. i.e., if you’re on finance -- need something closer to you to give you the full connection to your workplace. Excited to take you through the process I’ve helped define for Twitter. I’ve used this with several teams…
- We here at DH aren’t the only ones that think values are important. You may have heard a famous guy named Ghandi. Right, THAT Ghandi. Here’s what he had to say about values: [READ Quote] So Ghandi believed that our thoughts, words, actions, and habits all amount to what our values are, and that our values determine our destiny! Pretty intense stuff, huh?
- so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.
- Chnages to context, changes to variabiliy Mindfulness is an effortless process that consists of drawing novel distinctions, that is, noticing new things. The more we notice, the more we become aware of how things change depending on the context and perspective from which they are viewed.
- SUNNY: how many of you know this guy? put it in the chat if you do! actually, you all do – 71% US workforce, unhappy: disengaged at work there’s a big gap between what we know about happiness, and what we’re doing about it
- Yet… this is who’s still predominantly showing up to work in the world. That’s right, uncle Milton! You think this isn’t you, none of us want to be miton, but there’s day’s this is almost all of us, and almost every daty this is someone in the office next to us, almost 9 in 10 is it your neighbor, your boss? ---- 71% US workforce, unhappy: disengaged at work there’s a big gap between what we know about happiness, and what we’re doing about it
- BETSY No doubt with your workforce maybe in your own department – you can easily identify employees that fall into each of these categories. You might want to think about where you are as well. Most recently GALLUP has identified that only 29% of employees are engaged and a full 71% are not!!
- SUNNY $500B – 1,836,450,000,000 --------
- BETS Merriam Webster declared “Culture” 2014’s word of the year. Use of the word culture to define ideas in this way has moved from the classroom syllabus to the conversation at large. EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT CULTURE – but few companies understand how to define their cultures.
- And culture is Hot co’s are no longer talking about should they focus on culture, in order to atract and retain and survive the modern workplace it’s becoming clear to many co’s they need to have a culture but in many cases it’s a superfacial effort to begin, adding the easy things, the low hanging fruit, the bea bags lunches and perks to compete, that so beautifully define famous culutures like zappos & google But they’re not begin intentional about it, because that is far harder. That’s about the ‘why’ under the free lunch- what does it provide? Do you want ppl to stay and work more? Or do you want ppl to connect, or eat healthy so they feel great? The why matters! The result we’re seing is short term culture gains. The impact of ‘oh cool perks maybe ill work there!’ But in the actual culture it doesn’t align with the impressions, or perks This is almost worse! Because it’s actively turning people on, then off. Sustainable culture is much more than bean bags and casual fridays Neot just set it and forget it, and not easy or everyone would hav great culture About values & attitudes in action, about how ppl live it And about the WHY behind them ---- If your’re not intentionally evolving your culture, is it evolving you? get curious.. what stories are ppl telling, what values are they living? ask, what are you really rewarding and reinforcing? Not in policies, but in behaviors? Sometimes its just a matter of allowing it..
- We know from science there’s 3 types happiness and not all equal Pleasure – shortest term- things like perks can provide But passion or flow at work, and higher purpose are important and much longer lasting Sustainalb culture needs to consider all of these --------- Lets start where tings make most sense.. with human sense saw earlier, we all want happiness, whatever goals pursuing in life, universal & core reason is bc we think will make us happier all differ paths same destination it’s human, in dna, universal goal across cultures but is´s imp to understand the three types of happiness...
- here’s how much biz sense it made for zappos – you don’t have a compelling business case without a case study.. This happened right through the recession. And he was selling shoes! Online! The key was that he was using happiness as a business model.
- BETS Before we dive into the presentation – I want to talk about what inspired me to be part of the Delivering Happiness movement In 2010, the CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, wrote a book called Delivering Happiness. The book inspired me. It made me think about how EVERY COMPANY has a unique culture. It’s not about being Zappos – it’s about Zappos example to be authentic. The Good Jobs was created to help companies to be really transparent about their culture so job seekers can get an insider’s view of that company – through the lens of culture. Delivering Happiness and The Good Jobs collaboration was inevitable!
- > from 2010 book > woah! Sold 600k copies, world responded to idea of happiness, at work > bus tour, talking to ppl about happiness> > global movement 100 countries > ---- 600k+ copies (550K+) 5X #1 best seller … NY times and WSJ 20+ languages world was hungry for idea happiness, started hearing from ppl was more than book about bz, book about life
- 2011 DH the company was formed to inspire passion and purpose for a happier world company and a movement purpose to inspire passion and purpose, for a happier world we offer culture consulting that uses the science of happiness and best practices from companies leading the way in culture
- Ie cool company worked with… “Wired” called them “the coolest movie theater in the world” Alamo’s Founder/CEO Tim League calls it “the theater for movie fans by movie fans” They prove this with a zero-tolerance policy towards talking and texting during the movie. If you talk or text, you will receive one warning. If it happens again, you will be kicked out without a refund! League also says, “We love being over the top. When they visit an Alamo, guests don’t simply watch movies, they create memories.”
- Worked with 250 co’s in 30 countries since launched 2010 These are some of the co’s… And we’ve seen results like these… ---- Aug 2011 DH the company born
- Higher purpose is positioned at the very top of the MHW pyramid.
- Higher purpose is positioned at the very top of the MHW pyramid.
- Higher purpose is positioned at the very top of the MHW pyramid.
- So what are we doing here?
- Not just in sports or scientific journals, it’s everywhere…. Time: http://time.com/3726475/create-sense-of-purpose-work/
- Underlying sentiment is… In working with the Greater Good Science Center, we found our clearest definition for Purpose. And it leaps off the page – it’s about positive contributions to the world bigger than yourself. This resonates with me and the work I do at Twitter, working with managers and leaders to understand the importance of purpose.
- Think about your team and why you exist as a team. For this consider, whether you’re on a traditional team, or you’re a team of 1, or you’re looking to build a team. Think about who you work most closely with at work -- use that for this exercise. Need a north star for the org; doesn’t just work to have org purpose -- people don’t connect with the org purpose as they do with something job / team specific. i.e., if you’re on finance -- need something closer to you to give you the full connection to your workplace. Excited to take you through the process I’ve helped define for Twitter. I’ve used this with several teams
- Of course, Zappos is a great example of an org. with a purpose – their purpose of Delivering Happiness is on every box and every employee’s shirt! This connects the product and employees to a higher purpose. Here are just a few examples of how Zappos employees live out their purpose day-to-day. There is a record for the longest call center call with a customer: 9 hours! Compare that to a call center that requires employees to read from a script. Zappos staff are encouraged to Deliver Happiness to customers via hand-written thank you cards, videos, flowers and cookies. This takes extra time and money, but because it carries out the Zappos higher purpose they do it anyway! Staff can give $50 “Zollars” as a thank-you to fellow workers who have WOWed them. What a great way to recognize the hard work of others and boost connectedness!
- Patagonia is another great example of an organization with a higher purpose. The higher purpose of Patagonia is not to make technical outerwear. It’s to inspire & implement solutions to the environmental crisis. They are leading voice and advocate for this greater good. For example, on Cyber Monday, the biggest shopping day of the year, they released this ad, urging people to reflect before they buy and to conserve planet’s resources. Patagonia don’t just say they have a higher purpose, they live it and connect employees to it. How? For one, employees at Patagonia are allowed to volunteer at an environmental nonprofit up to 2 months a year, with full pay! This gives employees an opportunity to dive deeper into issues that are personally important to them, while getting paid! Patagonia considers this volunteering time that employees are still working, even though they are technically not at work.
- Let’s hear a bit more about higher purpose from Haley Rushing, co-author of the best-selling book It’s not what you sell, it’s what you stand for: Why every extraordinary business is driven by purpose. Play 3:41 – 9:36 for a case study on Southwest Airlines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ogzQeg5uRk 2:15 – what difference are you trying to make? Why do you fundamentally exist? Not money – the only org that is in business to make money is the Federal Treasury. The rest of us have to make a difference in the lives of our customers who will give us money. If you ask: A physician what’s their purpose: I’m here to heal people A teacher: I’m here to help people learn A business leader: they bypass the part of the equation that says here’s the value – and go straight to the bottom line. Let’s see how Haley talks about her work at SW and their purpose as the cornerstone of everything they’ve done. Purpose benefits the wellbeing of an org. A north star that drives everything your org does. 5:25 --- 6:38
- We call it Benefit Tracing. Your higher purpose should be traced to the deepest, most meaningful UNIQUE benefit you offer to your customers. That way, your purpose links closely with your core. 1. Start with the most tangible benefit your company offers, i.e. your unique value proposition. Ex. Zappos’ might be “selling online with great customer service”. For Southwest, we might say, “Low Fare Airline”. 2. [Animate] Then, trace that benefit one level deeper. Ask: “what are the benefits of that?”…for Zappos the benefit might be “feeling cared for”. For Southwest, a benefit of Low Fare Airline might be “Ease of Travel”…See if that seems like a higher purpose. If not, ask the question again. “What are the benefits of that?” Coaches: instead of revealing our answers, you might want to ask volunteers to propose benefits and then say at the end, “this is what we came up with.” There’s really no singular “right” answer. 3. [Animate] There can be more than one benefit. For example, in the Southwest case, we might say that Ease of Travel helps Build Relationships. But a benefit of “ease of travel” might also be a sense of Freedom. [Animate] Once you get to a level where you think you have a higher purpose, you don’t need to trace the benefit further. So in this case, we’ve got two potential higher purposes, and Southwest, as we know, went with Freedom.
- There is evidence that purpose is tied to positive financial performance for an entire organization. We knew that being in a higher-calling business long term is a clearer and more compelling place to be—not only in the minds of the consumers, but also in the hearts of the employees. At Southwest Airlines, every decision we make, we have to decide if it enhances people’s freedom to fly or curtails it.
- So we’ve spent some time talking about how to define your org’s purpose and north star. But it doesn’t always work just to have an org purpose – people need to connect with their team and department. For example, if you’re on finance, you need something closer to give you the full connection to your workplace. so you know it’s important to have a team purpose, but how do you start? I started thinking about this as of the things my team gets challenged with all the time is helping leaders and managers define the purpose of their team’s existence. More specifically, what does team purpose look like in terms of anchoring teams’ objectives to the work they’re doing, and around how it ties to the broader vision of the company. To tackle this challenge, I introduced an initiative at Twitter to help managers define the unique purposes of their teams. I am excited to take you through the process I lead with teams at work. I’ve delivered this to about 200 employees across the company. In fact, I’m leading a team of 20 through this very process tomorrow! Leaders and managers, you can take this process back to your team and use it to help craft your team’s purpose statement. And for those of you in the room who aren’t managers, you’re equally if not more important to hear this process – bringing this back to your team is a great opportunity to expand your leadership skills – having a clear purpose that comes from WITHIN the team is very powerful. As we go through this next activity, think about your team and why you exist as a team. For this consider, whether you’re on a traditional team, or you’re a team of 1, or you’re looking to build a team. Think about who you work most closely with at work -- use that for this exercise. ------- http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_higher_purpose_help_your_team_survive_and_thrive For instance, in a study by Olivia Kiriakidou and Lynne Millward of the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, the researchers measured the level of commitment employees feel to their organization; the results suggest that “organizational members in separate divisions or departments may have distinct sub-organizational identity beliefs that are internalized in different levels and degrees.” In other words, what resonates for one group of employees may not resonate for another. As a result, the authors conclude that management should not bolster employee commitment to an organization by “presenting employees with monolithic solutions.” Indeed, it makes more sense to meet employees closer to where they are, by bolstering their identity around their own teams and divisions.
- As we know, a sense of purpose is crucial not only for Twitter as a whole, but also for the individual teams that comprise it. As you’d come to expect from a company that delivers information in 140 characters, our purpose process is 3 easy steps. I’m going to walk you through each step and give you time to experiment with it. At the end of this activity, you will walk away with a first draft of your team’s purpose and an understanding of how to bring this process back to your team.
- Step 1: Reflect Writing a purpose statement is a thoughtful process and starts with independent reflection; to help get you in the mindset for this, is to spend a few minutes answering questions. These are the ones we use for team purpose workshops at purpose and they’re chunked into 3 buckets: you, our team, our team + our company. When you do this with your team, you can absolutely tweak the language or questions to fit your needs. I like to bundle this workshop as part of a larger offsite so sometimes we’ll add another section around a specific challenge the team is facing that will get addressed in another part of the offsite. I’m going to ask you to follow the same process. Please take 9 minutes to answer the following questions. That’s 1 minute per question. We’ll track time for you and then regroup for the next part of the process.
- I dropped these 9 questions into a google form and had my whole team complete it. I was nice and gave my team 3 days to complete the survey. My original plan had been to summarize and share high level themes with the team. But, when I started reading through the responses, the verbatim comments were so great, I realized I had to share the raw backend responses directly with the team. I have to tell you, even if you stop here, it’s worth the 10 minute spend per person. I was so inspired reading what my teammates wrote. While we may have used different language to articulate what brought us here or how we want to impact the company, the answers completely reinforced why I love being part of my team, and reminded me of what my teammates are passionate about, inspired by, and hope to accomplish in our time @Twitter. Some clear themes started to emerge which helped accelerate Step 2: Compose.
- This is a screenshot of what it looked like when my team tried to compose a first draft. We tried in a team meeting on a white board, but that didn’t quite work with 2 team members sitting in Dublin Ireland. So, we quickly shifted to a Google Doc and took 10 minutes of quiet time for each of us to write out sentence fragements we liked based on our survey data. We started by pulling out parts we loved that others had written. This part was awesome. As you can see, there’s a lot on this page. We spent quite a bit of time as a team stitching together words and phrases that resonated, and playing with the order of the words. We really wanted something to be both aspirational and inspirational.
- Here’s where we landed with my team. And yes, it fits into a tweet. Ok, so now that you have your Team purpose statement -- what do you do with it? For us, we’re in the process of using this purpose statement to help clarify the work we take on as a team, and which projects we don’t. It’s something we’re also sharing across the organization to help other teams compose their purpose statements. We also use it to guide our design principles to think beyond just classes, but what other types of opportunities can we design that help individuals grow and learn everyday, not just while they work at Twitter, but helping them become better versions of themselves for life. You can make this work for you – whether you lead or are part of a team in the conventional sense – or a non-conventional structure like DH has with a holacracy. Niki >> Brad
- Step 1: Reflect Writing a purpose statement is a thoughtful process and starts with independent reflection; to help get you in the mindset for this, is to spend a few minutes answering questions. These are the ones we use for team purpose workshops at purpose and they’re chunked into 3 buckets: you, our team, our team + our company. When you do this with your team, you can absolutely tweak the language or questions to fit your needs. I like to bundle this workshop as part of a larger offsite so sometimes we’ll add another section around a specific challenge the team is facing that will get addressed in another part of the offsite. I’m going to ask you to follow the same process. Please take 9 minutes to answer the following questions. That’s 1 minute per question. We’ll track time for you and then regroup for the next part of the process.
- In step 2, you can use the answers to your 9 questions as a starting point. What themes start to leap off the page for you? Now that you’re in the reflection mindset, let’s take 5 minutes to compose a first draft. As you do, don’t worry so much about wordsmithing – the goal is to capture the essence of WHY your team exists. You want something that’s passionate, unique and could be clear to both internal and external stakeholders. Ideally, brief, but that part takes time. For now, try and get some a cohesive statement together that would be helpful to get some feedback on. Hint hint, we’ll be getting some group feedback in the next step
- Getting from the braindump of ideas down to our final words was hard. We found the best way to see if our purpose statement resonates with others is to share it and solicit feedback. 2 minutes per person/5 people. As you’re giving feedback -- leave constructive comments. What do you like? What is confusing? How could it be more clear? Is it unique? passionate? brief? What can you offer one another to help clarify your purpose statement? What makes a good purpose statement (unique, passionate, brief) -- inspirational + aspirational
- Why is individual purpose important? So now you have an org purpose and a team purpose. But you need employees who resonate with those purposes. For employers: TIME: Employers that can articulate and provide a strong sense of purpose may more effectively recruit and engage millennials. INC: Don't assume that a hefty paycheck and regular bonuses are the most important things to your employees. They, like you, want to know that what they're doing on a daily basis has some purpose behind it. "What people want most is the chance to make a difference,” HUFF POST: organizations can take their products to places where they have the most impact on others. This can help create a culture of purpose - so that employees think about how they affect others and do something good. They not only feel more purposeful (and live longer!) but also feel motivated to work harder to help their employer reach goals (which helps it live longer!). Employees and employers both win: find more meaning, happiness, engagement, productiivty) by seeing how you can bring in or find more of their personal purpose in their work Personal purpose is what inspires people to get up in the morning and do what they do. Personal purpose is determined largely by each individual’s values and cares. Everyone is driven by some internal purpose, even if it is unexamined and unrefined. As an employer, you don’t get to control anyone’s personal purpose (except your own). You can, however, ally with your employees in ways that help them fulfill their personal purpose while also serving the organization’s purpose. The formation of personal purpose is complex and, well, personal. But that doesn’t mean it’s none of a company’s business. In fact, being in alignment with your employees’ sense of purpose enhances commitment and loyalty, which has everything to do with your business. However, the only way you can align with employees’ personal purpose is for them to examine their own individual purposes, and for the work atmosphere to welcome employees to explore their motivations. In the best case, an organization with strong, embodied values and mission can serve as a role model for employees as they evolve and shape their life’s values.
- Personal purpose is what inspires people to get up in the morning and do what they do. Personal purpose is determined largely by each individual’s values and cares. Everyone is driven by some internal purpose, even if it is unexamined and unrefined. As an employer, you don’t get to control anyone’s personal purpose (except your own). You can, however, ally with your employees in ways that help them fulfill their personal purpose while also serving the organization’s purpose. The formation of personal purpose is complex and, well, personal. But that doesn’t mean it’s none of a company’s business. In fact, being in alignment with your employees’ sense of purpose enhances commitment and loyalty, which has everything to do with your business. However, the only way you can align with employees’ personal purpose is for them to examine their own individual purposes, and for the work atmosphere to welcome employees to explore their motivations. In the best case, an organization with strong, embodied values and mission can serve as a role model for employees as they evolve and shape their life’s values. -------- Companies say, now I can find individuals to help realize my company’s purpose --- great for role definition. Can test for that in the hiring Individuals can say, I can find a company to help realize my individual purpose. Therefore, individuals need to know how to articulate their purpose.
- Having a higher purpose may sound like a fantastical idea, but research shows that it comes with a lot of real benefits. Read the slide So, if having higher purpose has so many benefits, maybe we should get around to discovering what YOUR higher purpose is!
- Now it’s time to TAP into your purpose by identifying your talent, anger, and passion. Source: www.authentictransformation.com
- The first part of tap is Talent – What are your tangible gifts and skills? One rule - modesty is completely banned – this is the time to be honest about who you are! Think about things that just come easily to you, the kind of things that your friends ask you to help them with. List these things about yourself…For example, a person might have the talents of… (read slide) Questions to consider: -- When do people come to you at work? -- When do your friends come to you? -- What are you known for among your friends? -- What kind of problems do others come to you with? -- In a relationship, what do you bring? -- What did your school teachers or professors always comment on? -- When you were a kid, what came naturally? Niki’s Talents Fresh perspectives Design thinking (Theme?) Simplifying complex ideas Brainstorming Wordsmithing Writing Presentation skills Coaching – why? good listening, Consulting Connecting people Connecting ideas Inspiring others Cultivating purpose in others Inquiry Tweeting Dancing Building relationships Get shit done
- The first part of tap is Talent – What are your tangible gifts and skills? One rule - modesty is completely banned – this is the time to be honest about who you are! Think about things that just come easily to you, the kind of things that your friends ask you to help them with. List these things about yourself…For example, a person might have the talents of… (read slide) [ANIMATE] for this person, the theme of his talents is creative self-expression. Why is that important to you? Why do you love it? Questions to consider: -- When do people come to you at work? -- When do your friends come to you? -- What are you known for among your friends? -- What kind of problems do others come to you with? -- In a relationship, what do you bring? -- What did your school teachers or professors always comment on? -- When you were a kid, what came naturally? Niki’s Talents Fresh perspectives Design thinking (Theme?) Simplifying complex ideas Brainstorming Wordsmithing Writing Presentation skills Coaching – why? good listening, Consulting Connecting people Connecting ideas Inspiring others Cultivating purpose in others Inquiry Tweeting Dancing Building relationships Get shit done
- The second part of tap is anger – What angers you about the way our society operates? What would you like to see change? Think about the things that get you shouting at the TV or thumping the table after a couple of drinks. Questions to consider: What makes your blood boil? In the workplace? at home? World? What is the biggest injustice in the world/your world? What triggers you into conflict? What angers you about your own workplace? What’s the biggest thing you would change about your job/company/boss? What stands in your way of being as productive as possible? What are your pet peeves? Do you see any common themes here? Again, list these things about yourself… For example, a person might be angry about… (read slide) [ANIMATE] for this person, the theme of his anger is unjust human conflict. Niki’s Angers: Unfairness Double standards Inauthenticity Injustice Lack of self-awareness Unfairly blaming others Not sharing credit/stealing ideas Saying one thing and doing another / Talking out of both sides of one’s mouth / inconsistencies Changing goals without context Not being heard Bullies Thoughtlessness Gender bias Closed mindsets When people are late Inefficiencies Ineffectiveness Lack of appreciation (for myself or others) Being asked for help and then not have it used --- not heard
- The third and final part of tap is passion. These are often the deeper intangibles, compared to your Talents. Ask yourself: What could you not do without in the world? What would you be willing to sacrifice a lot for? What do you hold most dear? What makes your heart long for something? What thrills you above and beyond pleasurable instinctual drives like eating, sleeping, and procreating?” It’s asking what’s important enough to you that you’re willing to sacrifice other valuables for its sake? if you could do anything in the world without having to think about money or any limitations, what would it be? It could be that you’ve been shooting too low! Or, if you think you’re dreams are unrealistic, just focus on some element in them – you can start small and go from there. One more time, list these things about yourself… For example, a person might be passionate about… (read slide) Niki’s Passions: Learning Reading Wonder Curiosity Self-Improvement A challenge Exploring Traveling Relationships Family Friendship Authenticity Helping others Having an impact Empathy Playfulness Red Wine
- By combining the themes of your talent, anger, and passion, you’ll know what your higher purpose is. [ANIMATE] A simple way to do this is by filling in the blanks in this statement (read slide).
- To continue with our example, here is the purpose statement that combines the themes of this person’s talent, anger, and passion: Read purpose statement on slide. Give everyone a few more minutes to complete their purpose statements before moving on.
- Which Talents, Angers and Passions organically group together? What is the higher level theme that emerges? If several naturally bundle under a word you already have written down, that’s OK! This part can be difficult – have patience. Sometimes we’re too close to it and need a fresh pair of eyes. What does your buddy notice? Encourage one another – keep asking “why” beyond the original question to get to the underlying sentiment.
- When participants have finished sketching their images, have them transfer them to the big butcher paper you have prepared. They can all do this simultaneously. They can put their image wherever they like. Then have them draw a line connecting their image to the center title. If the center of the circle is their company’s higher purpose, you can suggest they draw this line to the center if they could think of a way that their individual higher purpose might in some way intersect with the organization’s purpose.
- Now let’s visualize how our purposes connect to one anther. Discussion Questions: What are your thoughts and feelings after completing this exercise? Imagine what you company would be like if every employee identified his/her higher purpose and brought it to work. Describe three major changes you would see. What steps might your organization take to empower people to live out their higher purposes at work?
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoJTW0t63pc Once everyone has done this, it’s time to share our purpose statements. Everyone is back in their seats. The coach goes from right to left, pointing one by one at an image, until the coach has pointed to everyone’s image. Try to do this as rapidly as possible. The image here is from the final scene Robin Williams’ film Dead Poet’s Society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoJTW0t63pc Where students boldly express themselves, as our participants are about to do. When the coach points to your image, stand up and say your full purpose statement boldly. Remain standing until the last participant has gone.
- ultimately we are all winners in the game of happiness, because everyone benefits: individuals, teams, the whole organization, and customers and/or clients! by changing YOUR world, we can change THE world One last exercise – what will you do? Turn to TWO ppl next to you in group of three, tell them one thing you will do Then tell us! sunny@dh.com your culture AND happiness is waiting! ---- There has never, in the history of the world, been as much opportunity to create the life and work that we want to enjoy. If we want to change our own workplace environment, much less have an impact on the future of work in general, I believe we must become detectives, students and explorers. Becoming a detective is about taking the time to examine how we see the world and requires an awareness of our own maps, a willingness to challenge those old stereotypes of happiness and what work should be. Become an Explorer. Take action. Begin the conversation in your world. Take a risk. Skillfully point out what you see at work. Ask, "Why not?" Your company may or may not understand and pursue your recommendations but when the future overwhelms them, they will remember that it was you who spoke out;
- ultimately we are all winners in the game of happiness, because everyone benefits: individuals, teams, the whole organization, and customers and/or clients! by changing YOUR world, we can change THE world One last exercise – what will you do? Turn to TWO ppl next to you in group of three, tell them one thing you will do Then tell us! sunny@dh.com your culture AND happiness is waiting! ---- There has never, in the history of the world, been as much opportunity to create the life and work that we want to enjoy. If we want to change our own workplace environment, much less have an impact on the future of work in general, I believe we must become detectives, students and explorers. Becoming a detective is about taking the time to examine how we see the world and requires an awareness of our own maps, a willingness to challenge those old stereotypes of happiness and what work should be. Become an Explorer. Take action. Begin the conversation in your world. Take a risk. Skillfully point out what you see at work. Ask, "Why not?" Your company may or may not understand and pursue your recommendations but when the future overwhelms them, they will remember that it was you who spoke out;