the individual peril lurking in Purpose

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“serving as the trustee of the society which the world thrives on”

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This is about Purpose in business, but, prepare yourself, while this doesn’t slam Purpose with regard to what is called purposewashing (a valid criticism), it will discuss how Purpose can be hacked toward some quasi-ethical slippery slope vision.

Let me begin by saying regardless of who you are, I believe most of us believe everyone should have a vocation, a calling, a purpose, that is fundamental to our life, and contributes, to their meaning in life. Which leads me to a business Purpose.

The trouble begins when Purpose is applied to an institution – a business. Now. It shouldn’t be a problem because at its core, business’s job has always been in the service and enhancement of human life in society through products and services they offer. Yeah. This suggests that organizations and businesses (and governments I assume) should ideally serve humans by providing various social structures, and products, necessary for humans to thrive. And if they have truly embraced a Purpose they have. Unfortunately, however, this mission is best served by, and for, the individual – not a business. So what ends up happening is a business establishes some ‘purpose’ and then the individuals in that business start serving the purpose of the business, uhm, and not the purpose of the person. Pick your poison, but it is either objective blindness or simply enslavement to the organization (Purpose).

That may sound harsh, but that’s the worst-case scenario wherein a business sets a Purpose and a person, assuming their status increases by serving that purpose, follows it. you don’t even have to think that hard about it to recognize that is an inversion of what Purpose is supposed to be.

That said. If we are honest, if you work, your individual Purpose will be intertwined with your vocation so we need to be aware of the potential downsides of a business’s Purpose. So. Let me make this discussion even worse. This may sound controversial when discussing Purpose, but we tend to neglect the fact that a business Purpose (can) corrupt all decisions, even those that may appear benign. What this means is if you have embraced Purpose, yours as well as the business’s, you are deluding yourself if you believe your own moral standing will discriminate between decisions and choices because it is impossible to escape the burden of the Business Purpose which applies to everything you do. Let me say it this way. There is no way a person may escape from the full burden of the power of Purpose over his or her whole existence. Yeah. That was harsh.

I am not suggesting it must be this way, but businesses are businesses and people are people. Some good intentions, some bad intentions, some lack of engagement, some assumptions, and off we go on the Purpose train. I bring this up because all I am suggesting is Purpose if often just a new cage business is designing for its workers.

Which leads me to I and We.

As Mark Earls often suggests “we need to ignore the illusion of I.” I begin there to state that ‘we’, the I’s, are social beings and who we are is a reflection of our interactions and connections. So, regarding business purpose, if it is a social construct we then need the emergence of a new kind of human, living in a new kind of human society and working in a new kind of humancentric business. That thought is a derivative of Hanzi Freinacht’s transvidual concept. Anyway. For today let’s call it embracing a “We view of business.” That’s a semi-important thought. I imagine I believe, in some form or fashion, we currently live in a world in which so many people’s lives are distorted by some nebulous Purpose that we basically have no idea what humans and humanity is truly capable of becoming which makes us ripe for being taken advantage of by some business. Let me expound a bit on that thought. I believe each person has massive squandered untapped potential in today’s business world. A Purpose (can) make this struggle even more difficult. From a business perspective we must ask whether the workplace shapes the kind of people we wish society to be made of and, if it is not, then what should a business change. Yeah. I am suggesting, and believe, that business can not only shape society (through people), but also change society. Yeah. I am suggesting business is more than ‘profits & growth.’ Yeah. Business can shape the “we” if it stops gaming the “I.” The reality is many things can change society – including Purpose. Education, business, and, yes, even technology, but that change runs in both directions. Changes in society can impact any of those things just as changes in any of those things can impact society – the causality is bidirectional. Within a recognition of the “We” aspect resides any hope for business Purpose.

Which makes me circle back to Purpose.

This may sound odd after pointing out I feel purpose is an individual endeavor, but inevitably the key is how do we create the social conditions so that all the changes we desire can occur (remember, I stated earlier we are social beings). I say that because it kind of appears like many people are currently starved for visions of the future which accommodate individual Purpose. So if we long for better visions of the future and society (and we should), we need to stop looking to some crafted business Purpose for that future — especially because most business purposes are intended to simply be a higher order narrative for making money and profits.

To be clear. I have consistently had a non-radical vision of what Purpose is; and is not. I believe individual purpose is an incredibly important topic in that it taps into meaning and mattering and I believe the Purpose of business should be just one thing – the purpose of business is to benefit people. That shouldn’t be a radical thought. With that in mind I will suggest that, if we navigate a business Purpose well, the new worldview that emerges from a more meaningful effort in life and business is quietly radical. We shift from thinking about some future state to attain and simply apply ourselves to the present, as it emerges, to shape a better future. That seems, well, good. Maybe even gooder than some nebulous business purpose. Ponder.