From Glorious Purpose to Just Cause
Every studio has a purpose - the thing they exist to do or the effect they wish to have in the world - even if it's not written it down.
As part of my coaching, I help my clients find their purpose so that it can be a source of strength and conviction. This way, it serves as one of the studio's foundational elements for decision making and sense making.
But how do you know that your purpose is the right one? How do you know that your cause is, in the words of Simon Sinek, just?
What makes a cause just?
In The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek encourages us to start playing infinite games. Specifically, this means looking at our businesses not as players in a game that ends and can be won, but as players in a game that will go on forever, and that can only ever be improved or impoverished by all those who play, depending on how they play.
Like many other business authors, he defends the value of a company purpose or cause as something that can provide direction for our work and inspires us to make sacrifices where needed. And, he argues, businesses that are serious about being a proper player in the infinite game need a just cause.
Helpfully, Sinek, gives us 5 standards to evaluate your own studio purpose against, to see if it is fit to serve as your very own just cause.
A just cause, then, must be:
For something
A just cause should be both affirmative and optimistic. It is something you stand for and believe in, not something you oppose.
Inclusive
Your cause is specific enough that it is clear for any would-be contributors what vision they are helping to make into reality, and how they might do so.
Service oriented
Your cause is for the primary benefit of others, helping to sustain the infinite game by creating value that goes beyond your own bottom line.
Resilient
Your cause is able to endure political, technological and cultural change. Ideally, your studio will be in the game for decades if not centuries, so your cause has to be able to accommodate changes to things that might be specific to our current moment in time.
Idealistic
Your cause is big, bold, and ultimately unachievable. Any true player in the infinite game knows their work is never finished, and your cause should reflect this.
So here's my challenge to you:
First of all, define your studio purpose if you haven't already.
Second, see how it stacks up against Sinek's 5 standards, and see if you can't find ways to make it just a little more optimistic, inclusive, service oriented, resilient or idealistic.
I'm positive that you'll learn something things about your studio, and you might even like what you learn.
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See you in two weeks!
Martijn
