The Greatest Or Weakest Link In Business

I refer to business purpose, the motives that compel an organisation to be strong, weak or menial. I am aware of course that many if not most companies have vision and mission statements adorning their walls and corporate brochures. However, most of these statements tell lies and if we displayed financial statements in the same manner, we would be brought to account very quickly. Not so with most vision and mission proclamations. Predictions of service greatness and love of customers, staff and suppliers are usually nonsense. They are also remarkably similar to myriads of ‘statements’ used by other organisations!

Serious and genuine business purpose is rarely displayed in literature and on walls, it is radiated by management first, then by staff and finally by customers. Purpose is like a disease, positive or negative, and it progressively infects people as it travels through a company and into a market. Regrettably, the purpose of too many organisations is extremely negative. Let me give some evidence.

If people in any company or on any high street in Australia were asked ‘What is the purpose of business?’, the answer of course would be ‘To make money’. It is such a simple question to address and I pose the question at many seminars and the answer is always the same: ‘To make money’. But if you were to ask people ‘What is the purpose of comedy?’ they would say ‘To make people laugh’. Then if you asked ‘What is the purpose of medicine?’ they would say ‘To make people well’, and if you asked ‘What is the purpose of music?’ the answer would be ‘To give people pleasure’. So consider this simple fact: the purpose of comedy, medicine and music, to name only three human pursuits, is to deliver pleasurable results for people, while the purpose of business is to gain a pleasurable result for the organisation or yourself.

And so here is the greatest or the weakest link in business - customer or company gratification. So what about the money? We know that comedy, medicine and music cannot be sustained and improved if they do not produce money. The same logic applies to business, of course, and in fact the original meaning of ‘profit’ was to have progressed or advanced. At the higher levels of engineering, architecture and the like their purpose is based on creating excellence for those they serve, and money is a background factor of great importance. In business, money is very much to the fore.

So, by far the majority of organisations are driven only or mostly by the need for profit. This is a recipe for eventual disaster, and the only reason we do not see more businesses collapsing due to weak purpose is that their competitors pray at the same altar.

If more evidence is needed of this malaise, scan the business sections of the daily papers and see the range of ‘news’ provided. There will be reports on profits and losses, mergers, acquisitions, executive arrivals and departures, but little or no mention of significant progress in service, marketing, selling, management and leadership. No wonder our children are not queuing up to get into business. They are raised by parents to appreciate that it is better to give than to receive, then they enter business and an opposite philosophy is taught!

This is a very serious problem and few people even know of its presence and poisonous effects. This is not to suggest that managers in organisations are evil-minded and cruel-hearted. The problem, like our religions, has been passed down from one generation to another, with no need for thought on the part of the current generation. But if we are honest, the current generation has actually done more than any other to make money the idol and beacon for business.

Let me make one point loud and clear at this point: there is nothing moral or pious about having a strong and urgent sense of purpose in business. Purpose drives practice and then performance and so it is absolutely critical that this issue is addressed. In my own case I can still recall exactly why I entered the related fields of consulting, speaking, training and writing. I was raised in sales and management so to speak, and I knew in my heart and in my head that most of the education and motivation in business was absolute drivel. My purpose then was to help set the record straight, to sell the truth about serious business development, to encourage leadership over management. This is still my purpose and it keeps me thinking and obligated to provide the best possible information and service to the markets I serve.

I find it difficult to advise managers on how to address and rectify this problem in their organisations. The best method I know of is to introduce managers to their customers, so that they can see who their customers really are. Customers do not go home at night to ‘customerland’, they are people, business people to be precise, and they need business help far more than they need products. Once the image of the customer disappears and the face of the businessperson appears, then we come to see where the real problems and opportunities exist. This rare view ignites a natural human desire to be of help, to solve the problems, and to keep getting better at this pursuit.

And so purpose is detonated and designed by a critical proximity to those we serve. You either serve customers or people; customers want products and services, people need help. Delivering real help demands greater talent and yields greater profit.

The medical world does not know about the physiology and anatomy of people from talking to patients, but from study of the human condition. The only way for business to arrange a similar form of study is to create two serious market connections. One is called ‘industry champions’ and this group will represent the highest achievers in your industry, here or abroad, in relation to the use or resale of your products (or another organisation’s products).

This group will show you ‘how high is up’ in terms of market performance, and this knowledge will create business motivation to show the mass of customers how to gradually move in the same healthy direction. The second connection is called ‘the board of customers’ and this group should consist of progressive customers and prospects, all of which are committed to growth. Aside from providing you with valuable feedback on all aspects of your service, this group can test the ideas created by the industry champions, so that when you take the ‘champion ideas’ to market they are well and truly ready for successful use.

Knowing the champions and being connected to a small team of progressive customers is a very powerful platform from which to do great good in the market at large. This is what detonates and sustains healthy purpose for a business, and the basis for excellent profit achievements!

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