by Jurgen Appelo
Note: At the time this article was written the company that owns Management 3.0 was called Happy Melly One. It has since evolved to the Happy Melly Group
A few years ago we launched an experiment, the Happy Melly community. The business network was founded because we want to make the world of work a happier place and so naturally, this goal ended up in Happy Melly’s Constitution. The experts call this an espoused purpose. It is a purpose that is defined and communicated, but the proof of the pudding is in our actual behavior. Are we doing what we said we would?
For Management 3.0, it’s different. As its creator, I never actually defined a clear purpose. I just did whatever made sense to me, without a vision or mission statement. But that doesn’t mean that there is no purpose. On the contrary, we can derive a purpose from actual behaviors and the things that I am most proud of.
Let’s see…
I’m sure you’ve seen me brag about being a top Agile influencer, a leading management expert, a popular Agile writer, and a best seller on Amazon. In my book #Workout, I call this a Work Expo: an exhibition of the stuff that you’re most proud of. A work exposition reveals what people find most meaningful in their work. For me, apparently, I show off my achievements as a writer and as a speaker.
For example, yesterday I spoke at a nice internal company event of Deutsche Telekom in Bonn, Germany. For me, the highlight of the day was not that people said I did a good job. That was only the 2nd best thing I was pleased to hear. The number 1 takeaway for me was that people said they were already successfully using delegation boards. I was happy to notice one of my ideas was useful!
Does that mean that my purpose is topping the charts and getting compliments from everyone? Of course not. It appears that I care about my ideas influencing people. And the ideas are all about agile management, organizational change, and better workplaces. The more proof I have of ideas being appreciated and copied, the happier I am.
So, there we have (a first draft of) the purpose of Happy Melly One (the body that owns Management 3.0): influencing people with good ideas for better work-lives. I offered it today to my new team, and they agreed this goal can work for them as well. The experts call this an enacted purpose: it’s what we actually do.
What is it that you’re proud of doing?
image: (c) 2009 Seth Sawyers
Learn more about purpose driven business within the Management 3.0 Module Meaning & Purpose.
