WHY? What is the purpose? Define your main objective.
Although it mirrors the actions of a toddler just learning to question and frustrate her parents, it should remain at the core of many of our business practices. Why is that SaaS solution a good idea? What objective will we meet by signing the contract? How will we meet our mission by rebranding? What stake is at risk if we miss this project milestone? These questions seem self-apparent but are not always widely understood by all team members, stakeholders, sponsors, clients, customers, and users.
Simon Sinek taught us all to start with why. However we can benefit by keeping why as our beginning, middle, and end. Tying each communication back into the why keeps a clear WIFM (what’s in it for me) for stakeholders at every stage of a multi-year rollout when those early design sessions have long faded from memory. Restating the why consistently for a decision also helps sponsors and executives re-evaluate things when the situation changes. If the original reason goes away, then there may be no more point in throwing good money after a solution for an old problem. This helps organizations stay flexible and pivot appropriately.
Defining that “why” is one of the burdens of leadership. Whether you have legitimate power or referent power, leaders should guide their people to understanding of the why from as many angles as possible. If you don’t have that “why” defined, then you need to pull your people together and grind out the purpose before you take a step forward. Remember the exchange between Alice and the Cheshire Cat:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
Carroll, L. (1893) Alice’s adventures in Wonderland
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“-so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
You, your team, your organization, will most likely not be satisfied with working long enough on something to end up SOMEWHERE. Define your WHY. Communicate it, consistently. And then measure against it. If this is something you need help figuring out for your business, organization or team, please reach out. While no one should define your why for you, Ronin Consulting has the expertise to guide you towards defining your why and then making it happen.