Do you know why you do what you do?

The power of purpose gets lots of bandwidth on the talk show circuit, in book titles, with motivational bloggers on the web. Perhaps it’s because “why” is an easy question to pose. Anyone with young children certainly has heard it often. But answering “why” at the office is not so easy unless you’ve done some good hard thinking about why you show up for work everyday.

The season's first snow beckons -- "Get Outside!"

That brings up a story on the issue of answering  “why” a business exists:

A few years ago a group of us interviewed Sally Jewell, CEO of REI, as part of a leadership project. Sally recalled a management exercise in which groups of executives were asked the reason for REI’s existence.  The input was distilled into a purpose statement you’ll see REI share on the web: “To inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.” But Sally recalled that statement grew from a singular passion: To help people get outside and play. “Get Outside” is an anthem in REI’s advertising, store signage and even in an email I recently received:  “Get outdoors with REI …”

Sally’s words came back to me recently when a colleague in Oregon told me a story about a family road trip through the Northwest. The vacation took an abrupt turn after a stop at the REI flagship store in Seattle, a building as widely known for its spectacular architecture as for its offerings of gear and apparel. After a shopping binge, the family loaded up the car and returned to Oregon. They decided to go camping with their new purchases for the rest of their vacation.

Determining the “why” of your business need not be a tiring existential exercise. There’s power in distilling the answer into a simple memorable phrase. It becomes an anthem for why you do what you do — a simple idea that attaches itself to everyone you meet, every person who works on your behalf.

The “why” keeps working long after you’ve put it into words. That photo above? It was taken on our walk in the woods this week. We welcomed the first snow of season with an inclination to grab our gear and “get outside!”

This whole business of sending the right message just doesn’t go away. Connecting with the right customer, standing out from competitors – it’s an ongoing process.  No wonder, then, that my bookshelves are full of titles as stimulating as “Management Communication,” and “Communicating Change.” Honestly, one of my all time faves is “Getting your Point across in 30 seconds or less.” Written in 1990, that title could be changed to “10 seconds or less” and probably sell even more copies in our time-starved media environment.

A whole host of processes that most of us would rather ignore lies at the root of getting the message right.  Things like market analysis, customer research, branding, sales tracking. Throwing words on paper is easy. Figuring out a way to capture the right words, not so easy.

Getting to the end-game – the right message – is as much a function of organizational process as it is organizational product. Dave Miller, big thinker at Stoke Strategy, notes:

“How you decide how to decide needs to be as carefully managed as the words and mediums chosen.”

Paying attention to what’s going on within an organization is a worthy step before diving into the making of the message.  Teamwork, systems flow, communication tools that work. The best message won’t survive beyond your walls if your internal structure is dysfunctional. Skip that step, and frustration results.  Not exactly the best way to get your story to employees, customers and beyond.