Who, Why & What: The three elements of purpose

Presumably every entrepreneur and every manager wants employees who are highly motivated to do their work because they see a purpose in it. But how do you get employees to see meaning in their job and not just do it half-heartedly out of duty?

An initial answer to this question is provided by the anecdote from the quarry in the Siebengebirge. In it, a visitor asks unmotivated stonemasons what they are doing. They answer: "We hew stones". Then the visitor's gaze falls on a highly motivated and dedicated stonemason and he asks him what he is doing. His answer: "I'm helping to build Cologne Cathedral." This stonemason has found a higher purpose in his everyday work, which is why he is highly motivated and focused.

The word "found" is of central importance here, as managers and supervisors can tell their employees what to do and how to do it. But they cannot tell them what sense they have to make of it. That doesn't work. People always have to find the meaning - or "purpose" - in their work themselves. They have to realize for themselves: "This is my thing and makes sense to me." This is extremely important for their motivation to work, because Only those who have found their purpose take on responsibility.

Simon Sinek was a pioneer in formulating this connection. In 2006, he introduced the "Golden Circle", which he described in his 2009 book "Start with why. How great leaders inspire everyone to take action" (German title: "Frag immer erst: warum. How top companies and managers inspire success"). According to him, in order to achieve long-term success, companies must show their customers and employees an overriding sense of purpose that enables them to identify with them. To do this, they must provide them with answers to the following three questions.

• What (What do we want to achieve?)
• How (How do we want to achieve it?) and
• Why (Why do we want to achieve it?).

It considers the Why-question as the central and most difficult question to answer, as it ultimately creates the purpose, i.e. the context of meaning.

These ideas, which Sinek primarily applied to companies, were taken up by economic psychologist Aaron Hurst in his 2014 book "The Purpose Economy" and applied to people's individual purpose - both professionally and privately. He argues that only when a person appreciates who they work for and why, and also identifies with how they do it, do they develop a sense of purpose and satisfaction. Hurst therefore distinguishes the following three dimensions of purpose, based on Sinek:

• Who (Who do I work for?),
• Why (Why do I work?) and
• How (How do I work?)

The Who-Why-How-Hurst's trilogy helps companies to determine what they can offer their employees to create their own purpose.

Who or what people focus their energy on when working varies: Some tend to focus on individual people (groups), others on the company or organization and others on a specific community or society as a whole.

Focus on people

Many people prefer to work for people who know and value them personally. This could be their boss, but it could also be colleagues they don't want to let down. It can also be customers with whom they have developed a personal relationship. Or groups of people for whom they have sympathy - for example, people with a disability.

Focus company/organization

For other people, their motivation is primarily based on the fact that they see themselves as part of a larger whole to whose well-being or success they want to contribute. For example, by developing strategically important software for their company. Their pride in belonging to this organization can also stem from different roots. For example, the fact that it is the technology leader in its market. Or that it is very expansive. Or that its flat hierarchy gives employees a great deal of creative freedom.

Focus on society/community

Other people draw meaning primarily from the fact that they believe their work contributes to the well-being or further development of society. This can be society as a whole, for example if the company is active in the area of health or environmental protection or contributes to technological innovation. But it can also be a local or regional community. For example, when people feel committed to the well-being of the people in their immediate living environment, such as their neighborhood.

This raises the question: Who does your company work for? For individuals or groups of people? For other companies/organizations or for society? The more your employees can identify with the "Who", the more self-responsible and committed they will be. So your company should have an answer to this question.

According to Hurst, there are two kinds of why: either people do something because they believe in the principle of "karma" or because they want to help the world and people achieve more "justice".

Karma

For Hurst, believing in karma means being convinced that what I do that is "good" will somehow have a positive effect on me. The same applies to bad deeds. People who believe in karma consider it to be a physical law that cannot be overridden. They are convinced that systems ultimately always bring themselves back into balance. This is why they generally have a liberal understanding of economics. They trust in the free play of forces and are convinced that the markets will always balance themselves out. And with regard to the individual, they tend to believe that everyone - regardless of their background - is the architect of their own fortune.

Justice

This credo is diametrically opposed to the thinking of people who align their "why" with justice. They are convinced that regulation and control mechanisms are needed to ensure justice. This motivates them to make an active contribution to protecting the (potentially) weak or threatened. These can be individual citizens or consumers as well as the environment or freedom.

This duality can also be clearly seen in the current debate on digitalization. While some people see it, to exaggerate, as the solution to all of humanity's problems, others primarily see the dangers it poses. For example, the formation of monopolies that undermine competition or the emergence of surveillance systems that threaten civil liberties. They therefore call for state control of this development in order to preserve higher-value goods such as freedom, justice and fair competition.

This raises the question: Who is the "why" of your organization aimed at? Rather to people who believe in "karma" or those who advocate "justice"? Assuming that your company offers its employees the ideal platform to develop technical innovations, this fact alone will certainly attract engineers with a belief in karma. The situation is different for potential employees who are passionate about justice. They are more interested in: What do you produce? Armaments or medical technology? Luxury goods for the super-rich or for the general public? And what is the ecological balance?

The "how" describes the way, i.e. the strategy and tactics, with which people and companies want to achieve their goals: Community-oriented, people-centered, structure-driven or knowledge-based?

Community-oriented

Quite a few organizations are so successful primarily because they manage to build up a network of sponsors and supporters. For example, the alumni networks of many private universities or Apple's fan community. Many start-ups also have a community that believes in them and their vision and therefore also provides financial support via platforms such as Kickstarter and Startnext.

People-centered

Other organizations achieve their goals due to their strong focus on people. They believe, for example, that a corporate culture that focuses on employees leads to the best results; or that companies that consistently place customers at the center of their efforts achieve sustainable success.

Structure-driven

Structure-driven companies believe in market success through standardized procedures and processes, specifications and regulations. For example, they attach great importance to meeting certain norms and quality standards and obtaining certain certificates.

Knowledge-based

Organizations that want to be successful on the market through knowledge collect and analyze data and invest a lot of time and money in research and development as well as in the transfer of knowledge.

Each of these paths appeals to different people and can lead to success. This raises the question: Which "how" does your organization primarily stand for? Which people does it offer a docking point to derive their personal meaning from? It is important to answer this question, because: The more strongly your employees identify not only with the "for whom" and the "why" of your organization but also with its "how", the more autonomously they will act and the more willingly they will take on responsibility on their own initiative.

Most people see a purpose or meaning in their private lives, quite naturally depending on their individual values - for example: I want to

• create a cozy home for my family,
• give my children a good education,
• lead a happy and fulfilled life.

Their life goals correspond to this: For example,

• renovate the house so that ...,
• earn enough money to ...,
• have enough free time to....

In most cases, private goals are something that people can visualize, something very concrete. At work, they often lack this kind of focus - partly due to the division of labor processes. They often see themselves as an insignificant cog in an unmanageable whole that does what it has to do. They often only see a context of meaning in this indirectly - for example: I have to feed myself and my family.

This is not negative in itself, because this motive ultimately also answers the questions of "who" and "why", albeit from a company perspective in an extrinsic rather than intrinsic way. Nevertheless, such people are often extremely valuable employees, especially when it comes to carrying out day-to-day operational work. They form the backbone of many companies, so to speak.

However, when it comes to filling key positions, companies should also pay attention to the purpose-related fit of candidates, as these people ultimately drive their organization forward. For example, people who are primarily interested in the "why" factor of justice will probably find it easier to create a sense of purpose in a non-profit organization than in the investment banking division for the super-rich of a private bank. And they are less likely to show commitment and creativity in developing new, lucrative tax-saving models for their "top clients".

Companies should therefore clearly communicate what they stand for - not only in the area of market cultivation, but also leadership, similar to what Amazon does with its "Leadership Principles", for example. The clearer this communication is, the better potential employees can anticipate what opportunities an organization offers them to find personal meaning in their future work and demonstrate a high level of personal responsibility and initiative.

The less time and energy their future managers have to invest in their day-to-day work to show their employees the big picture, because they are convinced of their own accord that "I'm in the right place" and are therefore intrinsically motivated.