Do you have a purpose and outcomes?
you need to achieve your outcomes to fulfill your purpose
Photo by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash
"And I looked at this girl and she looked so sad. I thought to myself, we can't leave these kids behind. We have to give them a chance."
I was standing in the back of a hotel conference hall somewhere in Florida. The weight of my DSLR camera pulled on my neck, but I continued to scribble notes in my red pocket notebook.
The founder of this nonprofit organization was sharing his story — the story of how the organization came to exist.
It wasn't the first time I'd heard this story, and it never changed. The reason he founded the organization was to give kids from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance at a better future.
That purpose captures the ultimate value the organization delivers as well as the people who receive that value.
But it alone doesn't capture the different things the organization needs to help these kids do or achieve to get this ultimate value.
Those things are known as outcomes.
You need to achieve your outcomes perpetually to fulfill your purpose.
Unlike the purpose of your organization, which remains constant, outcomes can shift so they always reflect what the people you serve need you to help them do or achieve.
Because that’s what achieving outcomes means — helping them do or achieve something.
In this example, the organization provides scholarships. For these kids to have a chance at a better future, they need to be able to pursue their desired career path rather than be limited by the cost of a college degree.
Moreover, they wouldn't get a chance at a better future if they didn't complete their education; in fact, carrying the debt of an unfinished degree would cost them more than it helped them.
Lastly, the organization also needed to see them start gainful careers to know that they had done what was within their unique capabilities to do to give them the best chance they could.
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