Running a Purpose-Driven Business
What does that mean anyway?
One of the biggest challenges to running a purpose-driven business is that most of us don’t know what that means. So, let’s start at the beginning.
Sometimes the best way to understand something is to start by eliminating what it's not. The three things I see most commonly equated to purpose right now are ESG, Social Justice / DEI, and nonprofit support. These things aren't your purpose and pursuing them doesn't necessarily make you purpose-driven.
To run a purpose-driven business, you must have a valuable reason for existing and a clear understanding of why that matters — then build a business that inextricably links its impact to its financial engine.
In other words, profit is not the purpose of the company; profit is the outcome of identifying and effectively pursuing your focused purpose.
Let’s look at an example. One of the organizations I recently worked with set their purpose as “to advance the science of water to improve quality of life.” It provides a valuable yet focused reason for existing (to advance the science of water) and a clear understanding of why it matters (to improve quality of life).
Moreover, while they have several sources of funding, their primary source is subscriptions. That means they secure revenue through their primary business activity (research) while simultaneously generating their impact from the same activity (it’s the foundation for everything else they do). Thus, the more effectively they deliver value through their research, the more likely they are to recruit and retain subscribers, and the more impact they make (together with their subscribers).
This definition grounds everything we do at MatterLogic™. Our mission is to make the purpose-driven model accessible and actionable so that it’s not just an ideal but the standard for work.
Now that you have the base definition, you can take a deeper dive by starting with your purpose and moving through the other Core Strategy elements. Your Core sets your focus, then you can build from there.
MatterLogic™ provides a clear definition of what it means to be purpose-driven. Through our pointed and pragmatic system, you can make deliberate decisions, align your company, and engage your people around a common purpose.
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