Articles about Purpose

How Ford rediscovered its purpose

In 2008 three American companies were fighting for their lives. Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, the Big Three of the automotive industry in US, were running out of cash. To bail them out of the crisis, the government offered them… Continue Reading →

2019/04/08

RIMOWA’s Mission

From the overview of RIMOWA in their job description: Welcome to RIMOWA, the first German Maison of the LVMH Group. We are a global lifestyle brand with a mission to create the essential tools for a lifetime of travel. For… Continue Reading →

2019/03/18

“TOKYO 2019” is now available.

Our annual publication “TOKYO 2019” is available now on our website. Leadership Essentials: Purpose and the Skill of Foreseeing the Future, this is the theme of this issue. It is filled with insights from interviews, original research, and future scenario… Continue Reading →

2019/02/13

LINK: Innovator to Innovator: Apple CEO Tim Cook Interviewed by High School Senior Rebecca Kahn

LINK: Innovator to Innovator: Apple CEO Tim Cook Interviewed by High School Senior Rebecca Kahn A quick read to hear Tim Cook talk about purpose and philosophy behind how he runs Apple. My favorite quote from the article: Whenever he… Continue Reading →

2018/10/22

22 inspiring business purpose statements

I have a friend who loves Pokémon Go. He plays the game and collects Pokémon whenever he gets the chance. I, on the the other hand, collect purpose statements. Whenever I come across one, I add it to my collection…. Continue Reading →

2018/09/25

LINK: You Don’t Find Your Purpose — You Build It

Over at HBR, John Coleman addresses three misconceptions about purpose: Purpose is only a thing you find. Purpose is a single thing. Purpose is stable over time. My favorite quote from the article: In achieving professional purpose, most of us have… Continue Reading →

2018/09/21

You do not invent a higher purpose; you discover it.

From the feature article, Creating a Purpose-driven Organisation of Harvard Business Review July-August 2018 issue about discovering purpose: At a global oil company, we once met with members of a task force asked by the CEO to work on defining… Continue Reading →

2018/08/17

The Purpose of Amy’s Drive Thru’s

Amy’s Drive Thru is a different kind of fast food restaurant. It’s striving to be the first 100% vegetarian national fast food chain. (Here’s an article about this at Business Insider.) Starting with Why Visit their website and you will first come across… Continue Reading →

2018/06/15

Why does purpose matter? Five reasons.

Over at IDEO U I recently came across a great article highlighting five reasons backed with research and studies on why purpose matters. It boils down to this: But the research is clear, individuals are more fulfilled and organizations perform better when they’re rooted… Continue Reading →

2018/06/11

What are your super powers?

An important element to uncovering your purpose is understanding your strengths. SYPartners has recently released an app to do just that. The app is called Superpowers, and they describe is as: Superpowers is a tool to help you… Continue Reading →

2018/05/26

LINK: Why Reflective Leadership Is the Key to a Successful Purpose Transformation

LINK: Why Reflective Leadership Is the Key to a Successful Purpose Transformation Adam Fridman, Founder of Mabbly, writes for Inc.: Perhaps more than any other generation, purpose is what inspires younger generations of workers to engage and put forth their… Continue Reading →

2018/04/16

Nintendo’s mission

Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s President and COO, comments on their mission and their new product, Nintendo Labo, in the latest press release: Nintendo Labo continues our longstanding mission of making people smile by surprising them with new experiences… It… Continue Reading →

2018/03/27

Purpose of a Taxi Driver

I came across this article in The November 2017 issue of Inc Magazine. It had stories about how travel was a source of inspiration for big ideas. It included stories from Tatcha, Lyft, TOMS, and Warby Parker. What caught my… Continue Reading →

2018/03/13

IDEO’s Purpose

I learned this from a case study on IDEO prepared by LinkedIn. The case studies is part of a series called LinkedIn Portraits of Purpose Companies. What’s interesting about the way IDEO cultivates purpose is that each studio of IDEO… Continue Reading →

2018/02/20

Fiasco Gelato

Just learned Fiasco Gelato from The Society of Cult Brands. Fiasco was added to their list of Emerging Brands. Here’s how they introduced Fiasco Gelato: The purpose driven team at Fiasco stands by its mission to enrich people’s lives. They… Continue Reading →

2018/01/30

Highlights about Purpose in 2017

I’d gone through my notes from 2017 and here are info and insights from 2017 that I think you’ll find helpful. White Paper / Report Purpose with the Power to Transform Your Organization (Boston Consulting Group) If I had to… Continue Reading →

2018/01/23

PURPOSE 2030

Brought to you buy Imperative and NetImpact, the Purpose 2030 conference will be held in October this year in Phoenix. Their goal: BY 2030…we are setting out to ensure the majority of our workforce is fulfilled. Leaders from around the… Continue Reading →

2018/01/13

White Paper from BCG: Purpose with the Power to Transform Your Organization

Just came across this white paper from The Boston Consulting Group. Published this year in May, it covers why purpose matters so much today, the definition of purpose, and how an organization can bring it to life. Found the use… Continue Reading →

2017/12/18

Apple’s Purpose

Here a wonderful piece from John Gruber about the Apple Park and the Steve Jobs Theater, which was unveiled at the Apple Special Event of September 2017. My favorite part from the piece was his thoughts on the opening tribute… Continue Reading →

2017/09/26

[LINK] How Lego’s Purpose Made It the Most Powerful Brand in the World

LINK: How Lego’s Purpose Made It the Most Powerful Brand in the World | IRIS A nice read about how Lego accomplished an amazing turnaround: What followed was a re-organization of the company to ensure that every aspect of the company… Continue Reading →

2017/08/22

Twenty Predictions for the Next 20 Years

LINK: Twenty Predictions For The Next 20 Years Robert Safian, Editor in Chief of Fast Company, makes some predictions for the next twenty years. Prediction #9 is about purpose: MISSION WILL TRUMP MONEY. Economists have long stressed the power of… Continue Reading →

2017/08/10

[Case Study] How Barclays Defined Brand Purpose and Regained Customer Trust

Link: How Barclays Defined Brand Purpose and Regained Customer Trust | Aaker on Brands A quick read on how Barclays responded to a crisis through purpose-driven marketing. In a crisis, here’s what a brand / company can do to react:… Continue Reading →

2017/08/08

Purpose is different from mission and vision.

Purpose is not just for big corporations. Nick talks about harnessing the power of purpose at his two pizza restaurants in his TED talk below. He has a great explanation on the difference of “Purpose” and “Mission and Vision” (around… Continue Reading →

2017/07/25

Thoughts about Higher Purpose

Gary Hamel, the originator of the concept of core competence, said on his Wall Street Journal blog in 2009: Ensuring that managerial work serves a higher purpose. Management, both in theory and practice, must orient itself to the achievement of… Continue Reading →

2017/06/20

Unilever on B Corp and Purpose

Just came across this article on Unilever’s plan to become a B corp on Guardian. Here are some quotes highlighting the movement of businesses becoming purpose-driven: The movement to put purpose at the heart of business strategy has received a… Continue Reading →

2017/03/01

2012: The Rise of the “Good Companies”

From Fast Company’s article about 20 moments from the past 20 years that moved the world forward: Businesses focused on social good have been around for decades, but the concept really took off in 2012, as new laws in several… Continue Reading →

2017/02/22

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