This page is paraphrased from Jim Collins' Core Purpose Breakout Session.
​Step 1 has additional information from Culture Rules by Mark Miller (pg 61).
"The secret of success is constancy of purpose."
     - Benjamin Disraeli
"The purpose of life is a life of purpose."
- Robert Byrne     

Step 1:
Brainstorm

Think about why you/your organization exists and how it relates to your core values. Look at the examples on this page for inspiration.

It's very helpful to ask the question, "why?" at least 4-5 times. That'll help you get down into the real reason why you/your organization exists.
Questions to help:
  • What was your organization born to do?
  • What fires you up about the future you are trying to create?
  • What is it about the future you envision that compels you to pursue it?
  • What do you want the legacy of your organization to be 100 years from now?
  • How would you explain why you exist (not what you do) to a small child?
  • What greater good can your organization contribute to the world?
  • If your organization went away, what would the world lose?
Examples from Business:

Step 2:
Test

Ask each of these questions for your purpose statement. If you answer no to any of them, you haven't found your purpose yet!
​
  1. Do you find this purpose personally inspiring?
  2. Can you envision this purpose being as valid 100 years from now as it is today?
  3. Does the purpose help you think expansively about the long-term possibilities and range of activities the organization can consider over the next 100 years, beyond its current products, services, markets, industries, and strategies?
    1. For example, Disney's purpose to make people happy helped propel the company from its initial strategy of cartoons into full-length feature animation, the Mickey Mouse Club, Disneyland, EPCOT Center, and so on.
  4. Does the purpose help you to decide what activities to not pursue, to eliminate from consideration?
    • For example, HP would not pursue markets where there were no opportunities to make a technical contribution.
  5. Is this purpose authentic—something true to what the organization is all about—not merely words on paper that “sound nice”?
  6. Would this purpose be greeted with enthusiasm rather than cynicism by a broad base of people in the organization?
  7. When telling your children and/or other loved ones what you do for a living, would you feel proud in describing your work in terms of this purpose?

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