#019 Gordon Wilson | Purpose as a driver for human behaviour

Gordon Wilson, guest · [06:54]so into the good stuff. So let me start with the end in mind. So my title for my, my research project, ended up being Purpose as a Driver of Human Behavior, a Leadership Perspective. You know, there's a, a wonderful quote by George Bernard Shaw, where he said that this is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. So for me personally, purpose has always resonated. You know, I've always felt that I'm part of something bigger than myself. felt that I'm here on this earth to make a positive difference in the lives of people. And, it was quite amazing, actually, in that purpose as a phenomenon started, started appearing, like, here and there in my position papers, especially in position paper four, which focused on business model innovation as integrative thinking practice. And you'll remember it well. I mean, we had to conduct those business model innovation sessions, and yeah, it was quite a nerve-wracking thing in the beginning, but it was in that, in that BMI session itself, you know, we were in the auditorium at my, at my office, and, we found that the problem we were actually trying to solve was, was one of purpose, and that the organization was not a purposeful or a purpose-driven organization. And it was quite a profound thing to, it was like a, a hard moment, almost. And it led to multiple questions, you know, and I started asking, all right, well, how do we activate our newly articulated purpose statement? Or, you know, how do we ensure that, that work is meaningful and that our people Or understand the meaning behind their work. And, you know, there was just so many questions, you know, like how do we nudge our people forward to act on our mission and our values, and, and how do we make sure that our purpose, you know, our corporate reason for existence is infused into, into every aspect of the business? So, yeah, it was, it was really thought-provoking stuff, and, you know, I don't want to get sidetracked on that position paper, but the output was a new purpose-centric model of organizational culture, which would shift an organization from, say, a hierarchical culture towards an, an entrepreneurial culture of, you know, purposeful action, putting people at the center, greater autonomy, and empowerment. So, yeah, I mean, I, I guess you, you might say that purpose grabbed my attention there, you know. Fast forward a, a few months later, and, I have my research topic, Purpose as a Driver of Human Behavior.

Gordon Wilson, guest · [12:58]So, I mean, research methodology, I won't chat about it too much, but I mean, you'll remember from block five, in, in those two weeks, they just bombarded us with all these different types of approaches to our research, and it was, it was quite hectic, actually. You know, there was just so many different, these phrases getting thrown at us, and brief explanations, and, and like, I think I finished that period quite confused, actually. But in the end, and a bit of help with my supervisor, I, the, the research paradigm that I adopted was interpretivism, in that, and I'll quote, I'll quote Blakey here, interpretives, Interpretivists believe that social reality is the product of its inhabitants. It is a world interpreted by the meanings that people create and recreate as a necessary part of their daily life. So from a philosophical standpoint, this was perfect, you know, because purpose is a, is a social construct that people create their own meaning, you know, specifically to them, it's subjective of what purpose means to them. So back to my, my research methodology. So within this paradigm of interpretivism, I adopted action research to generate data and meaning about the phenomenon of purpose, and then I used thematic analysis to analyze the data, and, I I hadn't used thematic analysis before, so it was really interesting, and my supervisor, Dr. Jean Bolton, she suggested it, and it worked out really well. So thematic analysis is a whole coding process where you, you code all your, your data extracts from all your qualitative interviews, but this thematic analysis actually allows you to surface repeated patterns and connect the themes that are, that are pulling through from those patterns in the data. So it was a lot of fun.

Gordon Wilson, guest · [18:10]So there were multiple findings, and I was trying to think, you know, beforehand, knowing that we were going to chat, you know, how do I, how do I wrap them up? And I think I'll just chat about the four major outcomes that the research produced. So firstly, purpose is important. You know, that was my primary research question was, you know, is purpose important? What do we do with that knowledge? So the first major outcome was, was purpose is important. So as a reason for being, or a driving force, a guiding star, the reason why we exist, a central reference point, you know, or even that, that thing that gets you out of bed in the morning, you know, which, whichever way you look at it, purpose is important. So this phenomenon of purpose as a, as an aspirational, orientational driving force, a reason for being in, in service of a, of a cause much greater than oneself, you know, it was just overwhelmingly evident in the research, you know. In fact, My findings highlighted the correlation, as you mentioned right in the beginning, you know, the correlation between living a purposeful life and the associated positive psychological and physical well-being effects. It's pretty awesome, actually. There's many studies, and I worked through so many different works of literature and bodies of knowledge, you know, which indicate that purposeful people are healthier, they're happier, they tend to live longer, they tend to fulfill their potential, and they can even achieve and earn more. There was this one brilliant study that looked at purpose-driven people ten years apart versus non-purpose-driven people. They found that these guys actually earned more a decade later than people who weren't purpose-driven. So, I mean, there's so many studies, and there's starting to be more and more studies into purpose both at a corporate level as well as an academic level, which is fantastic. Secondly, so my second major finding was that purpose is an intrinsic motivator. So purpose as the, the underlying drive to do something because it is in service of something bigger than ourselves, or because it's interesting, or because it matters to us personally, that's an incredibly powerful motivational force for human beings.

Gordon Wilson, guest · [20:55]The third major finding from my research was that organizations need to balance their focus. So, you know, you remember Milton, Milton Friedman, the economist back in the seventies, he said that, you know, the, the purpose of a business is to make profit, but, you know, that's not true anymore. Sure, purpose, I mean, businesses need profit, but purpose is so important, so organizations need to balance their focus. My research indicated that organizations can and should focus on both profit and purpose equally, you know, because profit actually is the primary driver which enables an organization to affect and expand its purpose in the wider ecology in society. So it really is a, a both-and situation. You know, it's, organizations can focus on both. They can and they should. What is even more interesting, actually, is that companies that focus solely on profit, and this was just Showed up in a few bits of literature that I read is that, you know, companies that focus solely on profit at the expense of, of purpose, they could in fact actually be holding themselves back. You know, they, they are actually limiting the impact they could have as an organization, and, you know, they could actually never reach their full potential as an organization in the form of, you know, corporate flourishment. Finally, the, the fourth major finding of my research was that, that leaders play a significant role. So, you know, leaders have agency, they can and should choose a, a virtue ethics approach to modern day business. there was this fantastic research I found, and I, I can't remember who it was by at the moment, but they, they spoke to leaders as being the stewards of an organization's purpose, and as such, as stewards of an organization's purpose, leaders play a significant role in that leader-follower relationship. So, you know, at the end of the day, Key findings was that, you know, leaders are, are actually responsible for creating the environment in which the, the inherent psychological needs of people can flourish. and through this, this enabling of, of individual expression to, to blossom, you know, in service of, of, of the greater good, leaders are, are actually doing good, you know, they're leading by example, and at the same time, they need to purposely frame a strategic approach that meets the needs of all stakeholders.

Gordon Wilson, guest · [27:06]So I let my mind wander a bit, and, I came up with actions. So that could be implemented by organizations to help them put purpose into practice at, three different levels. You know, these were organizational level, leader level, and human resources level. And I won't talk too long, but I'll just touch quickly, you know, just the high-level points at each of those three levels. So, you know, if we are wanting to put purpose into practice at an organizational level, the, the organization needs to elevate the focus on purpose to the same level as profit. The organizations need to, they need to craft and articulate a purpose statement that resonates and engages. I mean, you guys have done that brilliantly at your organization. What's really important as well is that organizations need to ensure that there is buy-in. You need buy-in at board level and executive level to, to the purpose of the organization, because if it's not encapsulated in the hearts and minds of our leaders, it's never going to take hold in the hearts of our people. And, and this was another very interesting one is that at organizational level, we need to make sure that, that strategy, our strategy as an organization is aligned with our purpose. I mean, it, it seems simple in, in theory, but, you know, in reality, it's not always the case. So at the, at the second level, you know, of putting purpose into practice was looked at leader level. So, so what should leaders be doing? And, the, the first point there I was thinking of is that leaders need to have an emotional connection with the organization's purpose. You can't have leaders who are fulfilling a task-filled role. They don't buy wholeheartedly to what the organization's trying to achieve in the wider ecology. Leaders also need to, they need to foster meaningful connection, you know, with their people. it was, it was one of Adam Grant's papers, it was published in 2012, I think, where he said that leaders play a critical role in managing the meaning that followers make out of their work. So continuing, and there's a few more points at, at leader level, leaders need to show their people that they matter. So they need to make them feel seen, heard, and understood. You know, that's, that's something that any human being wants, is they want to know that they are seen, heard, and understood. And it's important that, that leaders show people that they matter. This was a, a, almost a secondary concept that came up was this concept of mattering, and, there's a whole lot of research actually going into that concept of mattering, that people want to feel that they matter.

Gordon Wilson, guest · [33:20]So this MBA, this two-year journey has been amazing, and it's got me, it's got me really excited about the future, to be honest, you know, I'm just so much more aware of the, that there's so much, there's so much available, there's so much to explore, so much more meaningful impact to be affected and, and more value to be created. So it has definitely changed the way I think and I work. I, I just like to think that I'm far more systemic in my thinking, you know, thinking around how the constituent parts interrelate within the whole system, and, you know, what, what the causal impacts of decisions we make in, in isolation, you know, what impact that can have on, on the rest of the system. And, Yeah, you know, the, the entire MBA process, the, the two years, they flew by, to be honest, even though it was so busy and intense and full of pressure, but the whole two-year journey has, has changed the way I work. So I spend, I spend far more time now on improving myself and my craft as I, as I aim to, to increase my mastery, you know, as it relates to my field and my passion, you know, understanding the, the purpose of a human life and how best we can solve business problems, you know, because people, they're at the heart of everything. And I'm also far more intentional, so I'm trying to focus more on producing quality work and not running on the always busy hamster wheel like I used to. I just used to be constantly busy, and it's not a great way to work. You don't produce quality work when you're always just busy running from one thing to the next. So I've adopted an approach to I Carving out a pocket of time during the day to, to read, to practice mindfulness, and to learn, you know, because I've, I've come to understand that I can't improve the human condition without improving myself first. And, you know, perhaps another quote, I love it, but, perhaps it was Leonardo da Vinci that, said it best, you know, when he said that one can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.