We’re all supposed to have purpose these days – as individuals and as organizations. In fact, Purpose with a capital P. It’s noble and inspiring. But if you’re like me, it seems grandiose, remote from the daily hassles and to-do list, even if it is supposed to animate us through those endeavours.
It’s helpful, of course, to know our work contributes to something useful – that it has value and, in another word often used, meaning. But a better word might be mattering. Our work, and that of our organizations, should matter. “Mattering comes closer than meaning to the essence of what workers care about, and what companies can influence,” psychiatrist Gabriella Rosen Kellerman and University of Pennsylvania psychology professor Martin Seligman write in Tomorrowmind.
Mattering is more concrete than the notion of purpose. It seems within grasp. It’s not about changing the world, just mattering to your colleagues, or purchasers of your service, or perhaps to the world.
A survey by consulting giant McKinsey & Co. indicated that despite our current obsession with purpose, it is not being experienced anywhere near equally in the workplace. It skews to the upper ranks. While 85 per cent of executives and upper management said that they are living their purpose at work, only 15 per cent of frontline managers and frontline employees agreed. So many of those talking about purpose are talking to their own elite tribe.
Mattering seems like it can be more broadly applicable. It still fuels intrinsic motivation. In some ways, it’s the story we tell ourselves to explain our existence. “Organizations therefore have a vested interest in making sure their employees know why they and their work matter,” Ms. Kellerman and Mr. Seligman write.
Former IBM chief executive officer Ginni Rometty says when we’re young we are “me” centric; our mission is to go to school and begin our working lives, growing into adulthood. As we take on more responsibilities, our mission becomes less “me” and more “we.” Our decisions now have consequences for others, from partners and family to organizations. “At some point, we find ourselves in positions to effect positive change at real scale, and our mission expands to making all of ‘us’ better – underserved groups, societies, countries, the environment, the world we share,” she writes in Good Power.
That may in some ways explain the dichotomy in the McKinsey survey. Perhaps purpose is more of a possibility higher in the ranks – later in a career. Maybe senior executives can see themselves influencing “us,” while people lower in the ranks are relegated more to “me” and “we,” stages where perhaps mattering may be more tangible.
Ms. Rometty, as she lived in the “we” phase, began to formulate her sense of what she calls “good power.” Its first principle is being in the service of others. It’s about helping make someone or something better by meeting their needs, which in turn allows us to meet our own. It’s about helping and serving – mattering.
Gallup over the years has highlighted the importance of having a best friend at work, for the individual and the organization. Those with a best friend at work are seven times as likely to be engaged in their jobs, are better at engaging customers, produce higher quality work, have higher well-being and are less likely to get injured on the job. The connection with a best friend seems to make work matter more. It’s not of change-the-world importance, like Purpose with a capital P. But it counts, for the individuals and the organization.
In Brave New Workplace, Queen’s University leadership professor Julian Barling looked at the research to see if there can be too much meaning at work. A study by Stuart Bunderson and Jeffrey Thompson of zookeepers from 157 institutions in Canada and the United States found those who felt a strong calling to their work because it was meaningful were more willing to accept lower pay, more dangerous and demanding working conditions and make a greater personal sacrifice. Another study by Shao-Lung Lin and An-Tien Hsieh suggested people who found more meaning in their tasks had a lesser attachment to the organization.
Journalist Audie Cornish, former co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered, warned in the On with Kara Swisher podcast that many of the layoffs in the digital media industry came because people and their leaders were so wrapped up in mission they forgot about money. While stressing it’s a privilege as a journalist to do mission-driven work, “I am fully aware of how you can end up in a situation where you are completely taken advantage of because you fundamentally believe in the mission of your work.”
Does this focus on mattering matter, or is it a distinction without a purpose? Purpose is a buzz word today, a supposed salve for struggling companies. Some leaders claim it energized their organization. But managers who talk of purpose may be talking to themselves, as the McKinsey survey suggests, sounding pretentious and out-of-step with their employees’ day-to-day struggle. Mattering may be more realistic, more far reaching and ultimately more effective.
Cannonballs
- This is a period of road testing AI, according to a PwC consultants’ survey of executives, with focus on improving the governance of artificial intelligence processes; confirming AI-driven decisions are interpretable and easily explainable; monitoring and reporting on AI model performance; and protecting AI systems from cyber threats and manipulations.
- According to a McKinsey & Co. study, about 75 per cent of the potential value from generative AI comes in four areas: Customer operations, such as helping customer service agents; marketing and sales, such as creating targeted information for micro-niches of potential customers; software engineering, helping engineers with code; and research and design, where the AI can generate many more drafts and designs.
- The easiest way to improve an interview’s predictive accuracy of the actual performance of the candidates if hired is to reduce their anxiety during the session, argues recruiting specialist John Sullivan. With that in mind, he recommends giving them interview previews in advance, explaining what will be covered in the interview and by whom.
Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn’t Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.