Does your organization have a Why?

"Isn't that clear? Is it too difficult a thing to do?"

I was being pulled up. By the erstwhile CEO of an organization I have worked with. For some mistakes which she believed I committed.

She was right. It was not at all a difficult thing to do. But only IF one knew exactly what had to be done. I, for one, did not.

She was wrong too. It was not clear to me! Not until then, when she just said it.

Yes, she did say - while admonishing me, and before posing the above rhetorical questions - that "we are .... and we have to do ....".

It was a Eureka moment for me. I had spent around eight months in the organization, and was still searching for the answers to the following fundamental questions:

1. Who are we?
2. What it is that we do?

I had just received an answer - from the horse's mouth. The answer, though not completely convincing (since I did not get to ask clarifying questions), did bring some badly needed clarity. 

Isn't it unfortunate? And tragically comical? We seem to be very well aware of the purpose of mundane things like pencil, switch, tooth brush, car, etc., but often unaware of the core purpose of our work. Not only that, we are often not even conscious of our ignorance of the same.

I firmly believe that every organization needs to have a clear, well-articulated mission. That defines and guides everyone. Besides, the leadership should ensure that everyone is i) well aware of it, ii) understands it well, iii) identifies with it and is iv) inspired and guided by it in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities. For which the mission should be communicated frequently.

As the late leadership expert Warren Bennis said, the first task of a leader is to define the mission.

So, have your leadership defined it for your organization? If not, can you help him/her do it? 

Please do share your thoughts. Thank you for your attention.

(In a later post, we shall explore why an organization needs a mission).

Postscript:

1. To be fair to my CEO, she is a thorough professional, well-respected. And by me too. :) 
2. To be fair to myself, the CEO discovered during the conversation that the mistakes in question were committed by someone else (who happened to be senior to me). But yes, given my ignorance of the organizational mission, I too could have very well committed them. It was just not my day! :)
3. Last time I checked, I still worked for the same organization!