When I first heard about “purpose”, I felt it was new lingo with little content. I felt that consultants were at it again, introducing new concepts as a way to send new invoices. As this has matured on me, I have to admit I was wrong. Not only was I wrong, but my revelation also made me realize that I had to rethink my own ways.
Learning something new requires letting something go. If you’ve tried to learn a new sport, you probably have been taught that you need to exaggerate to get it right. The “old” moves and ways are almost hardwired in our system. It is just so hard to change.
The headline in this blog is “doing something good”. In my mind, it isn’t sufficient to do things right, or to do the right things. We also have to strive to do good.
I realise that to do good is somewhat directional and not easy to measure. However, I do believe that we as humans have an inner compass that helps us navigate and that helps us feel it when we are onto something good. For organisations, I think this has a lot to do with purpose.
At Kredinor, our purpose is to help people keep their commitments and put them financially in a better place. If that’s our purpose, I am certain that we all, as employees, instinctively know when we are doing the right things and making the right decisions. Our purpose is there to guide us and to help us navigate and do what’s in the best interest of our customers.
And why is this related to learning something new and letting something else go? When we want to change a path or take a slightly different course, we need to make sure that what has been hardwired get new code. We need to put in place new mechanisms and guidelines to help us stay focused on what’s right.
Of course, we need to be productive and measure our performance with relevant KPIs. That goes without saying and should be in the DNA of any organisation. Making sure that we are effective and that we are doing the right things should be addressed in strategic reviews, in management meetings and in the board room.
However, my challenge is: Do we discuss whether or not we are doing something good?
For Kredinor, it should be easy. We want to do something good for our customers. This is not in conflict with doing things right or doing the right things. To me, it is all about the same thing: Helping people through financial challenges. By helping them, not adding to their burdens, we are also doing good for society at large. Being in financial stress comes with consequences. If we can be helpful and find the best path forward, I also believe we are doing good.
We will now make sure that we are addressing these questions, and I can promise that if we need to relearn a few things to get it right, we will!
