How do the Principles and Framework fit together?

Often when people come across Blueprint for the first time they gravitate to the Principles. They are a clear, simple picture at an organisational level of what a purpose-led business looks like. Some are inclined to think these are enough. Why have anything else? The answer usually comes when people begin seriously to provoke a conversation about what could be better within the business, and what is getting in the way. More likely than not, that conversation leads to a deeper inquiry into the patterns of behaviour and business practices that are currently not working as well as they could be.

When that inquiry gets going, people are looking beneath the surface and exploring the conditions which are giving rise to the current state. In Blueprint’s view, this is where the Framework comes in, as it offers a framing for exploring both current practices, and the ways of thinking within the business which shape them.

The relationship between the Principles and Framework can be thought of in this way:

The mindset (the core ideas / assumptions and beliefs about purpose and people) and the behaviours in the Framework are what inspires the relationships described in the Principles. The starting point for these relationships is respect and the opportunity to contribute, to be part of something bigger, achieving more together than one person or one group can achieve alone. This requires thinking about how that relationship is created, maintained and deepened. And to consider, acknowledge and openly address the tensions which inevitably surface.

Becoming purpose-led is both an organisational and personal challenge. The Framework points to the personal challenge, the Principles point more to the organisational challenge. But to achieve enduring change needs the thinking in both to be brought to life to inspire and guide.