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Bringing purpose to life

Using Blueprint’s Five Principles of a Purpose-led Business as an input

Blueprint’s Principles are a good input into the development of a purpose-led strategy. The Principles offer a constant provocation of the range of relationships any business needs to think about to be truly purpose-led and how a purpose-led business shows up in those relationships.

Exercise:

Some questions to consider:

  • How does the business currently show up in each of its relationships?
  • How does the business wish to show up in each of its relationships in service of its purpose?
  • Does the strategy address the perceived ‘ills’ caused by or contributed to by the business?
  • What are the gaps and how can the strategy help to address these?

Each of the relationships in the Principles, and the ‘toxic ills’ that were considered when the Principles were developed, are discussed in detail in the course: Understanding the Blueprint Principles

We often note that in looking at the Blueprint Principles to inform strategy businesses can focus on the quadrants Honest and  fair with customers and suppliers and A responsible and responsive employer. However, a purpose-led strategy seeks to consider and have a positive impact on the lives of all those it touches, including the communities in which it operates and future generations. To support this way of developing a strategy, it can be helpful to develop systems thinking capability within the business.

Employees, the supply chain, customers, communities, youth can all be sources of ideas, collaborations and innovation in fulfilling your purpose. Treating stakeholders as partners in the development of a company’s strategy shifts the nature of the relationship from an extractive/contractual one to a generative relationship based on respect and dignity. And for generative relationships to be sustained also requires a commitment to ongoing dialogue with stakeholders about what matters, in particular when navigating difficult decisions.

The workshop in the resources section helps to explore the Five Principles to inform strategy development and execution.