Purpose in Practice Community (PIPC)
Through our work with people in corporates over the years, we have seen that there is a desire to connect with people with similar challenges in order to share best practices, learn from each other and work together to develop breakthough ideas on how to drive change. They want to hear and learn how other people inside businesses navigate the messy paradigm shift to purpose and the tensions and tradeoffs that arise.
Working closely with NatWest Group and an organisation called Imagine Talent, we co-founded a Purpose in Practice Community (PIPC) bringing together people who are seeking to accelerate their personal and company commitment to becoming truly purpose-led from organisations across different industries and sectors, including the following, to learn and experiment together.
The process of becoming purpose-led not only involves substantial shifts in strategy and culture, but fundamental changes to the beliefs and assumptions that underpin how an organisation creates value for all its stakeholders – and for society. This collaborative community hopes to develop the potential and power to contribute to changing the landscape of business to together drive both organisational change and larger systemic shifts that create the conditions for purpose-led businesses to thrive.
Objectives:
- Create space for catalysts to learn and innovate together; building confidence and resilience to help transform businesses to be a force for good
- Create and grow a network of catalysts who can together accelerate the transition towards purpose-driven business.
Enquiry Labs
Meetings to launch the community started in September 2022, with over 200 people from 60 organisations involved. The community identified seven enquiry topics. To explore the first three topics we used a ‘Lab’ format, bringing practitioners together to connect, experiment and create breakthrough thinking and practice.
Each Lab has been powered by two community members and supported by facilitators.
Whilst the primary audience for the PIPC is practitioners working inside companies to help their organisation to be purpose-led, we encourage participants to invite colleagues from different areas of the business to the relevant Labs e.g. HR colleagues to the culture Lab, colleagues leading on strategy to the Strategy Lab etc. – thus helping them to build up networks within their businesses who are also engaged in the work on purpose, who also have access to others from other businesses with whom they can exchange experience and learning.
Lab 1: Building a shared understanding of purpose
In this Lab, we explored how businesses can build a solid foundation to create the necessary conditions for developing purpose-led strategies, investments, leadership styles and propositions, among other things.
The community identified six practices that are likely to positively affect an organisation’s ability to develop and sustain a commitment to purpose-driven business over time. We also identified six individual qualities for the person seeking to build shared understanding to develop to do this work well.
Click on the images to access an overview of the key Insights from the work and the interactive Playbook to accompany our findings: the community’s initial ‘how to’ guide for cultivating shared understanding of purpose-driven business over time. A PPT version of the Playbook that you can use to complete the exercises can be downloaded here.
Lab 2: Culture, engagement and experience
In this Lab we considered how we might ignite, cultivate and sustain purpose within and across organisational boundaries; creating the conditions necessary for people & purpose to thrive.
We sought to:
- Deepen our understanding of the relationship between purpose, culture and employee engagement.
- Design and run practical experiments or interventions to support our sense making and learn in our real-world contexts.
- Explore how ‘wise, human centric nudges’ in bringing purpose to life can impact culture and engagement
We observed that working with purpose, culture and employee engagement is a nuanced and collective task and invites us to see employees (and ourselves) as living beings (not doing beings or cogs in a machine) working for businesses that are a part of society, not apart from it.
The framing, of ‘Business as a machine requiring command and control’ vs ‘business as a social organisation inviting collective endeavour ‘ helped to provide contrast in which to present the insights emerging from the Lab.
Lab 3: Strategy, impact and performance
In this Lab we considered the question – how might we make purpose core to strategy and performance; appreciating new forms of value and accountability?
The Purpose Led Strategy Toolkit is the product of all the activities, findings, and experiments that was co-created throughout Lab 3: an initial ‘how to’ guide for creating purpose-led strategy.
The toolkit outlines questions we ask ourselves in the process of creating purpose-led strategy, and provides tools that may help you and your organisation develop the personal qualities and practices to be successful and more at ease with this work.
Click on the image to access the toolkit:
In this podcast, hosted by consultants Clarasys, the 3 Lab leads discuss their experience of facilitating this Lab, share the five key steps to creating a purpose-led strategy and provide practical advice to drive purpose-led change. See How to create a purpose-led strategy – PODCAST for more on the participants and for an edited transcript.
Live challenge peer to peer clinics
We convene monthly “Peer-to-Peer Clinics” offering a safe space where members can address purpose-related challenges and share expertise. In these smaller forums, one person brings a specific enquiry, and the group offers insights and support.
Challenges brought for discussion have included:
- purpose driven decision making
- refreshing purpose following a change of CEO
- governance for purpose driven change
- unifying employee networks
- balancing direction and co-creation when seeking to anchor purpose in strategy
All community connect meetings
There are regular all community connect gatherings to share learnings with the broader community.
In October 2024, Alison Taylor, Clinical Professor at NYU Stern School of Business and author of ‘Higher Ground’, was invited to a meeting with the community to share her insights into the evolving world of ethical business, purpose, and leadership. Alison touched on several critical themes, including ‘purpose-washing’ and the tendency for organisations to view ethics and sustainability as defensive measures rather than genuine commitments. She highlighted the urgency of redefining business values, particularly as employees—often the most powerful stakeholders—demand greater authenticity and transparency. Alison also addressed the shifting power dynamics within organisations, emphasising the need for leaders to foster trust and influence through openness and accountability, rather than traditional top-down control.
Interested in joining the PIPC?
Whilst the primary audience for the PIPC is practitioners working inside companies to help their organisation to be purpose-led, we encourage participants to invite colleagues from different areas of the business to the relevant Labs e.g. HR colleagues to the culture Lab, colleagues leading on strategy to the Strategy Lab etc. – thus helping them to build up networks within their businesses who are also engaged in the work on purpose, who also have access to others from other businesses with whom they can exchange experience and learning.
If you are a senior practitioner working in a large organisation to help them to be purpose led and are interested in being part of the PIPC:
