Purpose the second principle

You can build on the foundation of focus by writing with your stakeholders’ goals and interests in mind. But if you want to develop a truly effective story you need to appeal to your readers’ sense of purpose as well. This way you create a text that is both intellectually sound and emotionally compelling.

Most organisations appear to be dominated by logic, quantitative analysis and decisions based on financial targets, at least if you only look at their use of language. Like most other organisations, yours will discuss abstract things like ‘synergy’ and ‘high performance’ or talk about ‘increasing shareholder value’ and ‘exceeding customer expectations’. This approach has its merits, particularly as a way to facilitate decision-making and get people to focus their thinking on important organisational issues.

And yet, this is a stale kind of language that most people find difficult to relate to (imagine what would happen if you asked your partner for more synergy or a cutting-edge night on the town). This is because a purely rational approach to business writing doesn’t engage people on the level of their identity. As a result, traditional business writing fails to achieve full support for the organisation’s mission, vision, strategy and day-to-day operations.

Your business writing will become more effective when you complement your organisation’s logical approach with right-brain relational skills. Chiefly, this can be done by analysing business issues in terms of their purpose and explaining what this means to people’s lives or the organisation. The principle of meaning is the subject of the next chapter, this chapter will tackle the principle of purpose in more detail.

 

Purpose in and of organisations

The notion of purpose may be an odd one within today’s corporate environment, particularly when a word like ‘goal’ seems more familiar. While both words imply a desired outcome, they differ in a way that is significant for your ability to write well. Goals are formulated in response to changes in the competitive environment, are based on intellectual analyses, and are defined in quantitative or qualitative terms. Examples of goal-oriented statements are:

Purpose is derived from a person’s or organisation’s values and beliefs. It is defined in emotional and relational terms, and remains a constant even when the environment changes over time. Going against someone’s sense of purpose creates conflict, while action in line with purpose creates harmony and gives people strength and courage. Purpose motivates people in a way that goals are unable to, something shown by the limited effect increased salary has on the performance of people.

Purpose is not a fringe concept but the bedrock upon which the organisation and its people rest. Successful companies – and people – are purpose-driven, meaning they have identified their purpose and aligned their goals, actions and relationships with it. Ideally, a company’s strategy is aligned with its purpose, as are its cultures, processes and styles of communication. Companies with a strong sense of purpose tend to have shared values and beliefs.

Unlike goal-oriented language, purposeful language engages people on the level of their identity. This means that even when discussing hard core business issues like shareholder value or the supply chain, you can relate to both people’s cognitive and emotional sides. In other words, you communicate with people in a way that captures their hearts and minds. Examples of purposeful statements are:

A beautiful example of purposeful language is Johnson & Johnson’s Credo. This text, written in 1943 and updated annually with the participation of all staff, has significant impact on the company’s vision and business decisions. More than a simple mission statement, the Credo balances purpose and goals in a language that is both businesslike and humanly engaging. The text reads: 

‘We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services. In meeting their needs everything we do must be of high quality. We must constantly strive to reduce our costs in order to maintain reasonable prices. Customers' orders must be serviced promptly and accurately. Our suppliers and distributors must have an opportunity to make a fair profit.

We are responsible to our employees, the men and women who work with us throughout the world. Everyone must be considered as an individual. We must respect their dignity and recognize their merit. They must have a sense of security in their jobs. Compensation must be fair and adequate, and working conditions clean, orderly and safe. We must be mindful of ways to help our employees fulfil their family responsibilities. Employees must feel free to make suggestions and complaints. There must be equal opportunity for employment, development and advancement for those qualified. We must provide competent management, and their actions must be just and ethical.

We are responsible to the communities in which we live and work and to the world community as well. We must be good citizens – support good works and charities and bear our fair share of taxes. We must encourage civic improvements and better health and education. We must maintain in good order the property we are privileged to use, protecting the environment and natural resources.

Our final responsibility is to our stockholders. Business must make a sound profit. We must experiment with new ideas. Research must be carried on, innovative programs developed and mistakes paid for. New equipment must be purchased, new facilities provided and new products launched. Reserves must be created to provide for adverse times. When we operate according to these principles, the stockholders should realize a fair return.’

If you compare this text to a more traditional statement like ‘our mission is to exceed customer expectations’ or ‘our mission is to be an industry leader’, which of these texts do you think will have more impact on the behaviour and attitude of your stakeholders? Which will have more impact on the bottom line? 

 

Using purpose in business writing

If you accept the value of organisational purpose and the language that supports it, you may wonder how to use it in your own writing. The answer is that you can use purpose in three ways: to develop a more pertinent analysis of what you are writing about, to explain what you are writing about in a more compelling context and to use a certain type of language while avoiding another. 

Purpose analysis

As for the first use of purpose, your writing can be based on what can be called a ‘purpose analysis’. While this was touched upon in the chapter on focus – think of the questions you asked when developing a brief – you can take this a little deeper and conduct a more thorough analysis. In its simplest form, the analysis requires you to do three things:

This exercise doesn’t need to be terribly complicated, and it certainly doesn’t require a dozen MBAs and a six-month global research programme. The idea is to put yourself in the shoes of your audience and imagine how your readers think, make decisions, what they feel and value, how the past is going to influence them, what it is they are seeking to achieve, what they fear etc. If this is all too complicated or time-consuming, ask yourself at least one simple question: how would I react, if I were in their position and read the text I have written?

Once you understand, no matter how vaguely, what matters to your readers, you need to decide what that means to you. What are you going to say about your topic, now that you know how your audience perceives the subject and its consequences? How will you explain things in terms of their values, beliefs, their fears and ambitions? How will you express what matters to you? What examples, references or quotes are you going to use? What kind of language will appeal to them, what style supports your goal?

You are responsible for talking to your audience in the right way and for pushing the right buttons. You shouldn’t only analyse the issue in terms of goals and political interests, but also address it from the perspective of purpose. By doing so, you can create an environment where people want to listen to what you have to say.  

Purpose as your context

The power of purpose also lies in its ability to guide your creativity, reflection and decision-making during the writing process. In other words: by regularly referring to the purpose analysis and using that as the framework within which to develop your story, you can match your style, substance and structure accordingly.

This may sound simple, but in practice it is easy to forget about the map when you are midway through your journey. The writing process takes time, the circumstances tend to change and others who get involved have ideas of their own. In other words: it is easy to get distracted and lose sight of the big picture, and instead focus on goals and left-brain language rather than adding the extra layer of meaning that is derived from purpose.

Language to avoid, language to embrace

Earlier in this chapter, the difference between purpose and goal was established, as well as what this means for purposeful and goal-oriented language. Good business language, that is language that effectively changes your readers’ attitude and behaviour, balances both. From a linguistic point of view, good business writing requires you to avoid certain types of language and embrace other types instead.

Language to avoid

Language to embrace

People find it easier to relate to sensory language than to the analytical and conceptual language commonly used by businesses. NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic Programming, has done wonderful work in uncovering how people use these types of language to strengthen their cognitive and relational skills.

If there is only one thing you remember after reading this book, it should be that the best kinds of business writing address human purpose. Find out what drives your audience, what they fear or what gets them excited. Then explain whatever business you have to discuss in those terms, in a way that is business-like but personal and warm at the same time. In the next chapter, dealing with meaning, you will learn how to take this approach one step further.

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