The foundations of sustainable and resilient organisations are its people, its place and its purpose
People
An organisation’s people are its consumers, its employees, its collaborators, its sponsors, its networks. They are the heart of your organisation, and your greatest potential. A fitting New Zealand Māori proverb (whakataukï) goes, “He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata”. This roughly translates to “what is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people. Creating an environment for your people to flourish, both personally and professionally, is fundamental to the success of your organisation.
High performing teams all share the traits of a shared vision, a clear purpose, and talented, empowered staff. Organisations pushing the boundaries of innovation and performance - MIT, Harvard, Google, and even Australia’s own Richmond AFL club - have all discovered the same thing….. the primary factor of team success is the level of trust within the team.
A 2017 Harvard Business Review study found the time that managers and employees spend on collaborative activities has increased by more than 50 per cent in the past 20 years. The future is requiring organisations to be more collaborative than they have ever been before. This requires new skills, and skills which may need refinement, to be driving your organisation forward. Weavin supports your organisation through the use of tools and systems to enable a more collaborative, effective and higher trust workplace.
Place
Your place provides your innovative edge. One inspiring scene from the 1993 American comedy movie, Cool Runnings, loosely based on the true story of Jamaica’s first ever Olympic bobsleigh team, centres on the realisation of the team captain, Derice Bannock, that peak performance requires more than simply following the practices of others. It requires harnessing ones own identity and particular context. The scene places Derice with a teammate (Sanka) where he says “ I’m just trying to be the best I can be”. Sanka replies “ So am I, and the best I can be is Jamaican.….If we look Jamaican, talk Jamaican, and IS Jamaican, then we sure as hell better bobsled, Jamaican”. Whilst fictional, this dramatic turning point of the film perfectly captures the importance of utilising your own strengths to collectively succeed.
The most resilient organisations embed themselves in their unique contexts, whilst still allowing themselves to evolve with the world around them. Ikea’s Swedishness runs through it’s immersive shopping centers with Swedish restaurants (kottbullar), Google’s Americanness is found in its all encompassing work-life campuses, Manuka Honey’s New Zealandness is seen through its harnessing of the unique antibiotic components of New Zealand flora, and Qantas’ Australianness is seen through its focus on trust and loyalty in what it offers and delivers.
Your context provides your organisation with resources, culture and identity. The grounding to place provides a sense of purpose and belonging for your staff and an identity for your brand. While this seems intuitive, your organisation’s operating environment can be extremely complex.
Purpose
The most enduring element of your business is its purpose. Who is in your organisation, what your organisation does, and how it does it will likely change over time. Purpose represents the reason for working for an organisation, a team, or an individual. It is the why. Purpose has shifted from “an add-on… to the core of high-growth companies” Harvard Business Review, September - October 2019 Issue.
The world’s leading organisations always revert to purpose over process. Think Apple, whose purpose is “the empowerment of man”, which enables it to adjust as technology and society adjusts. This requires stronger and more skilled leadership as they navigate the greater (short-term) risk and uncertainty they have invited in.
Being clear on your purpose is becoming increasingly essential as the world becomes more technologically advanced, diverse, connected, informed, integrated and complex by the millisecond. This enables organisations to remain innovative and competitive in the face of increasing social and ethical expectations of businesses, and a workforce of people wishing to develop personally and professionally through their careers.