Purpose led in practice

So I'm writing this having come out of a meeting with someone I've never met before, feeling inspired and energised. This person told me about the journey his team had been on over the past 2 years to transform a dull IT services team into the coolest, design led, forward looking part of what is already a formidable organisation. As he told his story it all seemed so right, so simple, so obvious...but that's the point about the best innovations and designs isn't it? 


His story, simplified, was this. He was asked to take over this team which had the lowest employee and customer satisfaction  scores, at a time when there was a recognition that change was clearly required. He was initially horrified - what had he done to deserve this? Rather than sit back and sulk, or try and get out of it, he decided the only way to deal with the situation was to make it the best team it could be, one that had a very clear purpose and was so integral to the ethos of the organisation that it underpinned everything that was going on. He set out a very clear change agenda - the team was to go from being the lowest cost option to being one that was completely focused on making employees IT activities easier. His mantra was simplicity, productivity and engagement and if something didn't address at least one of these areas it wasn't worth doing. He ran focus groups to understand what worked and what didn't, used data to look at how technology was being used, and considered the supporting infrastructure. Importantly he also looked at how hardware and software made people feel - he wanted it to feel good, easy, intuitive, engaging. He used design thinking to get people to bring different capabilities to the table and create a change.


Over the past 2 years they have built employee engagement, got 1000's of people on-board, won over the dissenters, run marketing campaigns and achieved far more than he could ever have imagined. this purpose led transformation of putting the employee at the heart of everything he did was so clear, so vibrant, so engaging. The activities have gained a life of their own and now behaviours and ways of working are being tested through the use of technology and engagement tools in such a powerful way - for example challenging the efficacy of meetings - length, use of agendas, frequency etc. - who knows where that could end?!


I asked whether it was always such - did he start with such clarity? Of course he didn't - the other practical illustration I loved here was the power of story. He's clearly shared the journey many times and he did it with a practiced ease and subtle emphasis on engagement and benefits. he told it in a way that made me feel that if we all had such a singular focus on purpose, anything is possible.


Before we ended he made another powerful statement which resonated. He said we have 2 scarce resources when we come to work - time and energy. How we use these resources is down to each of us. Having the insight to know what we are all doing and how it aligns to the purpose of an organisation is hard to achieve but so powerful.


So adding to my list of reflections is consideration of how I will use my most scarce of professional resources - time and energy....oh, and whether a bot can really change my life!