“Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for.” — Clarence Darrow
The fastest companies have causes they use to launch crusades.
Missions and visions tend to be watered down. (instead of enough heart, they used too much head)
Causes come from the heart and people are emotionally connected.
The causes are inclusive and aren’t just about profit. They are good for the people and good for the planet.
And that’s what enduring organizations and evergreen businesses are all about.
In It’s Not the Big That Eat the Small…It’s the Fast That Eat the Slow: How to Use Speed as a Competitive Tool in Business, Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton write about launching crusades.
Key Takeaways
In my experience, I would agree that a compelling WHY or purpose matters more than the actual WHAT or vision.
WHY is ultimately the motivation.
Whether or not a vision is compelling depends on how compelling the WHY behind it is.
And a WHY that is driven from deep personal pain, or hating the problem, or loving the customer is a powerful place to spring from.
Causes Over Visions
Jennings and Haughton contrast the definition of a cause with a vision:
- Cause – that which gives rise to an action, a motive, a principle, a belief, or purpose.
- Vision – something perceived in a dream, trance, spell or stupor; something supernaturally revealed to a prophet.
Example Causes
Jennings and Haughton share example causes:
- Charles Schwab – “To be the most ethical and useful financial services company in the world.”
- AOL – “To build a global medium as central to people’s lives as the telephone or television, only more useful.”
- Hotmail – “To revolutionize and democratize communications.”
- Clear Channel – “Creating value for the shareholder.”
- Telepizza – “Creating a world of Telepizza citizens.”
Where Do Causes Come From
Causes come from life changing events and defining moments.
Jennings and Haughton write:
“Unlike missions and visions, which are generally created by committees and sufficiently watered down to please everyone, offend nobody, and motivate no
one, a cause comes from a defining moment in a leader’s life.”
Criteria for a Cause
Jennings and Haughton found eight criteria that were common to the causes of companies that consistently demonstrated an ability to get to market faster than their rivals:
- Causes are never goals.
- Causes big enough for crusades come from the heart.
- The best causes are big, bold, and aspirational.
- Causes are inclusive.
- Causes aren’t just about profit.
- Big causes have an aha! effect.
- A cause needn’t be credible to the outside world.
- Causes are expressed in few words. Disney’s was building a place to “make people happy.”
Turning Causes into Crusades
Visions and missions often fail to achieve the desired objective. Discovering and creating a cause, and turning it into action is a replicable model, but it’s more than hanging a plague on a wall.
Jennings and Haughton write the eight steps that successful companies do:
- The leader/founder/CEO must live the cause.
- Those around the leader must also live the cause.
- All key executives and managers must be seen as living the cause.
- Everyone is invited to join the crusade.
- Those not joining the crusade are invited to leave.
- Reward activities that advance the crusade and punish those that don’t.
- Constantly celebrate the cause and crusade.
- Eventually, the cause and crusade become the reason for existence.
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