About Purpose is about your purpose.
Aim: Identify and articulate your purpose.
Arm: Shape yourself around your purpose.
Act: Achieve your purpose.
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Write It Down
Bob Ryan, About Purpose, Inc. ©2008
Years ago a very effective (if a bit irreverent) nursing home administrator named Patrick Vance used to say, "If it ain't writ, it ain't done." Documentation in the health care field is vital for clinical, legal, operational and other reasons. It doesn't matter if you know something, it must be written down to make it real. That piece of advice is important for all of business (and for that matter, personal) life.
Entrepreneurs are especially guilty of carrying a lot of things around in their heads believing that what they're thinking is happening. Not so. Time and time again enterprises fail for lack of documentation, lack of written procedure, lack of recorded purpose and direction. Most business people would be appalled at what they might see as consultants looking at others' businesses - only to be surprised that they, too, have left a long trail of undocumented actions and plans behind them.
Write it down. It's that simple. What needs to be written down? Look at these areas as a start. See if you can actually put your hands on the documents that record the following important areas.
Your personal vision. This is maybe one of the most important for anyone of us, business owner or not. Just why are you doing what you are doing? Where do you expect to be and how does this activity get you there? - Or not?
Company mission, vision and values. Yes, you've heard this before, but have you actually gone through the process of articulating it with staff and writing it down? How else can you expect people to be working toward the same ends if the aims aren't clearly stated?
Operational procedures. Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth, says that most businesses are run by people who have a passion for the service or product, but little or no aptitude for running a business. They fly by the seat of their pants as if they were the only one still delivering the service or making the product, even though the business has grown well beyond their ability to do so. So, how do you assure that your passion is still being delivered with quality and care? Only through meticulously written procedures.
Position descriptions. It's just not fair to your employees to assume they know their areas of responsibility, their specific duties and the competencies you expect of them. Without written descriptions the business will undoubtedly have overlaps and holes because no one has carefully examined who is to do what.
Financial activities. "Well, duh," you say, but thousands of businesses are in trouble today because they don't do a good job of keeping accurate financial records. The smallest oversight can and often does develop into a major headache which, at the very least, is going to cost you valuable accounting dollars to fix.
Successes. Finally, regularly review and document your successes. Many businesses can point easily to what is wrong, but few can accurately articulate what it is that they do well - especially that which clearly sets them apart from the competition. (See the following articles: Making the Competition Irrelevant and THE Key Question.)
Why not spend some time this week to examine your own documentation? Remember, "If it ain't writ, it ain't done."