—— Example ——
Godlove Group LLC
Agile Strategic Framework™ Foundation
1) WHY do we exist?
First, we teased out our core value (ruling love) and core beliefs to discover the most generalized higher purpose from which they flow.
Then we brought this into our operations to formulate the declaration of an organization purpose that is aligned with this higher purpose and our competencies.
Finally, we crafted a declaration of individual purpose that honors the higher purpose and models the organization purpose. This is where purpose gets its life - in the behaviors and activities of the individuals. As goes the individuals, so goes the organization. The individuals collectively generate the mood and behavioral character of the organization.
Our Core Value (Ruling Love)
What, individually and collectively, do we care most deeply about, that gives us joy and drives our decisions and investment of time and money?
#1 Nothing gives us more joy, or is more important to us, than seeing the people in an organization fall perpetually in love with the useful work they do, the people they work with, and the people who benefit from it.
Our Core Beliefs
What do we truly believe to be true?
We aren’t born to slave away at jobs or with people who drain us.
We are born to do useful work that gives meaning to our lives and feeds our soul.
Fear is a root cause that stands between 1 and 2 in a physical or remote workplace.
Love is the only permanent solution to get from 1 to 2, because only love can ignite the human spirit by extinguishing fear. Addressing symptoms alone is temporary and ultimately futile.
Moving a workforce from 1 to 2 significantly improves an enterprise.
Improving all enterprises in this way significantly improves the world.
Applying ourselves to this is worthy of the investment of our time and money.
Our Higher Purpose
Ignite the human spirit with the transformative power of love.
Our Organization Purpose
Ignite the human spirit in workplaces by helping leadership extinguish fear with the transformative power of love by leading with kindness.
Our Individual Purpose (“My” Purpose)
Ignite others’ spirit by doing my tasks as an expression of love, to the best of my ability in each moment, that honors our Higher Purpose, models our Organization Purpose, leads with kindness and keeps my own flame lit.
2) WHAT earned reputation and established authority will support our Higher Purpose?
We then decided on the aspirational reputation and established authority we intend to have in our market to capture the attention of those we wish to serve. This is our vision for what we will we own in the minds of our prospects and clients that will attract them to us and keep them with us.
Vision
Be the acknowledged thought leader and “go-to” firm for CEOs intending to transform and/or supercharge their enterprise through a powerfully engaged workforce aligned with a higher purpose.
3) WHAT will we strive to accomplish to develop that reputation?
Next, we chose the overarching achievement, the mission we believe can produce this reputation.
Mission
Establish our Agile Strategic Framework and Methodology as the gold standard for organizational alignment to a higher purpose as evidenced by the number of organizations using it, and consultants offering it.
4) HOW do we intend to accomplish this mission?
This is a pivotal activity in the plan development and execution. It is informed from above by all of the foundational work that goes into answering “WHY” - “for the sake of what.” This stage, in turn, informs all the work that follows, carrying your organization’s “WHY” with it.
Unless you’re a startup with a clean slate, the work to bring this about is a combination of work underway and new initiatives. In our case, our new Strategic Imperatives overlayed our existing coaching and consulting workload. Like Godlove Group, some of your Strategic Imperatives may be public, while others remain confidential for any number of reasons, including competitive advantage, NDA restrictions, protection of proprietary and trade secret information, and so on.
Strategic Imperatives
Currently, we have three SI’s underway, and two more in development.
Each has its own strategies, tactics and tasks.
All support our Mission in some way - to help bring our Agile Strategic Framework™ and Methodology into mainstream use by both end users and other consultants.
5) HOW will we stay on track and course correct when necessary?
This is an Agile process that lives within a framework, not a stamped plan with a waterfall implementation. Like all Agile processes, it is a constant cycle of intent that lives in a loop of design, implementation, testing, and learning that feeds each cycle. The power of our Agile Strategic Framework™ is that these loops can, and will, cycle as far back as you need over time to adjust for both learning and changes in the environment.
In our case, this framework allowed us to quickly adjust to the effects of COVID-19 in our market with a very clear understanding of the scope of its impact. Rational decision making is greatly facilitated by this model as you stay true to, and aligned with, your purpose when new constraints show up. Working within our framework, we only had to focus on specific areas of impact. We know who we are. We know what we are. We know how we serve. Our Higher Purpose, Organization Purpose, and My Purpose are clear, immutable, rock-solid foundations that support, and give north star direction to, our daily work in an agile environment. We understand how to pivot while staying true to, and maintaining our momentum for, our purpose.