Alan Webber made me think with his post about Goldman Sachs
But much as is the case with Craiglist, it may be the case that, legally, Goldman is operating on the edge of the law.But on the edge of the law isn't where Goldman started. It isn't how it earned its reputation. And it isn't what the original intent of the company was.
Something has gotten lost.
Some sense of purpose and mission, values and original intent has come unmoored.
It is part of a Great Disconnect that afflicts much of American business.
We have important companies that have lost track of themselves.
We have cool new startups that have veered from their original purpose.
It's a great post and I recommend the whole thing to you. But I was really moved because I had just read this post by Jeffrey Cufaude
Can we quit trading terms and acknowledge that any successful organization needs at least the following?
This is why we exist. This is who we are. This is what we want to create. This is the value we'll deliver. This is how we will challenge the status quo. This is how we will do our work. Isn't that the essence of organization?
- A meaningful reason for existing (purpose or mission)
- A clear sense of organizational identity (brand or core values)
- A challenging future result worth creating (BHAG or vision)
- Programs and services of increasing value to stakeholders (innovation)
- Steps for achieving the desired results (strategy or plan)
- A framework for leveraging resources in pursuit of the results (operational plan)
I spent a lot of my working life in debates over the phrasing of vision statements that never resonated outside the meeting room and were never taken seriously. An interesting intersection today shows how much we let go wrong.