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Purpose, Incorporated: Turning Cause Into Your Competitive Advantage
Too many working professionals still subscribe to the old Milton-Friedman logic that “the sole social purpose of a business is to generate profit for shareholders.” In this revolutionary book, authors John Wood and Amalia McGibbon show once and for all that cause is not the enemy of commercialism, but perhaps the new key to it.
Based on over 100 interviews with entrepreneurs, executives and front-line staff, Wood and McGibbon provide a breath-taking tour of this new and inspiring world.
You’ll learn from mom-and-pop shops and corporate giants like Google and Goldman Sachs why corporate social responsibility is more than just a buzzword or publicity stunt, but instead represents the new competitive advantage. You’ll learn how to:
- win the war for talent
- create a compelling bond with customers
- motivate employees
- reduce attrition
- appease the regulators
- and create a positive buzz on social media
Purpose Incorporated is a “permission slip” to those businesspeople who want to have a positive impact on the world, but worry the corner office or cubicle isn't the place for it.
Based on over 100 interviews with entrepreneurs, executives and front-line staff, Wood and McGibbon provide a breath-taking tour of this new and inspiring world.
You’ll learn from mom-and-pop shops and corporate giants like Google and Goldman Sachs why corporate social responsibility is more than just a buzzword or publicity stunt, but instead represents the new competitive advantage. You’ll learn how to:
- win the war for talent
- create a compelling bond with customers
- motivate employees
- reduce attrition
- appease the regulators
- and create a positive buzz on social media
Purpose Incorporated is a “permission slip” to those businesspeople who want to have a positive impact on the world, but worry the corner office or cubicle isn't the place for it.
- GenresBusiness
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 10, 2018
25 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
John Wood
681 books65 followersJohn J. Wood is the founder and executive chairman of Room to Read, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating world poverty through the power of education. He is the author of 'Leaving Microsoft to Change the World' and 'Creating Room to Read.'
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 13, 2018
This book gave me hope that I'm not the only one who wants to have a purposeful career similar to the one John Wood and Amalia McGibbon paint in this book. As someone who is switching from activism and community organizing work to work in a more for-profit industry, it's great to know that there are others who seek to positively merge those two worlds more together. They make a solid effort not to villainize corporate life, which is refreshing compared to other books and articles I've read that talk about purpose. And if you enjoy reading about the changing dynamics of business as Millennials move into the workplace then you'll enjoy this book, especially if you're interested in hearing a more positive perspective on Millennial's influence in consumer markets.
I think the people who could learn the most from this book are people who are already executives and entrepreneurs in the marketing and business industry who aren't Millennials. Most Millennials I know care about purpose and happiness in their careers, but I like to think that one day other generations will believe they deserve that too.
I think the people who could learn the most from this book are people who are already executives and entrepreneurs in the marketing and business industry who aren't Millennials. Most Millennials I know care about purpose and happiness in their careers, but I like to think that one day other generations will believe they deserve that too.
February 18, 2018
The points and examples mentioned in the book do not provide a convincing support for how purpose is able to support the business. In some chapters, although the author tried very hard to establish the connection, it still lacks solid data and other prove to convince me. In other cases, the examples used in different angles seem quite similar. I do think purpose and business could be achieved together and think the author did a great job in establishing and growing Room to Read, but more thoughts could be given to the book. Another reason why I could not resonate with the book lies in the culture difference. Millennial is a generation that was constantly mentioned in the book. Being in Millennial myself growing up in developing country, I feels most of Millennial here are still more pragmatic and does not value purpose very much when choosing jobs and products. Probably those Millennial in the developed countries resemble more like what the book mentioned.
May 31, 2020
Fascinating read, some awesome ideas in there. Makes me want to rethink my career!
plus it also featured the CS Global Citizen's Program :-)
Extract from book....
Listening to this feedback, some companies are embracing the move toward skills-based volunteering programs. The idea is one that is simple and smart: rather than have a group of employees do unskilled labor for a day, a small number of them are given a more significant amount of time off (typically between two weeks and three months) to tackle a strategic problem in a way that takes advantage of their skills and talent.
I first learned about this when Credit Suisse asked Room to Read to be part of the launch of their Global Citizens Program. The program was piloted in 2010 and rolled out the following year with the goal of playing “matchmaker” between talented Credit Suisse employees and their international grant partners, including Accion, Plan International, Teach for All, and Women’s World Banking.
The partners identify a strategic project for which they do not have the required skill set or time internally, and the bank then identifies and recruits an employee with those skills. Like many great purpose-driven ideas, this one came from the front lines. Two employees managing the bank’s newly launched global initiatives (the Microfinance Capacity-Building Initiative and the Global Education Initiative), Dawn Emling and Eva Halper, realized that there was an opportunity to go “beyond the check” and to support their partners through volunteering by sharing their relevant skills and experience honed in the business world.
They pitched the idea to two senior executives, who quickly signed on to have their own teams involved in a low-cost and rapid-to-implement pilot. Before long, human-resource executives were in Bangladesh and Ghana teaching about performance management to a rural hospital system, an expert on Salesforce was in Nepal teaching an education NGO how to move terabytes of education project data into the cloud, and data geeks were in Tanzania and Zambia helping microfinance organizations to better quantify their social impact.
Soon, the bank found that those who volunteered reported significantly higher levels of motivation and were much more likely to stay engaged in their jobs. An internal 2016 survey of those who had taken part in the program quantified many of the benefits: All felt proud that Credit Suisse was offering the opportunity to employees. Most were more likely to tell others (including potential customers and prospective employees) about the bank because of their experience.
Almost all believed the program provided opportunities to develop and practice new skills in a way that wasn’t offered through any formal training programs. Seven in ten identified their skilled volunteering experience as contributing to their decision to remain with the bank. Eight in ten felt more prepared to take on roles of increased responsibility at work and believed the experience had helped to improve their problem-solving skills.
One program participant was Aniket Patel, a London-based IT director whose volunteer assignment was with Teach for Argentina (Enseñá por Argentina). He took on the challenge of designing and running a training program to help senior staff members to increase their project management skills and to develop systems to monitor and control project progress. He shared his experience with me: Taking part in the [program]…taught me so much about myself, the way in which I work, and the skills I have to offer, and these lessons continue to be relevant to me in my daily working life…It took me way outside my comfort zone and gave me the opportunity to apply my skills in an environment which is so different to daily life at Credit Suisse. It taught me more about how I work, what I know, what I have to offer to others, and how I can go about passing that knowledge on. It taught me not to underestimate myself, to be open, to take risks.
Credit Suisse executives I interviewed repeatedly talked about how it was not just the NGOs and volunteers who were benefitting but also the bank. It helped that volunteers learned about frontier markets, how NGOs manage to always “do more with less,” what life is like for the unbanked, and the growth of the informal credit and banking sectors in less developed nations. The program has become so popular that there is now a perpetual waiting list.
What is true at Credit Suisse has also been shown in other organizations with similar programs. Studies of skilled volunteering programs at companies including Microsoft, EY, GlaxoSmithKline, and others have found that 92 percent of participants recognized their experience had led to positive development in leadership skills and competencies.
Wood, John. Purpose, Incorporated: Turning Cause Into Your Competitive Advantage (pp. 113-115). Big Purpose Press. Kindle Edition.
plus it also featured the CS Global Citizen's Program :-)
Extract from book....
Listening to this feedback, some companies are embracing the move toward skills-based volunteering programs. The idea is one that is simple and smart: rather than have a group of employees do unskilled labor for a day, a small number of them are given a more significant amount of time off (typically between two weeks and three months) to tackle a strategic problem in a way that takes advantage of their skills and talent.
I first learned about this when Credit Suisse asked Room to Read to be part of the launch of their Global Citizens Program. The program was piloted in 2010 and rolled out the following year with the goal of playing “matchmaker” between talented Credit Suisse employees and their international grant partners, including Accion, Plan International, Teach for All, and Women’s World Banking.
The partners identify a strategic project for which they do not have the required skill set or time internally, and the bank then identifies and recruits an employee with those skills. Like many great purpose-driven ideas, this one came from the front lines. Two employees managing the bank’s newly launched global initiatives (the Microfinance Capacity-Building Initiative and the Global Education Initiative), Dawn Emling and Eva Halper, realized that there was an opportunity to go “beyond the check” and to support their partners through volunteering by sharing their relevant skills and experience honed in the business world.
They pitched the idea to two senior executives, who quickly signed on to have their own teams involved in a low-cost and rapid-to-implement pilot. Before long, human-resource executives were in Bangladesh and Ghana teaching about performance management to a rural hospital system, an expert on Salesforce was in Nepal teaching an education NGO how to move terabytes of education project data into the cloud, and data geeks were in Tanzania and Zambia helping microfinance organizations to better quantify their social impact.
Soon, the bank found that those who volunteered reported significantly higher levels of motivation and were much more likely to stay engaged in their jobs. An internal 2016 survey of those who had taken part in the program quantified many of the benefits: All felt proud that Credit Suisse was offering the opportunity to employees. Most were more likely to tell others (including potential customers and prospective employees) about the bank because of their experience.
Almost all believed the program provided opportunities to develop and practice new skills in a way that wasn’t offered through any formal training programs. Seven in ten identified their skilled volunteering experience as contributing to their decision to remain with the bank. Eight in ten felt more prepared to take on roles of increased responsibility at work and believed the experience had helped to improve their problem-solving skills.
One program participant was Aniket Patel, a London-based IT director whose volunteer assignment was with Teach for Argentina (Enseñá por Argentina). He took on the challenge of designing and running a training program to help senior staff members to increase their project management skills and to develop systems to monitor and control project progress. He shared his experience with me: Taking part in the [program]…taught me so much about myself, the way in which I work, and the skills I have to offer, and these lessons continue to be relevant to me in my daily working life…It took me way outside my comfort zone and gave me the opportunity to apply my skills in an environment which is so different to daily life at Credit Suisse. It taught me more about how I work, what I know, what I have to offer to others, and how I can go about passing that knowledge on. It taught me not to underestimate myself, to be open, to take risks.
Credit Suisse executives I interviewed repeatedly talked about how it was not just the NGOs and volunteers who were benefitting but also the bank. It helped that volunteers learned about frontier markets, how NGOs manage to always “do more with less,” what life is like for the unbanked, and the growth of the informal credit and banking sectors in less developed nations. The program has become so popular that there is now a perpetual waiting list.
What is true at Credit Suisse has also been shown in other organizations with similar programs. Studies of skilled volunteering programs at companies including Microsoft, EY, GlaxoSmithKline, and others have found that 92 percent of participants recognized their experience had led to positive development in leadership skills and competencies.
Wood, John. Purpose, Incorporated: Turning Cause Into Your Competitive Advantage (pp. 113-115). Big Purpose Press. Kindle Edition.
December 8, 2020
An uplifting, optimistic look at the benefits of running a business with purpose, with more than a single bottom line. John Wood left his senior role at Microsoft to found the charity Room to Read, and shares research as well as anecdotes and experiences from his network about having a strong purpose has led to benefits for their companies, their people, and the wider world.
My favourite sections were those around "whywashing", "green washing", and the benefits of purpose for individuals. I'd recommend this book for anyone who has read or is interested in Ikigai, The Crossroads of Should and Must, and anyone looking to align their career with their values (unless your only value is accumulating wealth/power/fame, in which case I'd recommend this book to see what you think of a different perspective).
My favourite sections were those around "whywashing", "green washing", and the benefits of purpose for individuals. I'd recommend this book for anyone who has read or is interested in Ikigai, The Crossroads of Should and Must, and anyone looking to align their career with their values (unless your only value is accumulating wealth/power/fame, in which case I'd recommend this book to see what you think of a different perspective).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2019
As someone who runs a charitable organization, I wish I could send this book to every corporate contact I know. That might come off as a bit too self-serving :), but I will likely quote John Wood in some of my communications. I really appreciated that he made a clear and convincing case for purpose, from many angles and using real-life stories. But at the end of the book, he jumped into what I think is an even bigger and better reason for purpose in your work. It makes you happy.
August 29, 2018
Great easy read to understand the much discussed issue of purpose but packaged it very well. Must read for people exploring new vistas of business and career. Provides fresh lenses to look at issues.
Many good examples one can remember and reflect upon. Especially with millennial entering workforce and decision making positions, things are going to change.
Many good examples one can remember and reflect upon. Especially with millennial entering workforce and decision making positions, things are going to change.
October 21, 2018
This is an important book to read. I couldn't agree more with everything shared in about Purpose being both the right thing to do and also gives a competitive advantage.
It is interesting how the world is changing.
It is interesting how the world is changing.
March 9, 2018
Lots of inspiring stories and a convincing viewpoint from both a capitalistic and a more humanizing perspective. Made me reconsider the impact I can have with my job in the world.
November 26, 2019
This is nothing unique or new in this book, but just countless case studies to keep reinforcing the notion that happened to be the name of this book.
April 16, 2022
Overall, this book is very enlightening and easy to read. Even though some examples in the book were not really convincing, it was a fascinating read. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to make a better world. Summary of the book below.
What is Purpose?
Companies that embrace purpose are ones that have chosen to focus on objectives larger than just the traditional financial metrics of success, such as revenues, profits, cash flow, and market share. They've built into their business plan the attainment of social goals that benefit others who live outside the company, not just themselves. And they've done it in a way that is embedded into their company culture and business model.
The authors argue that Purpose is the another P complimented the 4Ps.
What Purpose Isn't?
Common misconceptions of Purpose include the following:
• Using purpose as a short-term promotion or one-off initiative (examples could be initiatives such as "day of service" or "week of giving")
• Siloing purpose so that it resides with a single person or departments, rather than sharing it widely across the company and baking it into the business model and strategy
• Believing that purpose will be a silver bullet that will solve all your company's problems (You still, of course, need great products, pricing, placement, promotion, and people.)
• Taking a disparate collection of things you're already doing and then wrapping a fancy new slogan around it
• Putting the financial health of your company in jeopardy (The pursuit of both profit and purpose need not involve trade-offs--great companies and leaders find ways to have both.)
Companies with strong sense of Purpose can:
• Connect with prospects and customers in a new way-one based on values, mission, and societal uplift. This wins their hearts and wallets, keeps them coming back, and makes them eager to provide referrals.
• These customers also become your buzz agents. Purpose can inspire them to tell your story via social media.
• Win the war for talent by attracting the best and the brightest, especially those who have a strong desire to make their community and the world a better place.
• Motivate your employee base, inspire them to recruit new talent, and lower attrition among your superstars.
• Unify your business ecosystem, including agencies, vendors, and partners, via a shared sense of mission.
• Attract the best investors who align with you through not just financial goals but also shared values.
• Assure better relationships with government regulators, thereby saving on legal and compliance costs and freeing up scarce leadership bandwidth.
• Stay on the right side of both "citizen regulators, and the increasingly common business-to-business regulators.
What is Purpose?
Companies that embrace purpose are ones that have chosen to focus on objectives larger than just the traditional financial metrics of success, such as revenues, profits, cash flow, and market share. They've built into their business plan the attainment of social goals that benefit others who live outside the company, not just themselves. And they've done it in a way that is embedded into their company culture and business model.
The authors argue that Purpose is the another P complimented the 4Ps.
What Purpose Isn't?
Common misconceptions of Purpose include the following:
• Using purpose as a short-term promotion or one-off initiative (examples could be initiatives such as "day of service" or "week of giving")
• Siloing purpose so that it resides with a single person or departments, rather than sharing it widely across the company and baking it into the business model and strategy
• Believing that purpose will be a silver bullet that will solve all your company's problems (You still, of course, need great products, pricing, placement, promotion, and people.)
• Taking a disparate collection of things you're already doing and then wrapping a fancy new slogan around it
• Putting the financial health of your company in jeopardy (The pursuit of both profit and purpose need not involve trade-offs--great companies and leaders find ways to have both.)
Companies with strong sense of Purpose can:
• Connect with prospects and customers in a new way-one based on values, mission, and societal uplift. This wins their hearts and wallets, keeps them coming back, and makes them eager to provide referrals.
• These customers also become your buzz agents. Purpose can inspire them to tell your story via social media.
• Win the war for talent by attracting the best and the brightest, especially those who have a strong desire to make their community and the world a better place.
• Motivate your employee base, inspire them to recruit new talent, and lower attrition among your superstars.
• Unify your business ecosystem, including agencies, vendors, and partners, via a shared sense of mission.
• Attract the best investors who align with you through not just financial goals but also shared values.
• Assure better relationships with government regulators, thereby saving on legal and compliance costs and freeing up scarce leadership bandwidth.
• Stay on the right side of both "citizen regulators, and the increasingly common business-to-business regulators.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews