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Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies
Forbes, Best Business Books of 2022 The Next Big Idea Club, Best Leadership Books of 2022 Thinkers50 Top 10 Best New Management Books for 2022 Axiom Award Bronze Medalist for Business Ethics A distinguished Harvard Business School professor offers a compelling reassessment and defense of purpose as a management ethos, documenting the vast performance gains and social benefits that become possible when firms manage to get purpose right. Few business topics have aroused more skepticism in recent years than the notion of corporate purpose, and for good reason. Too many companies deploy purpose, or a reason for being, as a promotional vehicle to make themselves feel virtuous and to look good to the outside world. Some have only foggy ideas about what purpose is and conflate it with strategy and other concepts like “mission,” “vision,” and “values.” Even well-intentioned leaders don’t understand purpose’s full potential and engage half-heartedly and superficially with it. Outsiders spot this and become cynical about companies and the broader capitalist endeavor. Having conducted extensive field research, Ranjay Gulati reveals the fatal mistakes leaders unwittingly make when attempting to implement a reason for being. Moreover, he shows how companies can embed purpose much more deeply than they currently do, delivering impressive performance benefits that reward customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and communities alike. To get purpose right, leaders must fundamentally change not only how they execute it but also how they conceive of and relate to it. They must practice what Gulati calls deep purpose , furthering each organization’s reason for being more intensely, thoughtfully, and comprehensively than ever before. In this authoritative, accessible, and inspiring guide, Gulati takes readers inside some of the world’s most purposeful companies to understand the secrets to their successes. He explores how leaders can pursue purpose more deeply by As Gulati argues, a deeper engagement with purpose holds the key not merely to the well-being of individual companies but also to humanity’s future. With capitalism under siege and relatively low levels of trust in business, purpose can serve as a radically new operating system for the enterprise, enhancing performance while also delivering meaningful benefits to society. It’s the kind of inspired thinking that businesses—and the rest of us—urgently need.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published February 8, 2022
135 people are currently reading
1028 people want to read
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February 8, 2022
I basically read a business book every week, so I tend to see very familiar patterns and ideas delivered in pretty similar forms. "Deep Purpose" is different. Ranjay Gulati presents evidence-based ideas in an often surprising and delightful manner. He's not throwing out facts and figures - he's telling us a story. And this story is an important one. Too often we draw a distinction between our work and the human condition. Why? To what extent? Our work cannot flourish if we don't flourish. Deep purpose is how we move from transactions to transformations. I highly recommend this book.
January 22, 2023
This is a book by a Harvard Business School professor arguing the need for firms to adopt a “mindset” of “deep purpose” as a central management orientation going forward. What does this mean? It means that firms should adopt some broad and important business goals that commit the firm to doing business to pursue valuable ends that materially help some key stakeholders and society more broadly. Businesses should not just exist and operate to just make money for investors but also to serve customers and key stakeholders in long term important ways. By doing this, firms will ensure their survival and performance and will also ensure their legitimacy in broader society and have solid answers, supported by action and results, to questions that arise about the value of the firm to society.
Is that clear enough for you? It wasn’t for me. While I am often deeply critical of business trade books, I was disappointed by this one and expected much more from the author than what the book actually delivered.
Where to start?
To start with this book (at least at the start) fits into what might be called “multi-stakeholder” research. So business can be seen as working among a constellation of actors, including customers, investors, employees, managers, local administrators and other governmental, suppliers, buyers, media, and a host of community actors, which vary depending on the particular business area.
Traditionally, one of these stakeholders, investors, takes precedence of the others in terms of their claims on the business. The investors are the owners of the firm and they get to make the critical strategic decisions about what the firm should do and how it should operate. They do this by approving the actions of management. Managers should work towards maximizing shareholder returns. Why? Because the investors/shareholders 1) bear the residual risk of the firm failing and 2) other stakeholders get paid up front and so do not have to worry about loss from bankruptcy. (At least that is the general idea, more or less.)
Why has a literature sprung up around stakeholders? Because firms are seen as needing to pursue shareholder returns to the exclusion of returns to other stakeholders. In recent years, however, the single minded pursuit of shareholder returns has come to be associated by some with pursuing profits for shareholders while failing to attend to the needs of other stakeholders and the welfare of society (cue the Springsteen and Mellencamp songs). So in response to claims that businesses are heartless pursuers of profits at the expense of society, there has been increased research and writing to show how businesses are actually pursuing the good of society and stakeholders along with pursuing profits for shareholders. This book purports to do this by showing how a group of elite firms (whose CEOs have been interviewed by Gulati) are both earning high shareholder returns and serving the needs of stakeholder and society more broadly (such as through “ESG” goals and program). That’s the idea - business is not heartless and antisocial. Look at these enlightened firms and their star CEOs!
So what is the problem with all of this, you might ask?
To start with, in my opinion, the problem set of interest here is a longstanding one and hardly a new one. The problem of stakeholders has been with us since the time of Chester Barnard and it has resurfaced in pop writings on management and strategy since the 1970s. While I have no problem with businesses pursuing society issues, the problem is often posed as a dichotomy of pursuing the interests of shareholders or the interest of some other stakeholders. From its original formulation, that tradeoff has been deceptive. If a firm does not address the interests of key stakeholders, then at some point the firm’s costs will rise and its success in the marketplace will fall and the firm will end up paying the price of ignoring stakeholder concerns. There are always exceptions and delays, of course, but the logic is not one of trade-offs between shareholders and stakeholders. As said, the issue is who gets paid when and who bears the residual risk. It could also be argued that stakeholders also bear some residual risk along with investors but that is a separate discussion.
Put another way, what is an example of a firm that just pursues profits but does not serve any of the key stakeholders? What firms do that? The author mentions Boeing in the DC8 scandal, but that is hardly the same as a firm history of pursuing profits to the exclusion of any other goals. …or as someone else said - the only organization in the US with the specific primary goal of making money is the US Mint (Bureau of Engraving and Printing) and it is not even a market organization.
To move to another issue, just what is a “deep purpose”? Is is a goal? Is it an objective? Is it a mission? What makes it deep? It seems like broad adherence within the firm is part of this, but it is far from clear. Is a deep purpose one thing or a mindset - since purposes can shift over time? Who is the actor with deep purpose? Clearly the CEO is an individual actor in the story, but is the top management team involved? Is it their purpose? What about the broader management team? …what about the entire firm workforce?
Specificity makes a difference here. It is important to distinguish a deep purpose from a convenient purpose. In a relatively short book, there are forty references to convenient purposes - which appear to be social purposes that are intended to get the firm and its CEO out of the public limelight from complaints regarding some social mission not served. Such a purpose would constitute “purpose washing” - not entirely clear what that means.
Deep purpose also needs to be clear so that it can be adopted and institutionalized within the firm. It must be important and understandable to large numbers of individual workers and managers, suggesting that the construct of deep purpose has a collective basis. Is it individual, group, multi group, or collective? Without more clarification, it just comes across as words.
To push a bit more, Gulati appears to argue that action is part of deep purpose. It is not just words or mission statements, or goals, but deep purpose needs to be linked to action in the firm to indicate that the purpose is an important characteristic of the firm and how it behaves. This is an interesting but it needs much more elaboration and clarification. At an individual level of analysis, it is hard enough to discuss and individual’s intentions and how thought and action are linked with individual people. GEM Anscombe’s book on Intention is illustrative of the simple issues of clarity. Expand that to a collective and it gets hard for me to sort out what is actually meant.
Clarity would help on general matters of size that show up in business research. Start with the CEO - I fully get the importance of the CEO. Then expand to a management or founders group. It is still very doable although hard to maintain a common purpose. What happens when the firm gets successful and grows further? It is well known how collective dynamics morph when groups get bigger (over one hundred, for example). This may in effect be a “loss of purpose” but it is really as explainable by organizational complexity. Negative implications of a loss of purpose do not seeem meaningful. In several points in the book, the author mentions start-up experiences but does not note how size might fit into such situations.
Towards the end of the book, the focus seems to change and make “deep purpose” as a mindset come to represent a new way of organizing that CEOs could employ to fight issues of creeping bureaucracy (Max Weber’s Iron Cage) and that a Deep Purpose mindset could also be understood as a rich story telling approach to management that non deep purpose managers could emulate. I did not see how the second half of the book fit in with the first.
Overall, the basic story is OK as these accounts go. Much more clarity was needed and would be greatly appreciated. I expected much more than the basic CEO story that was provided. That is unfortunate because there is much more to say.
Is that clear enough for you? It wasn’t for me. While I am often deeply critical of business trade books, I was disappointed by this one and expected much more from the author than what the book actually delivered.
Where to start?
To start with this book (at least at the start) fits into what might be called “multi-stakeholder” research. So business can be seen as working among a constellation of actors, including customers, investors, employees, managers, local administrators and other governmental, suppliers, buyers, media, and a host of community actors, which vary depending on the particular business area.
Traditionally, one of these stakeholders, investors, takes precedence of the others in terms of their claims on the business. The investors are the owners of the firm and they get to make the critical strategic decisions about what the firm should do and how it should operate. They do this by approving the actions of management. Managers should work towards maximizing shareholder returns. Why? Because the investors/shareholders 1) bear the residual risk of the firm failing and 2) other stakeholders get paid up front and so do not have to worry about loss from bankruptcy. (At least that is the general idea, more or less.)
Why has a literature sprung up around stakeholders? Because firms are seen as needing to pursue shareholder returns to the exclusion of returns to other stakeholders. In recent years, however, the single minded pursuit of shareholder returns has come to be associated by some with pursuing profits for shareholders while failing to attend to the needs of other stakeholders and the welfare of society (cue the Springsteen and Mellencamp songs). So in response to claims that businesses are heartless pursuers of profits at the expense of society, there has been increased research and writing to show how businesses are actually pursuing the good of society and stakeholders along with pursuing profits for shareholders. This book purports to do this by showing how a group of elite firms (whose CEOs have been interviewed by Gulati) are both earning high shareholder returns and serving the needs of stakeholder and society more broadly (such as through “ESG” goals and program). That’s the idea - business is not heartless and antisocial. Look at these enlightened firms and their star CEOs!
So what is the problem with all of this, you might ask?
To start with, in my opinion, the problem set of interest here is a longstanding one and hardly a new one. The problem of stakeholders has been with us since the time of Chester Barnard and it has resurfaced in pop writings on management and strategy since the 1970s. While I have no problem with businesses pursuing society issues, the problem is often posed as a dichotomy of pursuing the interests of shareholders or the interest of some other stakeholders. From its original formulation, that tradeoff has been deceptive. If a firm does not address the interests of key stakeholders, then at some point the firm’s costs will rise and its success in the marketplace will fall and the firm will end up paying the price of ignoring stakeholder concerns. There are always exceptions and delays, of course, but the logic is not one of trade-offs between shareholders and stakeholders. As said, the issue is who gets paid when and who bears the residual risk. It could also be argued that stakeholders also bear some residual risk along with investors but that is a separate discussion.
Put another way, what is an example of a firm that just pursues profits but does not serve any of the key stakeholders? What firms do that? The author mentions Boeing in the DC8 scandal, but that is hardly the same as a firm history of pursuing profits to the exclusion of any other goals. …or as someone else said - the only organization in the US with the specific primary goal of making money is the US Mint (Bureau of Engraving and Printing) and it is not even a market organization.
To move to another issue, just what is a “deep purpose”? Is is a goal? Is it an objective? Is it a mission? What makes it deep? It seems like broad adherence within the firm is part of this, but it is far from clear. Is a deep purpose one thing or a mindset - since purposes can shift over time? Who is the actor with deep purpose? Clearly the CEO is an individual actor in the story, but is the top management team involved? Is it their purpose? What about the broader management team? …what about the entire firm workforce?
Specificity makes a difference here. It is important to distinguish a deep purpose from a convenient purpose. In a relatively short book, there are forty references to convenient purposes - which appear to be social purposes that are intended to get the firm and its CEO out of the public limelight from complaints regarding some social mission not served. Such a purpose would constitute “purpose washing” - not entirely clear what that means.
Deep purpose also needs to be clear so that it can be adopted and institutionalized within the firm. It must be important and understandable to large numbers of individual workers and managers, suggesting that the construct of deep purpose has a collective basis. Is it individual, group, multi group, or collective? Without more clarification, it just comes across as words.
To push a bit more, Gulati appears to argue that action is part of deep purpose. It is not just words or mission statements, or goals, but deep purpose needs to be linked to action in the firm to indicate that the purpose is an important characteristic of the firm and how it behaves. This is an interesting but it needs much more elaboration and clarification. At an individual level of analysis, it is hard enough to discuss and individual’s intentions and how thought and action are linked with individual people. GEM Anscombe’s book on Intention is illustrative of the simple issues of clarity. Expand that to a collective and it gets hard for me to sort out what is actually meant.
Clarity would help on general matters of size that show up in business research. Start with the CEO - I fully get the importance of the CEO. Then expand to a management or founders group. It is still very doable although hard to maintain a common purpose. What happens when the firm gets successful and grows further? It is well known how collective dynamics morph when groups get bigger (over one hundred, for example). This may in effect be a “loss of purpose” but it is really as explainable by organizational complexity. Negative implications of a loss of purpose do not seeem meaningful. In several points in the book, the author mentions start-up experiences but does not note how size might fit into such situations.
Towards the end of the book, the focus seems to change and make “deep purpose” as a mindset come to represent a new way of organizing that CEOs could employ to fight issues of creeping bureaucracy (Max Weber’s Iron Cage) and that a Deep Purpose mindset could also be understood as a rich story telling approach to management that non deep purpose managers could emulate. I did not see how the second half of the book fit in with the first.
Overall, the basic story is OK as these accounts go. Much more clarity was needed and would be greatly appreciated. I expected much more than the basic CEO story that was provided. That is unfortunate because there is much more to say.
February 8, 2022
Ranjay Gulati's book "Deep Purpose" is a tour de force that illustrates why and how truly successful businesses are moral enterprises, resulting from productivity, integrity and a sense of purpose. The book is a must read for current and aspiring leaders who are committed to "making the world a better place, by doing something important to themselves." While the first part of this purpose statement is now a cliche--given its overuse and superficial grandiosity--Deep Purpose reminds us it need not be so if you connect this aspiration to your own values.
The "why" of Deep Purpose begins with identifying the values--the soul--embodied in an organization's purpose. With purpose in the driver's seat, one can then reject its false dichotomy with profit. Gulati masterfully blends years of thought leadership in academia with rich field work to illuminate how leaders can and have leveraged businesses to solve thorny problems and scale these solutions for lasting impact. Deep Purpose illustrates how purpose with profit can integrate "commercial logic" with "social logic." Using the principles of Deep Purpose, leaders of "Profit First" can move their organizations from doing well to also doing good. Equally important, leaders of "Good Samaritans" can unleash their good by harnessing profit and market principles.
Inspiring us with the "why," Deep Purpose also delivers on the "how." It abandons the "nirvana fallacy" of idealists and injects healthy realism of how to make difficult decisions when commercial and social logics seemingly conflict with each other. The art of the tradeoff provides useful lessons on how leaders prioritize and achieve the long-term achievement of purpose in crafting their strategy. Gulati showcases how Deep Purpose provides four levers for profitability: it creates a north star, helps create and sustain long term relationships, develops an authentic reputation, and motivates employees and trade partners to expend effort towards achieving high performance. And in so doing, it aligns all stakeholders towards win-win outcomes rather than adopting an "us" vs. "them" mindset.
If you are interested in why and how you can be a force of good in the world, Deep Purpose is a must-read for you.
The "why" of Deep Purpose begins with identifying the values--the soul--embodied in an organization's purpose. With purpose in the driver's seat, one can then reject its false dichotomy with profit. Gulati masterfully blends years of thought leadership in academia with rich field work to illuminate how leaders can and have leveraged businesses to solve thorny problems and scale these solutions for lasting impact. Deep Purpose illustrates how purpose with profit can integrate "commercial logic" with "social logic." Using the principles of Deep Purpose, leaders of "Profit First" can move their organizations from doing well to also doing good. Equally important, leaders of "Good Samaritans" can unleash their good by harnessing profit and market principles.
Inspiring us with the "why," Deep Purpose also delivers on the "how." It abandons the "nirvana fallacy" of idealists and injects healthy realism of how to make difficult decisions when commercial and social logics seemingly conflict with each other. The art of the tradeoff provides useful lessons on how leaders prioritize and achieve the long-term achievement of purpose in crafting their strategy. Gulati showcases how Deep Purpose provides four levers for profitability: it creates a north star, helps create and sustain long term relationships, develops an authentic reputation, and motivates employees and trade partners to expend effort towards achieving high performance. And in so doing, it aligns all stakeholders towards win-win outcomes rather than adopting an "us" vs. "them" mindset.
If you are interested in why and how you can be a force of good in the world, Deep Purpose is a must-read for you.
February 14, 2022
Harvard Professor Ranjay Gulati was skeptical that corporate leaders should focus on addressing social problems in addition to making profits. A number of years ago he started to investigate firms that focused on addressing social issues as part of their purpose. He discovered that some firms can address social problems head-on and make profits, creating long-term value. He became convinced that creating deep purpose is a goal that corporate leaders should embrace. Anyone who wants to learn how to instill more purpose into their firm will find a very helpful how-to guide. I personally found most interesting the sections of the book where he discusses how leaders can navigate the trade-offs between making profits and solving social problems.
February 18, 2022
Everyone should read this book. It speaks to the importance of understanding why we do what we do and the existential purpose of organizations. The book is filled with the fascinating accounts of companies and leaders from such organizations as Lego, the Seattle Seahawks, Microsoft, and Etsy. It is thoroughly researched and exceptionally well-written and will take you on a fascinating journey that may very well change your perspective on work, leadership, capitalism, and possibly the meaning of your own life.
January 3, 2023
Some of you might already know that I’m an advocate of Purposeful leadership and Social & Emotional Learning, so, as you can imagine, I really enjoyed reading this book.
Even though the word “purpose” is still perceived as fluffy and soft by many people in the business world, there’s compelling evidence on how companies can thrive and deliver long-term profits 💵 if they focus on their purpose and show it through adding value to their employees, customers, and the communities they impact. The book provides many examples on how it’s possible to serve two masters at once: profit and social purpose.
It's also an invitation for leaders to help employees align their personal purpose statements to the company’s reason for being and the power in doing so. Having said that, the task is far from easy because embedding purpose requires companies to transform core elements of their business models like structure, leadership, the way they measure things, their hiring approach and many other aspects. It requires them to change their DNA 🧬.
I think this book 📖 is a must-read for leaders. Looking at purpose as a new operating system for companies, as an organizing principle enhancing performance while also delivering meaningful benefits to society is a strong message, and one with true transformative potential.
👉🏻One of the many quotes I liked: “There’s magic when organizations can inspire people to align their own personal passion, self-understanding, and desire for growth with a common, organizational ambition. Deep purpose leaders relish this magic and work to unleash it”.
#Purpose #PurposefulLeadership
Even though the word “purpose” is still perceived as fluffy and soft by many people in the business world, there’s compelling evidence on how companies can thrive and deliver long-term profits 💵 if they focus on their purpose and show it through adding value to their employees, customers, and the communities they impact. The book provides many examples on how it’s possible to serve two masters at once: profit and social purpose.
It's also an invitation for leaders to help employees align their personal purpose statements to the company’s reason for being and the power in doing so. Having said that, the task is far from easy because embedding purpose requires companies to transform core elements of their business models like structure, leadership, the way they measure things, their hiring approach and many other aspects. It requires them to change their DNA 🧬.
I think this book 📖 is a must-read for leaders. Looking at purpose as a new operating system for companies, as an organizing principle enhancing performance while also delivering meaningful benefits to society is a strong message, and one with true transformative potential.
👉🏻One of the many quotes I liked: “There’s magic when organizations can inspire people to align their own personal passion, self-understanding, and desire for growth with a common, organizational ambition. Deep purpose leaders relish this magic and work to unleash it”.
#Purpose #PurposefulLeadership
May 27, 2023
Book of the Day – Deep Purpose
Today’s Book of the Day is DEEP PURPOSE: THE HEART AND SOUL OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPANIES, written by Ranjay Gulati in 2022 and published by Harper Business.
Ranjay Gulati is the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration and the former Unit Head of the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. He is an author and an expert on leadership, strategy, and organizational issues in firms. Some of his prior work has focused on the enablers and both when and how firms should leverage greater connectivity within and across their boundaries to enhance performance.
I have chosen this book because I have read 3 other books by the author, so I was curious about his latest one. Furthermore, I was interested in the idea that purpose is one of the essential elements needed to run a successful business.
The issue with purpose is that too many companies use it like another promotional tool to appeal to more customers through positive, compelling statements, mixed with a “right strategy”, a “clear mission”, a “strong vision,” and, of course, “exceptional values”.
All this just because telling that profit is the only goal seems not to be appealing.
DEEP PURPOSE by Ranjay Gulati is an exceptional book that delves into the purest essence of purpose-driven organizations and their undeniable impact on sustainable business success. As we live in a period where having a truly felt and followed purpose has finally become a critical factor for businesses, Gulati offers invaluable insights and guidance to help leaders understand the complexities of this purposeful transformation.
The author presents a compelling case for why purpose represents a powerful catalyst for growth, innovation, long-term success and profitability in business. He masterfully combines academic research, real-world case studies, and practical examples to illustrate his points, making this book at the same time extremely informative and engaging.
One of the book’s greatest strengths lies in its holistic approach to purpose, which is an essential element for growth. Gulati emphasizes that having a deep purpose extends beyond the pure realm of corporate social responsibility or bold marketing slogans. Once found, the true purpose must permeate every aspect of an organization, shaping its strategy, culture, and stakeholder relationships, so as to have a positive, long-lasting impact on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and also the communities involved.
By providing numerous examples of purpose-driven companies, such as Patagonia and Unilever, Gulati demonstrates how purpose can become the driving force behind transformative change.
Moreover, Gulati addresses the challenges and complexities associated with implementing purpose within organizations. He acknowledges that purposeful transformation requires strong leadership, organizational alignment, and a genuine commitment to making a positive impact on society.
Throughout the book, he offers practical frameworks, tools, and strategies to help leaders navigate these challenges and create purpose-driven cultures that inspire employees, attract customers, and generate sustainable growth.
What sets DEEP PURPOSE apart from other books on the subject is the author’s emphasis on authenticity. He emphasizes the importance of aligning purpose with the core values and identity of the organization. This authenticity will then resonate not just with the managers, stakeholders, and employees, but also with the customers, fostering a sense of trust, loyalty, and engagement.
While the book is primarily focused on the benefits of purpose for businesses, Gulati also sheds light on the societal and environmental challenges that organizations must address. He explores the role of purpose in driving social impact, sustainability, and ethical decision-making, highlighting the positive contribution that purposeful businesses can make to society at large.
Gulati argues that purpose must be deeply embedded in the DNA of the organization to drive meaningful change. This deep purpose can serve as a radically new tool, a sort of living set of values, ideas, and commitments for the enterprise. If this process will be homogeneously spread across the organization, the result will enhance the overall performance and deliver many meaningful benefits to society.
This is exactly the kind of inspired thinking that businesses and today’s world urgently need.
In conclusion, DEEP PURPOSE by Ranjay Gulati is a must-read for leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in understanding the transformative power of purpose in business. The author’s compelling arguments, practical insights, and real-world examples make this book an invaluable resource for those seeking to create purpose-driven organizations that thrive in the 21st century. By embracing purpose and aligning it with their core values, businesses can not only achieve long-term success but also contribute positively to the world we live in.
Today’s Book of the Day is DEEP PURPOSE: THE HEART AND SOUL OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPANIES, written by Ranjay Gulati in 2022 and published by Harper Business.
Ranjay Gulati is the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration and the former Unit Head of the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. He is an author and an expert on leadership, strategy, and organizational issues in firms. Some of his prior work has focused on the enablers and both when and how firms should leverage greater connectivity within and across their boundaries to enhance performance.
I have chosen this book because I have read 3 other books by the author, so I was curious about his latest one. Furthermore, I was interested in the idea that purpose is one of the essential elements needed to run a successful business.
The issue with purpose is that too many companies use it like another promotional tool to appeal to more customers through positive, compelling statements, mixed with a “right strategy”, a “clear mission”, a “strong vision,” and, of course, “exceptional values”.
All this just because telling that profit is the only goal seems not to be appealing.
DEEP PURPOSE by Ranjay Gulati is an exceptional book that delves into the purest essence of purpose-driven organizations and their undeniable impact on sustainable business success. As we live in a period where having a truly felt and followed purpose has finally become a critical factor for businesses, Gulati offers invaluable insights and guidance to help leaders understand the complexities of this purposeful transformation.
The author presents a compelling case for why purpose represents a powerful catalyst for growth, innovation, long-term success and profitability in business. He masterfully combines academic research, real-world case studies, and practical examples to illustrate his points, making this book at the same time extremely informative and engaging.
One of the book’s greatest strengths lies in its holistic approach to purpose, which is an essential element for growth. Gulati emphasizes that having a deep purpose extends beyond the pure realm of corporate social responsibility or bold marketing slogans. Once found, the true purpose must permeate every aspect of an organization, shaping its strategy, culture, and stakeholder relationships, so as to have a positive, long-lasting impact on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and also the communities involved.
By providing numerous examples of purpose-driven companies, such as Patagonia and Unilever, Gulati demonstrates how purpose can become the driving force behind transformative change.
Moreover, Gulati addresses the challenges and complexities associated with implementing purpose within organizations. He acknowledges that purposeful transformation requires strong leadership, organizational alignment, and a genuine commitment to making a positive impact on society.
Throughout the book, he offers practical frameworks, tools, and strategies to help leaders navigate these challenges and create purpose-driven cultures that inspire employees, attract customers, and generate sustainable growth.
What sets DEEP PURPOSE apart from other books on the subject is the author’s emphasis on authenticity. He emphasizes the importance of aligning purpose with the core values and identity of the organization. This authenticity will then resonate not just with the managers, stakeholders, and employees, but also with the customers, fostering a sense of trust, loyalty, and engagement.
While the book is primarily focused on the benefits of purpose for businesses, Gulati also sheds light on the societal and environmental challenges that organizations must address. He explores the role of purpose in driving social impact, sustainability, and ethical decision-making, highlighting the positive contribution that purposeful businesses can make to society at large.
Gulati argues that purpose must be deeply embedded in the DNA of the organization to drive meaningful change. This deep purpose can serve as a radically new tool, a sort of living set of values, ideas, and commitments for the enterprise. If this process will be homogeneously spread across the organization, the result will enhance the overall performance and deliver many meaningful benefits to society.
This is exactly the kind of inspired thinking that businesses and today’s world urgently need.
In conclusion, DEEP PURPOSE by Ranjay Gulati is a must-read for leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in understanding the transformative power of purpose in business. The author’s compelling arguments, practical insights, and real-world examples make this book an invaluable resource for those seeking to create purpose-driven organizations that thrive in the 21st century. By embracing purpose and aligning it with their core values, businesses can not only achieve long-term success but also contribute positively to the world we live in.
November 11, 2023
"Deep Purpose" by Ranjay Gulati explores the concept of corporate purpose and how it can be genuinely harnessed for the success of businesses. The book presents a critical examination of the notion of corporate purpose, acknowledging the skepticism it has garnered due to its misuse as a promotional tool in some companies.
Gulati's approach is grounded in extensive field research and interviews with leaders of purpose-driven organizations like Etsy, Lego, and Microsoft. He goes beyond superficial understandings of purpose, emphasizing the need for a deeper and more comprehensive integration of purpose into a company's identity. This goes beyond mere branding and engages with the core of why an organization exists.
The concept of "deep purpose" advocated by Gulati suggests a transformation in how leaders approach and execute their company's reason for being. By embedding purpose more profoundly into the organization, it can lead to enhanced performance and meaningful benefits for a wide range of stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and communities.
The idea of purpose as a "radically new operating system" for businesses is intriguing. It suggests that a more profound connection to purpose can not only drive business success but also have a positive impact on society. This aligns with the growing recognition that businesses play a critical role in addressing societal challenges.
Overall, "Deep Purpose" seems to offer a thoughtful and practical perspective on how companies can authentically embrace and implement a deeper sense of purpose, making it a valuable read for leaders and individuals interested in the evolving landscape of business with a sense of purpose.
Gulati's approach is grounded in extensive field research and interviews with leaders of purpose-driven organizations like Etsy, Lego, and Microsoft. He goes beyond superficial understandings of purpose, emphasizing the need for a deeper and more comprehensive integration of purpose into a company's identity. This goes beyond mere branding and engages with the core of why an organization exists.
The concept of "deep purpose" advocated by Gulati suggests a transformation in how leaders approach and execute their company's reason for being. By embedding purpose more profoundly into the organization, it can lead to enhanced performance and meaningful benefits for a wide range of stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and communities.
The idea of purpose as a "radically new operating system" for businesses is intriguing. It suggests that a more profound connection to purpose can not only drive business success but also have a positive impact on society. This aligns with the growing recognition that businesses play a critical role in addressing societal challenges.
Overall, "Deep Purpose" seems to offer a thoughtful and practical perspective on how companies can authentically embrace and implement a deeper sense of purpose, making it a valuable read for leaders and individuals interested in the evolving landscape of business with a sense of purpose.
March 9, 2022
Compant purpose is then new mantra for the 21st century, bringing business at the forefront of societal transformation. But is purpose instead just a buzzword, a marketing slogan, a form of public relations? Or is it an unrealizable panacea?
In his masterful book, Deep Purpose, Ranjay Gulati, a renowned Harvard Business School professor provides us a way out of either of these cynical or Panglossian view. In his compelling account, Gulati offers an actionable guidepost for establishing purpose as the “North Star” for strategy and implementation. The direction of purpose builds on the firm’s history, while charting a meaningful and coherent path. Credibility and trust with partners is key, as is building affinity and trust with customers. Motivating through purpose, creates employee engagement and commitment in ways that monetary incentives cannot achieve.
Gulati’s account is a realistic one - recognizing short-term trade offs between stakeholder interests. Ultimately achieving a company’s purpose is about transcending short-term and building long lasting businesses. It’s a rational endeavor but also one that builds on the heart.
Read the book!
In his masterful book, Deep Purpose, Ranjay Gulati, a renowned Harvard Business School professor provides us a way out of either of these cynical or Panglossian view. In his compelling account, Gulati offers an actionable guidepost for establishing purpose as the “North Star” for strategy and implementation. The direction of purpose builds on the firm’s history, while charting a meaningful and coherent path. Credibility and trust with partners is key, as is building affinity and trust with customers. Motivating through purpose, creates employee engagement and commitment in ways that monetary incentives cannot achieve.
Gulati’s account is a realistic one - recognizing short-term trade offs between stakeholder interests. Ultimately achieving a company’s purpose is about transcending short-term and building long lasting businesses. It’s a rational endeavor but also one that builds on the heart.
Read the book!
July 24, 2022
Far longer than it needs to be as is usually the problem with business books, and problematic in who it applauds and who is calls out. I respect the decision to actually call out disingenuous companies like Facebook or Mars that only find a convenient purpose instead of just using vague descriptors (e.g. "large social media company"). But I fail to understand his use of Pepsi as an example. In fact its quite problematic because the entire chapter praising Pepsi sounds like its there to show how good Pepsi was at manipulating their employees into ignoring the fact that they still make very unhealthy food (which he calls out Mars for). He also ignores the fact that carbon offsets don't actually help and generally accepts much of these false ideas of what doing good in the world looks like.
Overall, this is a guide for founders and executives who wish to instill purpose but does not go nearly far enough to actually promote purpose that matters.
Overall, this is a guide for founders and executives who wish to instill purpose but does not go nearly far enough to actually promote purpose that matters.
March 4, 2022
Many books on purpose point to the growing desire of employees, customers and some stakeholders wanting organisations to have a more meaningful set of ideals and goals, but few delve into the challenges of genuinely making it an integral part of everyday life. Deep Purpose shows how few corporations actually have really gone beyond the superficial adoption of purposeful words. He clear-clearsightedly shows the paradoxes at work and how to manage them. It's also obvious that the author has become transformed by his research, questioning and evolving his purpose in the journey. This brings another layer of authenticity to the work.
April 21, 2022
Ranjay Gulati has written an excellent book for everyone who wants to understand the business value of having purpose at the center of your company.
As a company being run by its purpose and seeing the business benefits it brings us in the marketplace, it was really interesting to see the same fundamentals operating across many other companies that I admire.
If you are responsible for the strategy in your company, this is a must-read book to understand the dynamics of committing to fulfilling a higher purpose than "just" profit, and why it is the only sustainable long term strategy for your business.
As a company being run by its purpose and seeing the business benefits it brings us in the marketplace, it was really interesting to see the same fundamentals operating across many other companies that I admire.
If you are responsible for the strategy in your company, this is a must-read book to understand the dynamics of committing to fulfilling a higher purpose than "just" profit, and why it is the only sustainable long term strategy for your business.
June 29, 2022
A systematic approach to firm’s purpose. But if you’re familiar with OB, I don’t think this book has a lot to offer.
It’s way too wordy. No wonder Gulati is from HBS, each chapter is like a business case study, telling a story with full context in more than 20 pages.
Good thing is that there’re summaries and takeaways before and after each chapter. And in the very end of the book, Gulati kindly summarized key actions to take, corresponding to each chapter. Just read those parts and skip the main texts if you don’t wanna take an MBA OB course (with case assignments every week) in a written form.
It’s way too wordy. No wonder Gulati is from HBS, each chapter is like a business case study, telling a story with full context in more than 20 pages.
Good thing is that there’re summaries and takeaways before and after each chapter. And in the very end of the book, Gulati kindly summarized key actions to take, corresponding to each chapter. Just read those parts and skip the main texts if you don’t wanna take an MBA OB course (with case assignments every week) in a written form.
February 6, 2022
The world needs more of these types of books, and this one is such a great guide for leaders considering and/or on the path of deeper purpose. Ranjay Gulati walks you through the antidote of the mistakes he's seen leaders make; giving a useful roadmap on how to both articulate a meaningful purpose that matters, engage stakeholders, and embed into the fabric of every day work.
Also entertaining with lots of stories from the wild that Ranjay Gulati has amassed through is research. I'm always particularly drawn to books that share the evidence behind a concept. This book has that in spades.
Also entertaining with lots of stories from the wild that Ranjay Gulati has amassed through is research. I'm always particularly drawn to books that share the evidence behind a concept. This book has that in spades.
February 7, 2022
I read lots of books and am a big fan of purpose-driven leadership. While some books address why purpose is important, in this book Ranjay Gulati goes much deeper, providing frameworks and thinking tools that enable organizations to navigate the messy process of becoming purpose-driven. Working on purpose is an ongoing process and this book serves as a great THINKING, DOING, and BEING guide for Deep Purpose!
February 15, 2022
The author argues that ethics and profit not only are compatible, but strengthen eachother. He uses some well known business cases like Lego, Pepsico, Apple, Etsy and Boeing to bring his points home. And though it's not really a novel idea, sometimes it's necessary to remind managers of that importance.
February 19, 2022
If you’re planning on reading one book about purpose driven leaders and companies read this book Deep Purpose, by the distinguished professor from the Harvard Business School, Ranjay Gulati. I’ve read a library of literature and few deal with the issue of how Purpose begets profit and performance. Bravo for this addition to this important subject.
June 4, 2022
A good quick read on how companies need to create “purpose” that balances the needs of all their stakeholders including society at large. Some good examples like Pepsi of leaders finding a way to communicate personal, team, and company purpose which drove significant outcomes
November 2, 2023
Just read the epilogue for a summary, and if you want to see specific examples then go to that chapter.
Very good lessons, a bit too much explanation and repetition. Could be condensed. Sometimes I just felt myself getting lost and I think condensing it would help. I really liked the examples.
Very good lessons, a bit too much explanation and repetition. Could be condensed. Sometimes I just felt myself getting lost and I think condensing it would help. I really liked the examples.
December 26, 2023
My uncle gave this to me for Xmas. Quick and easy read - I finished it in 28 hours. Filled with stories which were super interesting.
If you run a business or want to, maybe give it a read. But imho even though it’s not “controversial”, it kinda is.
If you run a business or want to, maybe give it a read. But imho even though it’s not “controversial”, it kinda is.
March 7, 2022
It takes one topic and researches it well. The book's narrow focus is my only critic. Without even a brief discussion of any intersections, it all just feels a bit too black and white.
July 28, 2022
It could have been much shorter than 200 pages, but the message is useful when thinking about how companies should be run.
October 1, 2022
Love the stories and also feel humble of being part of the Microsoft transition under Nadella transition
November 2, 2022
Full review coming soon.
April 28, 2023
Why companies adopt a long term visión?
How to balance social and económic targets with commercial profit?
How to balance social and económic targets with commercial profit?
September 7, 2023
Read this for work. The idea of companies having a purpose is a nice one. The author takes it a step too far when he pushes the boundaries of economic reality.
January 12, 2024
Could’ve just been an essay
August 29, 2024
Inspiring and motivating!! Whether you are a c-level or an individual contributor kind of leader, this is a must read to see the value of a purpose-driven mindset.
February 19, 2022
Purpose driven leaders drive profit and performance
Ranjay Gulati, professor at the Harvard Business School, wrote a very relevant read on what it takes to achieve better performance and profit. Deep Purpose is a very worthwhile read with case studies on Etsy, Livongo, Mahindra Group and other diverse companies. Ranjay offers practical examples that leaders can use to think creatively about how to deliver as much benefit as possible to all their stakeholders.
Ranjay Gulati, professor at the Harvard Business School, wrote a very relevant read on what it takes to achieve better performance and profit. Deep Purpose is a very worthwhile read with case studies on Etsy, Livongo, Mahindra Group and other diverse companies. Ranjay offers practical examples that leaders can use to think creatively about how to deliver as much benefit as possible to all their stakeholders.
May 23, 2024
I didnt find it much useful.
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