Another thoughtful piece on brand purpose by Nick Asbury, following his
first last year. Rather than simply looking externally – focusing,
say, on the shallow nature of brand purpose, or the question of whether
consumers care about it – Nick instead drills into the ways that purpose
can distort the internal culture of a business:
“Once you’re convinced of the rightness of your cause, it’s easier
– consciously or subconsciously – to justify any means towards that
end. And right now a lot of companies – whether cynically, genuinely,
or somewhere in between – are convincing themselves of the rightness
of their cause.”
In the case of Theranos, focusing on grand missions and purpose actually
obscured the fraud:
“Imagine you’re a journalist or investor quizzing Elizabeth Holmes
back when she was in her prime. What would be the harder questions for
her to answer? How questions would be tough – how exactly does
this device work? When questions would be equally tricky – you’ve
been promising this for a while, but when exactly are you doing to
deliver? Questions of what, where and who might also demand
specifics – what is your current balance sheet, where is your
laboratory, who has signed up so far?
“But ask Elizabeth Holmes why and she will be in her element. She
will talk for hours about changing the world, transforming lives,
helping our troops on the battlefield, helping our doctors at home…
Through a combination of grand vision and personal founding myth, she
can hold any audience spellbound.”
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