A new study by Deloitte shows that organizations with a strong sense of purpose outperform those organizations without a strong sense of purpose.

I am reminded of the work that Jim Collins and Jerry Porras did when they researched something like 1,400 companies in their book, Built to Last. They found that organizations with a strong sense of purpose and strategy aligned throughout their organizations outperformed their industry average by 15 times, or 1,500 percent. This latest study adds some new metrics which are equally as impressive.

Almost double the number of people in organizations with strong purpose are more confident their organizations will grow. Almost double the number of people are optimistic that their organizations will stay ahead of industry disruptions and outperform their competition.

The people fully engaged (73 percent) in the organization are triple those (23 percent) in organizations without a strong purpose. Several other factors are double or more in areas like encouraging innovation, embracing diversity of opinions, and provided with the tools to realize their full potential.

These are extremely impressive metrics that make the point that a focus on purpose produces profits, while a focus on profits (exclusively) may actually produce the opposite effect in the long-run.

The latest thinking about purpose comes from Simon Sinek, author of Start With Why where he says, "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe."

Check out this brief video interview with Simon Sinek and CPA2Biz CEO Erik Asgeirsson about finding your "why" or purpose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AljDRbh7CBA

That is why we are seeing more and more CPA firms and companies hiring us to engage their people in creating a strategy that includes their purpose and values. Our i2a: Insights to Action strategic thinking process includes work on finding your organization's purpose along with a strategy based on hindsight, foresight and insight. That purpose is often then used to engage and enroll the entire firm or company in the purpose and strategy. This is often described as ALIGNMENT and is yet another multiplier of profitability.

Purpose and strategy done right connect your people to the organization and put more shoulders turning the organziation's flywheel.

See the Deloitte 2014 Core Beliefs and Culture Survey & Core Beliefs and Culture Survey infographic

Check out our work with Sage helping CPAs find their purpose and strategy in the Vision To Strategy Workshops (schedule here).

For more information about BLI's Strategic Planning services click here.