Living Your Mission
The Architecture of Purpose
The Wall Street Journal reports today that 114 year old IBM is leading the way in the race to build the first viable quantum computer. IBM is thriving against trillion-dollar competition based on a its relentless willingness to reinvent and return to mission as a living foundation for strategy and accountabilty.
Just as individuals live more fully when grounded in a clear sense of purpose, organizations thrive when their mission is alive — inspiring well-directed activity and measurable impact. A mission defines what an organization does, whom it serves, and the positive difference it seeks to make. The stronger a mission is at inspiring activity towards meaningful outcomes, the better an organization performs.
Mission as Foundation
A compelling mission is the foundation of organizational success. It grounds decisions and provides stability. Strategy builds on that foundation, creating the framework for how the organization allocates resources, competes, and grows. But without accountability—the load-bearing structure—neither mission nor strategy will endure.
Accountability ensures that mission is not merely inspirational language but a standard for action. It ties purpose to performance. When leaders hold themselves and their teams responsible for aligning outcomes with mission, credibility grows. Without accountability, even the best strategies collapse under their own weight, breeding cynicism rather than commitment.
Walmart’s original mission in 1962—“to save people money so they can live better”—was simple and powerful. Over time, the company added specificity: “by providing convenient, omnichannel access to affordable food and essential products and services.” That clarity allowed accountability: leaders could measure whether they were delivering on the promise as the retail landscape evolved.
IBM offers another example. A leader in innovation after more than a century, in the 1990s, IBM pulled itself out of long decline by shifting its mission from machines and hardware to “helping clients solve problems in the digital era.” This reset not only reoriented strategy but created a new basis for accountability: success could now be measured by solutions delivered, not hardware shipped.
The mission of software company, Workday, “to inspire a brighter workday for all by providing innovative and human-centric technology and fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging, ultimately leading to greater employee engagement, operational efficiency, and profitability” evokes their emphasis on values, and culture through best in class software. And the mission is invoked often and helpfully through the five word tagline.
The best missions inspire organizations to rise to their unique opportunity again and again. They direct attention to the highest good achievable with limited resources, and they hold leaders and teams accountable for achieving it.
A Discipline, Not a Slogan
Too often, particularly in non-profits, the focus on mission, without a corresponding accountability to stakeholders, provides a “moral halo” that can ironically, impede mission achievement. In such organizations, “mission” is most often invoked as a slogan, a shield against change. Noble elements of mission like being “student-centered,” “member-led,” or “global first” can be invoked, cynically or simply out of habit, to shut down debate about how to innovate. Mission should not be a shield or slogan, but a living structure: the foundation that anchors, and the basis for the strategy that guides, and the accountability that ensures progress.
Leaders who return to mission as the starting point for hard conversations—and who are disciplined in holding themselves accountable for decisions to prioritize mission rather than short-term self-interest—are rewarded with stronger organizations.
Asking Hard Questions
When organizations engage their mission seriously, the following questions should be front and center:
What are our core activities? Are we truly focused there, or drifting beyond?
Who are our primary stakeholders and beneficiaries? Has that changed? Should it?
What impacts are we actually creating? Do they reflect our highest mission, or are we confusing busyness with real results?
Where do conflicts repeatedly surface, signaling a gap between what we do and what we say we stand for?
How do we hold ourselves accountable for these answers? Who owns them?
The Harder Path is the Better Path
For an organization—as for a person—the examined life is harder. It demands reflection, openness, and outside perspective. But the reward is intentional impact and long-term vitality. Organizations that avoid this work languish. Those that embrace it create meaning, credibility, and momentum.
Mission is the foundation. Strategy is the framework. Accountability is the structure that makes them real. Together, they give individuals a reason to transcend narrow self-interest and align around something greater.
If your organization hasn’t revisited its mission in months—or years—it is time. Expect conflict. Welcome it. Honest, accountable conversation about mission is one of the most valuable experiences you can offer your stakeholders.
Cindy
P.S. As always, I welcome your thoughts!
