understanding the why.

I attended a meeting in Chicago this week of some of the sharpest minds in our organization. How I made the invitee list, I have no clue. The meeting was meant to explore the concept of true scholarship and academic research for the leaders in our organization. The premise was that we have become very good at the "how" of our business, but there I the potential that we were not nourishing one's need to know "why". The "how" includes the tactics needed to conduct our day to day business. It includes fiscal management, staff development, facility management, financial development, and general administrative duties. In many cases, we have become quite adept at the how. The "why" includes the core values of the organization, the rationale in doing the work we do, and the community needs that we can intentionally meet through our efforts. People's inspiration is drawn from the why. In the meeting, the comment was made that "people that know how will always work for people that know why". A very true statement, I suspect, in most organizations. Those that understand the why can create vision for those that can accomplish the how. However, how much more impactful might an organization be if everyone understood the why? The process of helping everyone understand the why might be messy and time consuming. In some cases, the why might not be tangible or quantifiable. Explaining the why in such a way that people understand, embrace, and champion the why will take time and effort. What strategies might be used to educate a staff of thousands in a meaningful and effective way? Might it be possible as we onboard new staff to help them, at the point of entry, understand the why? Motivation can be created by performance reviews, metrics for success, salary increases, and fear of failure. Inspiration, however, is created by believing that the work that you do makes a significant impact. It is the thing that gets you out of bed every morning excited about the day. So, how much more meaningful would the work be for all if they understood the why? How much more impactful would the organization be? So...where do we start?