What I'm Reading... about Purpose
The topic of "purpose" is one that will never stop being written about -- purpose is universally sought after; it's desired by everyone. It's also a topic that you would expect to emerge most commonly from the pen of a liberal arts practitioner -- a philosopher, a poet, or maybe a motivational speaker turned author -- and not often addressed from the keyboard of a businessperson and former consultant.
Inside the pages of Crafting Your Purpose by John Coleman, I encountered thoughtful analysis and advice on the topic dispensed by a business leader and former consultant -- delivered in an action-prompting way. If you're at a stagnant juncture in your life -- any part of it, whether that be career, personal, etc., then it's probably a good moment to consume this book.
I was hooked pretty quickly. Coleman skillfully weaves stories from the lives of leaders, former colleagues, and even public figures to demonstrate his key points throughout the book. He delivers solid content from the start, such as his paradigm-busting approach to illustrate the right kind of balance to strive for is one where you are working to balance purpose and enjoyment -- where you are flourishing. (He contrasts the concept of flourishing with conditions of misery, drudgery, and superficiality, where one or both elements of purpose and enjoyment are missing.)
Mining for Purpose
Coleman takes the reader through several chapters where he helps us do some internal retrospection and do some "mining" for meaning in our life as it exists across many sources in our lives (though it may not always be easy to see, he concedes), and in the early chapters in particular he provides practical questions and exercises to work through to help us through this assessment. In fact, what would be the point of writing--or reading--a book entitled Crafting Your Purpose without getting hands-on and practical? I found myself grabbing a pen and a few index cards and writing out thoughts to the various prompts he provides throughout.
You are taken through a variety of prompts to help with the task of "mining" for purpose in your life. He encourages you to conduct a "life survey" (what are you uniquely good at, when do you experience "flow", what moves you emotionally, etc.), identify individuals close to you who can offer unique support and perspective (the concept of a "personal board of directors", addressed over the years in a variety of articles such as this one), and finally takes you through an exercise to "drill for meaning" in your current work. This all made for some great notecard-filling as I took notes and reflected on what I read.
For those who might be overly focused on their occupation as the only potential source for meaning, Coleman outlines a framework (identified by the easy-to-remember acronym "LABORS") to help us recall the many sources of meaning in our life. Don't forget about avocations/hobbies, religion/philosophy, love, or service!
He doesn't actually succinctly articulate the premise of the book until the 90th page of the book, found in his section. But by the time you arrive there, you'll be on board! He describes the "core premise" of the book as follows:
- Purpose is "something you build", not something you find;
- Purpose is "multifaceted and changes over time"; and
- A "feeling of stagnation can be a gift--a signal that some 'purpose crafting' is needed."
Premise #1 - Purpose is Something you Build
For those who may be tempted to think they will "find" their purpose at some point, or worry why they haven't found their purpose yet, Coleman's thoughts on the matter should be encouraging, and this belief appears to be his motivation for taking readers through the journey of mining our lives for purpose, as described earlier. He would assert you build purpose, you don't find it through some luck or coincidence.
As I reflected on Coleman's analysis of this, I thought back on the assertion of Cal Newport (among others) that generally people don't successfully search on and on until they finally find a job they like; instead, they put in time and effort into a job, and as they do their skill increases. As their skill increases, their performance grows, their impact grows... and their satisfaction increases!
Premise #2 - Purpose is Dynamic
The idea that purpose is dynamic, "multifaceted and changes over time" should also be encouraging to readers. If you've previously experienced a greater sense of meaning than you do at present, Coleman would say there's nothing unusual about that, and this evolution should in fact be expected. He shares some excellent stories of shifts in peoples lives and careers to illustrate this. He next leads the reader next through some work to help identify what purposes in their life are permanent, and some questions to help identify reasons why the reader may be feeling a sense of stagnation.
When this concept is combined with the idea above (that purpose is built), I think you could summarize the situation by saying that if you feel less purpose than you did at some point in the past, don't be surprised, this is common; also, you didn't "lose" your purpose, you don't need to search around and hope you "find" it again.
Instead, Coleman says the way forward is, after doing some mining for purpose in your life, proceed with some purpose crafting.
Premise #3 - The Feeling of Stagnation is a Gift--Do Some Purpose Crafting!
The result of buying into the myths of (a) believing your purpose must be found by you and (b) believing that your purpose shouldn't change is likely a feeling of stagnation.
Coleman says this feeling is a gift... and after some final reflective questions on helping to identify further reasons for stagnation, then swiftly ushers the reader, fresh off their work in mining for purpose, into the last section of the book to start building, or crafting, purpose!
Coleman doesn't spend much additional time on all of the mechanics behind the feeling of stagnation, and I think many people will want to go deeper at a philosophical level on this point. Is the feeling of stagnation really just that easy to identify and move beyond? Though I think his approach is really powerful, I do think many people will find value in digging into the topic at a deeper level. What are the internal origins of stagnation, below the top layers?
As an example of the deeper thinking that could be done here -- and, this is beyond Coleman's goal of his book, of course -- I came across an excellent 2019 HBR article on the topic of mid-career crises. One idea shared in the article is that regret will always occur with any decision we made. The budding artist who instead goes to law school might be burned out a decade later, and thinks they would have been happier with their art. But a top student who rejects the idea of medical school to start touring with their band might later regret the better income, stability, and direction that a medical career may have brought. Every decision is a decision against other paths. And so some natural regret, confusion, or stagnation is bound to occur for almost everyone at some point.
Ultimately, while articles or even books on the topic may be encouraging to the reader, I think Coleman's framework I mentioned will also help to provide some of the answers for many of us, by following some rabbit trails of introspection and additional reading along the lines of the LABORS framework topics.
Building Your Purpose
Over 70 pages cover this all-important last step in this process, following all of the assessment work done so far. This last section on crafting purpose is where all of the thinking work done across the preceding chapters can start to inform the work of moving to a better place.
He identifies three core elements of job crafting: crafting your tasks, your relationships, and your perceptions.
In the final chapters he takes readers through steps to "Make Your Work a Craft", to "Connect Your Work to Service", and to "Invest in Positive Relationships".
One of the most helpful things about this book is an emphasis on the HOW over the WHAT. This really shows up in this section, where the frameworks provide a process of how to work through this thought-work, whether now or in the future as you revisit these concepts; it should help this book stand the test of time and bring value for years to come.
At last, Coleman bridges the gap between crafting personal purpose and crafting organizational purpose, with a couple of chapters that will be helpful to any business leader interested in building and fostering purpose in their business or organization.
Final Thoughts
Having read this book once front-to-back, and a second, heavy skim, my only complaint was that the outline and progression of the book was a bit hard to follow at times, particularly in the second section focused on "Redefining How We Think About Purpose". Though, as I mentioned above, in my view it's one of the best sections from a a content perspective, the concepts around mining for meaning, identifying sources of meaning, and embracing shifts in purpose seemed to blur together a bit.
Finally, a word about the format of the book itself. Many of the "HBR Guide to..." books I've flipped through over the years seem to be an amalgamation of information, thoughts, and at times bland tables of frameworks pulled from a myriad of Harvard sources. Crafting Your Purpose was different. It was clear that Coleman sat down and wrote a book intentionally, and the experience of the content is much more cohesive than a compilation of information on a topic. The book could easily have been written as a standalone item, but in working within the HBR's "Guide to" format, it does make you think that Coleman may have gotten to a bit of a different audience in this way. He's obviously aware that top universities have offered so-called "happiness classes" for years now, and undoubtedly has seen the desire in people for purpose in their life to be pervasive, whether professionally and personally. So, while this could have been written on a standalone basis without the niche-y HBR Guide header, I have a high degree of respect for his publishing this content in this format.
In closing, I highly recommend adding this book to your list! I believe it will leave a lasting impression on many.
As always, I'd love to hear in the comments below of any other impactful reading you've done... this time, particularly on the topic of purpose!
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Phil Murray serves as CFO for a fitness business based in Austin, TX but with a presence across several states with tens of thousands of members, and an advisor to other Austin startups.