“Purpose, meaning and values” – A review

Purpose, visions and values ​​are often talked about when companies want to position themselves “modern”. In fact, mission statements can show why a company does what it does and thereby create an impact. The book “Purpose, Sense and Values” by Karlheinz Illner is there to help with the “why”. A review.

I have always found the question of the purpose of a company fascinating. Especially in the “Normative and Sustainable Management” course I run.

Because at the Academy for Fashion and Design in Berlin, I pursued this question with my students. In doing so, we concentrated on the question of the use of vision and mission.

“Purpose, meaning and values”: What is a company for?

Karlheinz Illner goes in his A book further. He begins with the decisive initial question: What is a company for?

Because this question is not only being asked by more and more founders, but also by established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

They have recognized that there is more to a company than plans and numbers, even if these still dominate in many companies.

Development of a purpose as a goal

The aim of the book is to develop a “purpose”. The focus is on the purpose of family businesses because, according to the author, they have a few strong advantages over corporations, such as focus, long-term thinking with a future orientation, authenticity and independence.

These advantages also help in finding the purpose, because it is not based on short-term trends and fashions, but on a corporate core, which is all the stronger the more focused and long-term a company thinks.

And so that there are no misunderstandings, the author clearly delimits the meanings of the terms “meaning”, “vision” and “purpose”.

This distinction makes it clear that companies need to focus on purpose. The way in which the distinction is made makes sense and manages to clearly define the terms and thus differentiate them from one another.

In five steps to entrepreneurial purpose

Then it’s about finding the company’s purpose. The author explains in 5 steps how to identify this purpose. The view goes from the business reality to the question of where the company stands and what attitude it has, to the correspondence of the personal attitude with the entrepreneurial situation.

In the end, the reader is able to formulate the company’s purpose. A word of warning is in order here: getting here requires a healthy dose of self-reflection and self-criticism. It’s easy to read in the book, but it’s not if you’re serious about going it.

Review “Purpose, meaning and values”: What do you do with purpose?

But once you’ve come to the formulation, the book doesn’t end, which I think is very gratifying. Because books that deal with the “why” or “what for” of a company often end when it is actually most exciting – namely with the question of what you can do with this purpose.

Karlheinz Illner doesn’t do that. In the last three chapters of the book, he explains how changes can be initiated and mastered with a purpose, how leadership and corporate culture can be changed, and how the purpose can be communicated to the outside world as a brand core.

I think these chapters are extremely powerful because they show that a purpose is so much more than just a nice marketing phrase. When used correctly, a purpose can transform and strengthen an entire company. This, in turn, is exactly what many business owners are looking for when economic developments are uncertain, as is currently the case.

Of course, it should be mentioned at this point that a purpose is not the panacea. It cannot erase a weak product line or bad business decisions. But a purpose can describe your own identity and serve as a fixed star – for the owner, but also for the employees and other stakeholders.

A workbook, not afternoon reading

It should also be mentioned that the book has a certain scientific depth. Anyone expecting light afternoon reading will probably be disappointed. The author bases his representations on various approaches such as those of Prof. Clare Graves and Robert Hartmann and uses methods such as the Stacey Matrix or the Graves Value System in the context of the explanation. These are always briefly explained and the applications explained, but the reader must engage with these.

Conclusion: Review “Purpose, Sense and Values”:

However, if you do that and are not put off by the somewhat academic language in some places, this book will provide you with a wonderful tool to further develop your company.

And when I say book, that doesn’t really go far enough, because the content of the book is supplemented with a variety of digital content, be it interviews with entrepreneurial personalities who explain their purpose, additions by experts such as Professor Karsten Kilian from the FHWS in Würzburg and Tilmann Peschke from Nuremberg as well as checklists, overviews and models.

I could write a lot more, but basically it’s already clear: I can recommend this book with a clear conscience. It enriches the discussion about corporate purpose and makes the airy concept of purpose tangible and applicable.

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