Establish a Compelling Vision: Logotherapy and the Five Whys

"To provide access to the world's information in one click" — Google

"To be earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online" — Amazon

"To deliver secure, business led digitally enabled transformation" — Penpole Consulting

One of the greatest vision statements ever crafted, and two pretenders. But why bother? Why do great companies invest time and energy in vision statements? Isn't this just hyperbolic fluff pasted onto glossy marketing materials—a front for organisations' real mission of maximising short-term shareholder returns?

The 20th-century psychotherapist Viktor E. Frankl can bring us some insight with his theory of Logotherapy. Frankl’s thesis expands on the work of his philosophical antecedent Friedrich Nietzsche who succinctly outlines their collective outlook: Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’[1].
 

Logotherapy teaches that a meaningful life is the foundation of psychological wellbeing—not happiness or success. Frankl's theory carries extraordinary credibility through his lived experiences. As an Austrian Jew who lived from 1905 to 1997, Frankl was persecuted by the Nazis in the 1940s and survived both Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps.
 

In his awe-inspiring work Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl reveals his death-defying mindset. Even in Auschwitz, he would concentrate on his life and meaning beyond the camp. He dreamed of teaching in a lecture theatre, publishing his reconstructed manuscript on Logotherapy (which had been taken from him upon admission to Auschwitz), and being reunited with his pregnant wife. Frankl also managed to find meaning through the deliberate endurance of his unrelenting hardship with dignity. He cautions us against suffering for its own sake. Suffering with a benevolent attitude should only provide meaning if it’s unavoidable.

Maintain some liquidity within your vision

Logotherapy acknowledges that human meaning is fluid, changing as our circumstances evolve across both short and longer timeframes. Today my purpose might be to support my family; tomorrow, to help a client. For the next decade, my meaning centres on providing for and being present with my family—then I'll discover new meaning.
 

Do you ever find yourself more irritable or susceptible to low mood during weekends? The lack of structure, the inward focus, and the absence of specific achievement requirements may be the underlying cause of what Frankl calls "Sunday Neurosis."
 

As with much of Western culture and thinking, Frankl's work traces back to the Romans. Logotherapy emphasises the freedom to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances. This freedom in choosing our thoughts—what Stoic philosophers called the reasoning faculty—underpins much of the Stoic school philosophy developed 1,900 years before Frankl's lifetime.

The man who does something under orders is not unhappy; he is unhappy who does something against his will. Let us therefore so set our minds in order that we may desire whatever is demanded of us by circumstances [2]

 

Profitable application
 

The idea of being engrossed in meaningful work is one I agree with. It follows then, that organisations that unify behind a meaningful vision or mission statement will have a more cohesive and highly motivated workforce and, we could infer, greater profits or productivity.

The most practical approach I’ve found to establishing vision statement came out of Stanford University in the early 1990s. “The Five Whys”[3] method, as described by its inventors Jim Collins and Bill Lazier. Their method asserts that every organisation has a purpose – whether stated or not. But it’s only when this purpose is clarified that it can it act as a test for all decisions by asking: is this action consistent with our purpose?

Establish your vision statement will help you say “no” a lot more, leverage the 80/20 principle (as discussed in my earlier column entry), and free up time for the important stuff. Organisations with a defined vision are less likely to get distracted with unprofitable blunders, such as “strategic” acquisitions that lack synergy or by attractive opportunities from customers outside of their target market, specialism or both.

Here's how The Five Whys method worked for me in a recent venture:
 

Q: What exactly is our purpose? A: We provide and manage contractors for the NHS

Q: Why? A: To help them with their Digital Transformation

Q: Why do they do that? A: [Googles the NHS Vision statement] So they can provide safer and more efficient patient care

Q: Why is that important? A: We help our clients deliver safer, more efficient patient care through quality, long-lasting relationships

Creating a vision statement and consistently using it as a test for all decision making is a critical step. It will motivate you and your colleagues and help you reject 90% of the opportunities that come your way so you or your organisation can be a world class performer in the remaining 10% that you can do, better than everyone else.

Having a clear "why" isn't just philosophical luxury—it's competitive advantage. As Frankl discovered in humanity's darkest hour, meaning provides the strength to endure any challenge and the clarity to choose the right path forward.

Alex is a Director of Penpole Consulting, a Digital Transformation and Cyber Security service provider. Penpole helps clients increase productivity and reduce organisational risk with their expert CISOs, programme and project managers, change specialists, data migration experts, and technical specialists in testing, training, integration, and configuration.

Want to connect? Reach out to Alex directly at alex.franklin@penpole.co.uk.