Episode 102
Doing business on purpose
What does it mean to build a purpose driven business? For many it means doing something that has social or environmental impact. It's about serving society, the planet or a local community. But to Laurence and Carlos it also means creating a business intentionally – building a business whose size, scale, impact and benefit takes into account your needs and not just your customers'.
If you don't like managing people, don't build a business that requires employees. If you like to take 6 month holidays don't build a business that means you have to be there all year round. If you hate working in an office don't build a business that means you have to commute to a building everyday.
Building a business on purpose means being clear about what you actually want, need... and hate. Don't make the mistake of just following someone else's business plan – take time to consider what your life plan is and design a business plan that supports it.
On this episode, Laurence and Carlos reveal the Purpose Playbook. It's one of the key deliverables on our Vision 20/20 program. They share how it works and why they believe it's so important when designing your Excite Strategy and how it helps you build a business that aligns with who you really are.
Links
Transcript
so today, uh, on this, uh, Friday fireside on the 4th of March, 2092, we are gonna be talking about doing business on purpose and what that means for us and how we're trying to help others, uh, define that and articulate that in a way that actually feels authentic and energizing, rather than just a poster on a wall or a document in a straw.
Laurence:I'm trying to think where I first heard the word purpose meant, or in relation to business.
Laurence:And I can't actually put my finger on work.
Laurence:, where I first came across it.
Laurence:All I remember is Ole Kassow, who was on this fireside couple of years ago, last year maybe, he created a conference called Purpose Makers probably about seven, eight years ago, and that was in Denmark.
Laurence:And I remember we were thinking about the Happy, Startup School, and we were thinking about what was frustrating us about a lot of the entrepreneurs that we came across.
Laurence:And there was a lack, definitely a lack of what we felt was purpose, and so I was on the lookout for anyone who was doing this kind of work.
Laurence:And that conference, that uh, organization he created jumped out me, cuz I remember thinking, oh, Purpose Makers, what's that purpose and business?
Laurence:And it was people who were focused on making a positive impact.
Laurence:You know, that money was, um, not the driver for their ventures.
Laurence:And so it was very much a social impact, whether social means environmental or social just means doing good.
Laurence:And we've had Kees Klomp on the Fireside and as part of Summercamp, and he would talk about purpose as being, making the world better and serving life.
Laurence:And so that's, I guess what most people would probably think of as, as purpose.
Carlos:Yeah.
Carlos:I think similarly to you, I think the, the whole purpose thing, it it was that whole thing of like, oh, what does your business do?
Carlos:Or why does your business exist other than make money?
Carlos:And so what was that definition of the outcomes of your work?
Carlos:What change are you trying to make in the world?
Carlos:And so it, it is always quite big and always like, ah, I really gotta have a really cool purpose . I really need to have, you know, something that's also in a sense, it's like if you don't have a really cool purpose, then you're not a really purposeful business.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:And so there's, there felt like a massive hurdle to, to, to get over.
Carlos:It's like, how do we define the right purpose for a business so that, you know, and also nearly also like a weapon, uh, a marketing weapon, you know.
Carlos:Get the right purpose statement on your business, on your website so that people can like really, I don't know, you track the right audience or whatever it is.
Laurence:It also feels like there's something around comparing yourself, is my purpose big enough?
Laurence:Like you said, is it, you know, has someone else got a better purpose?
Laurence:Have I got the right purpose?
Laurence:Um, and I'm always conscious of that and have been at, particularly at Summercamp, there can be a feeling from people who, you know, feel like they are looking for something, looking for the, the purpose in life or in business that when they meet someone who's found it, they can be like, Oh, I'm comparing myself now.
Laurence:Not on money, but on purpose, which isn't healthy either.
Laurence:You know, they're doing more than me, they're making more impact than me.
Laurence:They're saving more lives than me, so I'm not worthy.
Laurence:And that, that's, that's not a healthy place to be.
Laurence:So, yeah, whilst it can be helpful, it can also be toxic as well, I think.
Carlos:Uh, I'm curious as some of the comments here, we've got, uh, Daniela saying, purpose is where I put energy and efforts to contribute to my Happiness and wellbeing, uh, and wellbeing of those around me.
Carlos:So there's a nice other ish approach there.
Carlos:Uh, and then Joe saying, purpose is doing what we were born to put on this planet to do.
Carlos:Uh, what you get out of bed two hours early in the morning to do without being paid.
Carlos:That's our purpose.
Carlos:Ooh, that's a big question.
Carlos:Um, do you know what you were born to do?
Laurence:Uh, I wouldn't say I know what I was born to do, but I've definitely found something that I've been able to feel like this is, this feels right, you know, I feel like I'm doing the right work.
Laurence:Um, so I wouldn't say I was born to do this, but I feel like all of my life experiences and learnings have led me to this point.
Laurence:And, you know, ever since, well, it's been a evolution of the work we do, but I just feel.
Laurence:And I'm less tied to the idea of it is just a Happy Startup School now.
Laurence:I feel more, much more in, at peace with the idea that I'm an individual outside of the work we do.
Laurence:Which again, I think there's another thing to talk about is the idea of being too attached to an identity around a company or a brand.
Laurence:A role even as well.
Carlos:Are you trying to tell me something, Laurence?
Laurence:Yes.
Laurence:I, I planned a new thing, a stealth startup called the Unhappy Startup School.
Carlos:That's it.
Carlos:I'm not tied of Happy Startup School, I don't care.
Carlos:I'm off sort of my own life path now.
Laurence:But no, I suppose the reason I say that is because I think in the past I've had a, probably an uh, a feeling of like tying my sort of worth and purpose to solely the business if you think of it that way, cuz I think that's, that's not healthy and you know, linked to the idea of you would work a lot of hours to do this work without getting paid.
Laurence:Um, that can also lead to a point where you're working lots of hours without getting paid and, and feeling a bit, uh, burnt out.
Laurence:So I don't think that's a good place to be either.
Carlos:That's interesting what you said about like all the experiences, and I think Jo just said, it's, they're coming together all experiences and learnings, from the essentially, uh, an emergent path to, to finding purpose.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:As opposed to, you know, born, this is what I'm going to do, I'm gonna do this from now until infinity.
Carlos:And, and that, that's quite, it's interesting, you know, that whole, where there are people who like know from a very early age, this is, this is what I'm here to do.
Carlos:Um, I'm wondering how many of, of those people are on the call today, who actually know exactly why the, from the, from when they came out of their mother's womb, exactly what they were supposed to be doing for the rest of their lives.
Carlos:Cause I'd love to know exactly what that was.
Laurence:And one thing I'd be curious about that is what things people did when they were younger has actually led them to what they do today or given them an inkling to what they do today.
Laurence:You know, for example, people we know who do like conflict resolution and mediation, like Beccie and Max, I know they've said in the past that they, you know, with the mediator as a child and in relationships in their home and, and I'm sure there's things that we do now that we look back and think, okay, we learned that craft at a much younger age before we even started doing this work.
Carlos:Can you, can you remember anything that you did other than play pool?
Laurence:Well, I actually can because I used to, so my parents used to run pubs as I've mentioned before.
Laurence:And I used to work in the pub at a very young age, and my dad was quite fiery as you know.
Laurence:He would fly off the handle quite regularly, because he just get stressed out by people coming in and ordering orange juices when they, when he wanted them to spend lots of money.
Laurence:And so he was a bit of a Basil Fawlty, people used to call him a Basil and, and I just hated that cuz I was like the.
Laurence:I wouldn't say I was the mediator, but I just hated conflict and I, and I was always trying to be the sort of middle man between him and the customer.
Laurence:And so in some ways it was funny because, you know, I knew deep down he wasn't a bad person.
Laurence:He just kind of, you know, would lose his rag when he was busy and working lots of hours and not getting paid very much, and then someone would trigger him.
Laurence:And it probably could trigger his values.
Laurence:Cuz I look back now, I think at the time I thought he was being unreasonable, but now I look back and think actually he saw them as being tight.
Laurence:And so he thought that was, I'm sure that was a value that was, um, not right for him.
Laurence:But yeah, age 15, 16, I would be trying to, uh, find some sort of middle ground between his view of the world and their view of the world.
Laurence:Um, and it didn't always work.
Laurence:Sometimes he'd just grab 'em and throw 'em at the pub.
Carlos:that's, it's, it's interesting that whole um, early experiences and how they can start informing or you know, whether it's quietly or very loudly, inform the choices that we do later in life, and how that contributes to this Sounds like this emergent process of experiences and learnings that, I dunno whether we consciously, you know, it sounds like this is something you were reflecting on recently rather than, oh I knew this from an early age that this is the path that I was gonna go down.
Carlos:It was like more of like, oh shit, I remember that.
Laurence:Yeah, well actually I, so I had this conversation probably about 10 years ago with, um, someone, an old friend from university and she was saying, so I used to have a student house and there was like five of us all blokes and you know, lots of Neil and James friends of mine.
Laurence:Um, and she just said like, none of them would would be friends if it wasn't for you.
Laurence:Which I found really weird.
Laurence:But she said, you are the glue that glues everyone together.
Laurence:And so I'm still friends with all of them now, but they're not all friends with each other, which is, I find really strange cuz we all live together from universities together for a long time.
Laurence:And I'm sure if they all met up there'd still be, you know, lots of shared, uh, experiences.
Laurence:But she made the point that yeah, I was the one connecting everyone.
Laurence:And so, you know, I found that's actually a superpower of founders.
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:If I meet some people, then I'm sure you do this as well.
Laurence:You don't, you probably take it for granted, but you'll try and find a middle ground or a point of connection with people and then maybe lead them to each other or just you can build a strong bond with them quite quickly.
Laurence:So yeah, I just found that a bit bizarre at the time, but now I, I kind of can make more sense of it than I did, uh, 10 years ago.
Carlos:I think there's this interesting thing of like allowing ourselves to gravitate towards these things that we really do naturally, that we don't, you know, kind of unconsciously enjoy doing in a sense, as opposed to then just following a path because that's how, I don't know, friends, family, society say that's a successful way of doing things.
Carlos:And this is how, this is your purpose in life.
Carlos:You know, make money, get a mortgage, have a family, do the slog until retirement, and then chill out and play golf.
Carlos:One, one, one of the, uh, several paths in life.
Carlos:Um, as opposed to, I think what we've taken, and which can be scary for most people is this idea of like, I actually dunno where I'm going to, uh, but I'm gonna just try these things along the way.
Carlos:Um, and for a while, at least from my, from my perspective, it was very much a kind of like, um, uh, shooting in the dark nearly, or just trying things without really having a clear intention or, or direction.
Carlos:It's just like, okay, whatever came up as an opportunity, I'd take it and see where it led.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:And, and that as a process, it was a process of unconsciously trying to find some clarity.
Laurence:I wrote something the other week about this, the idea of elimination, not epiphanies.
Laurence:Um, which I've found that too is, you know, I've not found purpose through, you know, sitting in a field for years on end, although there's value in that at times.
Laurence:It's really come from chipping away at things and, and moving away from things and moving towards things.
Laurence:And that, that process of elimination actually is, has brought more clarity rather than a huge aha moments.
Laurence:Um, which I think there can be an expectation that, you know, it's like the eureka moment, ah, that's my purpose and it just comes to you in the bath.
Laurence:And maybe that happens for some people, but I think for most people there's just a process of, yeah, chipping away at what's not working and then moving towards the things that are, or that energize us.
Carlos:it is interesting.
Carlos:I think there's a period in time over, well, there's over a period, the way I look at it, you, particularly from a young age, you just need to try stuff and just see what's going on and, and, and see what fits and see what doesn't fit.
Carlos:And there's a process of understanding what works for you.
Carlos:But I think if you do that without ever stopping and thinking, okay, what have I learned?
Carlos:And what is it?
Carlos:How can I make sense or understand what all of these bits are, or how I've reacted or how I responded, or when I felt good or where I didn't feel good?
Carlos:Without doing that, you'll still just be shooting it up all the time.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:And so there's, there's a part, there's a point it feels like where it's useful to just take stock and try and put into words what you think you want.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:Or where you think you want to get to.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:Um, And that's hard I think for a lot of people because they don't necessarily, I don't know.
Carlos:Have you, before we started the Happy Startup School, did you spend much time kind of like pondering, okay, what is it I want and where is it I want to get to?
Laurence:I'd go on an annual retreat to India on my own.
Laurence:Wish I would, but no.
Laurence:Um, no, I, I don't think we get enough time to, it's not, you know, we, we take our car for an MOT.
Laurence:We don't necessarily spend a year, you know, every year we take our mind and body for an MOT.
Laurence:Probably should do.
Laurence:But yeah, I think it's a practice that I think we've built more recently.
Laurence:But even that, it's always hard, isn't it?
Laurence:When you've got the day-to-day you wanna do the work and whatever you need to do, support your family.
Laurence:The big picture thinking always comes last, isn't it?
Laurence:Because, um, it's hard to put that as priority when it's a difficult, and b takes time.
Carlos:I think the other thing that's really interesting I find is like if you do do the big picture thinking, and you realize something big has to change, that could be quite scary.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:And so it's like, I'd rather not know just in case everything in my life we have to move country or whatever it is, because this really isn't working because then that you face up to maybe some very, yeah.
Carlos:Very real truths about the path you've been on and the decisions you've made up until now.
Laurence:And I know there's people we've met over the years who've actually found it safer just to retreat back into that world.
Laurence:You know, they've, they've maybe come to an event of ours and opened a little doorway, but it's a scary doorway because maybe the role business work they're in as well as the relationships they're built don't align with a new vision that they might wanna create for themselves.
Laurence:And so in some ways, it's easier to just close the door rather than walk into it because there's so much at stake.
Laurence:And yeah, that's scary.
Laurence:And it's particularly scary when you're trying to do it on your own and everyone around you is not thinking that way.
Carlos:And I think particularly if you get to a certain age, like myself and you, where you spend a long period of time, maybe just doing the right thing or doing things in a certain way, uh, and people have got used to you being a certain type of person
Laurence:Mm-hmm
Carlos:it takes a lot of, uh, courage, I think, commitment and clarity to say, Nope, okay, I'm gonna make this change.
Carlos:I'm gonna do this thing.
Carlos:Whether that's start a new business, change, career, um, move country, whatever it may be, because you need to back that up, feels like.
Carlos:You need to be able to, uh, defend that decision against any kind of questions that people may have, particularly those close to you, cuz they, they might feel that as a, an, um, threatening is the wrong word, but the fact that they don't want to change and you wanna change,
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:That could be create a bit of, uh, fear in them and then they're like, oh no, why are you doing this?
Carlos:This is crazy.
Carlos:What are you trying to do here?
Carlos:Where you should stick to the script?
Laurence:Fear or judgment or jealousy.
Laurence:Sometimes I think, you know, we've probably got to know lots of people who've maybe done something different, start a new business, left a career, but they weren't happy in.
Laurence:And yeah, people around them, maybe ex-colleagues kind of go, why would you wanna do that?
Laurence:Or, lucky you, it's all right for you going and doing that.
Laurence:We're stuck here.
Laurence:And so it brings up all sorts of feelings and emotions.
Laurence:Like you said, it's very triggering for people when, not that they're being challenged, but by someone else stepping outside of that safety net, they're challenging other people's worlds.
Laurence:And, um, yeah, doing something more adventurous, which again, can be fun, but also, um, comes with, comes with a bit of trepidation too.
Carlos:And I think the, the challenge then becomes when those dissenting voices, those people around you, particularly people you care about, start saying things that take you off course.
Carlos:So you know, you've committed, like, I wanna start this business.
Carlos:I want to go in this direction.
Carlos:And it feels right.
Carlos:And at the moment it's just mainly a feeling.
Carlos:And then people around you say, oh, you're crazy what you're doing.
Carlos:Have you thought about this?
Carlos:And then how that can make you waiver and start doubting yourself and thinking about all the crazy, you know, the, basically fearing the uncertainty even more and thinking about all the bad things that might happen as opposed to stay staying to the call, being true to what you thought it, well, true to that first feeling.
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:But because it's only a feeling, it hasn't been necessarily thingified, as we say in our community.
Carlos:It can be harder to, to explain to others or defend, you know?
Carlos:And particularly like I'm thinking beginning of the Happy Startup School, you start, it was a feeling for you.
Carlos:I don't think it was as easy for you to articulate, this is my purpose now.
Carlos:I'm gonna make this business and this is why we should go in this direction.
Carlos:And how that could be a challenge maybe for, for others around you trying to work out why we're going in this direction.
Laurence:You need a story to tell, don't you?
Laurence:You need a story to tell people around you.
Laurence:And I think, you know, we will struggle with that when you are still trying to find clarity yourself, you wanna give people reassurance or certainty or yeah, clarity on what that story is, but you're still trying to work it out.
Laurence:And so, you know, we've seen people really struggle with that piece is, yes, I wanna do this thing, whether it's start something new, close a business, maybe in, in lots of cases or, or pivot an offering or move career.
Laurence:But yeah, in absence of full clarity, when someone says, why would you wanna do that, sometimes you won't know.
Laurence:And I think that's the thing that in some ways people can go on this path around is actually what's my story?
Laurence:Um, and I think that's the thing you can own more than necessarily what's my purpose?
Laurence:Because you can't argue with someone's story and how they feel.
Laurence:And, and I think that's the thing that unravels over time.
Laurence:And so I think our story at the time was someone that became clearer, which was, we've done this for 10 years, this isn't serving us anymore.
Laurence:But this is, and, and the reason that is, is because of the people that we've met and the conversations we've had and the confidence that's given us and where the world is heading, we feel, which is the future, is, uh, and then again, Ole, nicking a line from Ole's conference, the future belongs to individuals and companies with a sense of purpose.
Laurence:And that was one thing that kind of pushed me forward was this is where things are heading.
Laurence:This is where I want to head.
Laurence:Who's in?
Laurence:And that was the story.
Laurence:And, and what it is.
Laurence:Whether that fits into our purpose, that becomes clear over time what the business looks like.
Laurence:God knows, but that's a direction of travel and that's what, um, I like to help people with is a direction of travel rather than exactly what the path looks like or what the stepping stones are along the way.
Carlos:I think particularly if you're doing something new, uh, and something different, um, it's hard to necessarily lay out the plan.
Carlos:There's an element of trust that's required there.
Carlos:But having that, I think, I don't know, is it partly stubbornness?
Carlos:Uh, you know, you can call it vision and you can call it internal clarity, or it could be like, Nope, I'm gonna do this cuz I want to do this and I don't wanna do that.
Laurence:it's, you could call it stubborn as, you could call it courage, you could call it commitment.
Laurence:Are there any creative or entrepreneur, whatever you call us, you need a bit of faith.
Laurence:I think, that this is right.
Laurence:And you can't put your finger on why.
Laurence:Um, so yeah, I, wherever that word is, there's a commitment to it, isn't there?
Laurence:And a lot of people are scared and don't make that commitment or step on that path.
Laurence:And so it needs to be rewarded.
Laurence:And I think, I guess that's where like, uh, Sandy says other people, uh, help you with those commitments because they can remind you of why you've taken them or what, what's important to you.
Carlos:I think that's the key thing for me around this is like being reminded of what's important to you.
Carlos:And that's why you're committed to something.
Carlos:And we, I find this, I think in, in the work that we do in working with people, like the barrier to committing and the ease at which people can get distracted with this thing or that thing or this thing or that thing because it's shiny new things that they could play with as opposed to being committed to something.
Carlos:And how you define that commitment that feels, oh yeah, this is really exciting, I wanna do this.
Carlos:As opposed to, Ooh, it's a nice idea.
Carlos:I might try it out for a few, whatever.
Carlos:And then suddenly something else comes up.
Carlos:Just wanted to acknowledge, actually Claire here sounds like she's got a lovely bunch of people around her.
Carlos:Uh, she says she's had nothing but support and positivity for her career change ideas.
Carlos:It's her.
Laurence:Her internal dialogue.
Laurence:Yeah, internal voices.
Laurence:Critical voices.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:Yeah.
Carlos:And this is why, and Claire's joined us on the Vision 2020, uh, the Tribe five Vision 2020.
Carlos:And this is why.
Carlos:What we're gonna be talking about this Purpose Playbook we feel like is super important is to not only just counteract the dissenting voices outside of your head, , it's also dissenting voices inside your head so that you can have something, some consistent message or narrative that you can actually hold onto.
Carlos:And Interesting.
Laurence:Turn down the volume on those voices.
Carlos:Oh yeah, exactly.
Carlos:Drown out a little bit.
Carlos:Just turn up the base on here and just turn down the volume on those things.
Carlos:But saying that, I just wanted to address the Steph's question here.
Carlos:Steph asks for us, or for you, she says, is purpose immutable and forever?
Carlos:Or do you see purpose changing at different points in life?
Carlos:So is there a single purpose to your existence, Laurence or does it evolve over time?
Laurence:Um, no.
Laurence:I see it evolving over time.
Laurence:Um, because I think my definition of it has evolved over time as well.
Laurence:So we talked about, you know, we started out, well, I certainly started out with this idea that purpose was out there.
Laurence:It was, you know, changing the world.
Laurence:It was impacting others.
Laurence:It was doing good, which I still think can be true.
Laurence:But I think over time it's become much more intrinsic in terms of what can I do that will serve me and those around me, and therefore, hopefully help others too.
Laurence:Because we can't control the outside world, the world, you know, we can't fix the world.
Laurence:We can only sort of, in some ways impact those around us.
Laurence:So, yeah, in short, I think it, it evolves over time.
Laurence:I think there's still probably a common thread there in terms of how we show up, how we are with people, you know, what we bring to a situation.
Laurence:But in terms of our focus and our, our work or business purpose, I think that that can evolve as we gain more experiences and learnings, really.
Carlos:I find it a really interesting question because it feels like if you're talking about, uh, our personal purpose as a, as a human being, you know, Carlos, what is the purpose of Carlos?
Carlos:Uh, it's like to live and breathe and not hurt people.
Carlos:I don't know.
Carlos:It's like I, you know, the, it, it's, I can imagine what's the purpose of this organization, or what's the purpose of you doing this thing?
Carlos:You know, uh, at the moment, the purpose of us running the Vision 2020 program is to help people feel a bit more excited and clear about the work they wanna do and take steps to making that happen.
Carlos:That feels, you know, that's the purpose of the work.
Carlos:Is that my purpose?
Carlos:Does it have to be like, oh, this is the purpose, uh, my purpose to exist?
Carlos:I'm, I'm, I'm less, I'm not sure.
Carlos:It's an interesting question because I, I'm now, I, I, I prefer to think about what do I get out of this?
Laurence:Hmm.
Carlos:And what I get out of doing this work is a real strong sense of connection.
Carlos:I learn a lot.
Carlos:I learn about people.
Carlos:Um, I feel like I'm contributing to people's lives.
Carlos:I get a feeling straight away of that impact.
Carlos:Like, yes, this, this has helped in some way.
Carlos:I have a sense of freedom because we're not tied to a location.
Carlos:We are quite location independent.
Carlos:We can work from just about anywhere.
Carlos:Uh, and, and also we're the, the, as our other freedom aspect of it is that we're, don't need a lot of people to make this work work.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:And so, it meets my needs right now in terms of the way I wanna live my life.
Carlos:Uh, do I tie that to, is that the purpose of my life?
Carlos:I don't know.
Carlos:I don't think I could articulate that that way.
Carlos:So I, I can, I think I can, when I think about purpose these days, I really think about what is the outcome you're trying to create with the thing, the organization, the activity you're trying to do?
Carlos:It's very clear we're doing this.
Carlos:It's a very clear thing and Charlie talks about clear ideas.
Carlos:When it comes to personal purpose.
Carlos:I'm a bit more challenged with that.
Carlos:And that's maybe part of why we talk about purpose in the way we do.
Carlos:Yeah.
Carlos:Because in a sense, what I do could be so many different things and I could try and play around with so many different things, bec as long as they met some core criteria about how they feed me, as well as feed others.
Laurence:I think for me it does depend on our definition and, and like you said, linked to almost what, what we need, what we need from what we're trying to do.
Laurence:And, and by that I mean, you know, I feel like, for example, if I'm fulfilling my need for creativity, I feel like I can be purposeful in the work I do because I can create things that will hopefully help people.
Laurence:So rather than it being a, a selfish thing partly is I love making stuff, but also like making stuff that, that makes a positive impact.
Laurence:And so, you know, that's only something I've realized in the last few years.
Laurence:Just because we closed the agency doesn't mean I can't steep, I can't keep making things, I just make things under a, a sort of a umbrella of the work we do in Happy Startup School.
Laurence:When we started out, I was focused on, probably the ego was like, yeah, let's take over the world.
Laurence:Let's have Happy Startup Schools in every city.
Laurence:You know, we tried to help people run chapters around the world and it kind of worked in some places and not others.
Laurence:And then over time it was like, actually I'm just helping managing people or trying to, you know, help other people for, get that feeling of impact.
Laurence:And actually over time I've learned that actually I like the intimacy of working people one-to-one or in small groups, um, and at the events we do.
Laurence:Um, and something like summer camp's amazing, but it's really hard to get that visibility on, you know, each person making progress.
Laurence:So that's why I like the small groups because yeah, you get visibility.
Laurence:And so that's something I've learned over time is yes, it's great to make a big impact across the world, but at the same time, if you lose that, if I lose that intimacy and that feeling of impact directly, then I don't feel like I'm making an impact and per and feel less purposeful and, which is, yeah, a bit of a dichotomy.
Laurence:But that's, that's kind of where I'm at with it.
Carlos:I think there's that real understanding of, um, how it feels to make impact and whether scalable, you know, impact is something that floats your boat or whether more local and intimate impact is something that really, um, energizes us, or keeps us in the game really.
Carlos:And, and the game thing, I dunno, I thought the idea of infinite games.
Carlos:And so when I think about organizations or people who want to like do global impact and make a massive impact, this, it's usually on the take for me, Diane say it takes the form of, alright, I find this little process or this model, or this way of doing things, and then I'm gonna replicate it everywhere and then I'm gonna be the one who's replicated.
Carlos:It's my idea and is gonna come under one manner and we're gonna consistently execute in the same way for everyone.
Carlos:And I find that dangerous to a certain level because then you're assuming that everyone wants exactly the same thing.
Carlos:. And I think for me in this day and age, particularly in this very complex world where we are a globalized planet, people are moving well.
Carlos:We used to be able to move around, but still people are moving in their ideas.
Carlos:Particularly with the internet, there's so much more scope for just collaborating.
Carlos:And rather than me being the person who just helps everyone across the world is like, how do I connect with other people like me who are doing similar work in different places?
Carlos:But know much more about their local area or the people that they wanna serve.
Carlos:And so we all do it together.
Carlos:And, and this whole idea of the infinite game versus the finite game, um, look it up.
Carlos:The books called The Infinite Games.
Carlos:This idea, like the finite game is like I'm in to win it.
Carlos:Whether that's for money or purpose, like I'm in to make impact across the world.
Carlos:I'm the person who's really clever and has all the ideas.
Carlos:As opposed to the infinite game is like, how do we all keep on making impact?
Carlos:How do we all encourage each other?
Carlos:How do we all learn from each other?
Carlos:How do we not have to dominate and be the only player in town, but we can be one of a number of great people who are doing things and we are all trying to share stuff and we know how much is enough for each of us?
Laurence:Hmm.
Carlos:Because I think this is part of, linked to this idea of what we're gonna cover this in the, what we call the Purpose Playbook, is understanding what is enough as well as how can I make impact.
Carlos:So how do we do this?
Carlos:Laurence?
Laurence:This is where we get the blackboard out.
Carlos:This is where we go.
Carlos:Well this is where we're going to kind of share one of the things that we use a lot or one one of the modules on our Vision 2020 program.
Carlos:in a sense.
Carlos:It's, it's something that's been a thread that's gone through everything we've done since we started the Happy Startup School, and it's, it's only, I think through a process of iteration, refining, and just understanding it better that we got to this place where it's one way to put into words and maybe pictures, but in a way that put it to signify, as we call it, to put it into some kind of format, what it means to do good work for you.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:And that kind of like, that, that foundational aspect of, of, uh, to help you choose what's a yes and what's a no, what kind of job do I create?
Carlos:What kind of business I create, because it, it feeds me in this, in this scenario.
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:So where it came from really was.
Laurence:Like you said, we ran some courses years ago, online courses.
Laurence:Um, Happy Startup Homeschool was our first one.
Laurence:Ran a few cohorts of that.
Laurence:And like you said, we tried out different exercises, different methods, different ways of talking about this stuff.
Laurence:And we, we knew purpose was important.
Laurence:I think when we first started, say people had an idea for a new business, we would help them get that down on paper using our happy Startup canvas.
Laurence:And there was a section on purpose and vision.
Laurence:And so that would be what's the purpose of the idea?
Laurence:Um, which I think is still valuable cuz like you said, we can talk about a project or a brand or a, you know, business and we know what we're all talking about here, why we're all here.
Laurence:I think the bit that misses out though is like you said, what, what's in this for me?
Laurence:So as a founder who's probably trying to straddle two worlds, which often for people is they've.
Laurence:Some work coming in, whether it's their own business or a job and they're trying to start this thing.
Laurence:And so there's this kind of feeling of like, I need to find time, maybe even some money, resource, whatever to, to put this, push this thing out there.
Laurence:So in absence of knowing what's in it for them, it's gonna be hard for them to even find that time or tell that story of why they're doing it.
Laurence:So almost taking a step back where, like you said, you can start to think about, okay, what is it I need, uh, from this business I'm creating?
Laurence:And we talked about this the other week on the fireside about needs.
Laurence:So rather than thinking, I wanna start a business because I wanna make impact and do this thing, you say, I want to satisfy my need for autonomy or creativity or adventure.
Laurence:Whatever those needs are, understanding that where you are now, maybe some of those needs aren't being met and potentially starting a new business or starting this thing might allow you to fulfill those needs in a more sort of, uh, useful way.
Laurence:And so that I've found as a useful framer.
Laurence:And that's why one of the se uh, sessions and exercises we do on the Playbook is around what are your core needs?
Laurence:And that is really looking back at maybe the last couple of years of your work, looking at things that have worked, things that haven't, what's energized you, what's drained, you, you know, what are the activities that fit into those two camps?
Laurence:And then looking at that and understanding what does that mean for me in terms of where I go next?
Laurence:You know, what am I trying to move away from?
Laurence:What, what environments or activities are maybe not healthy for me?
Laurence:And, and on the flip side, which ones really get me excited?
Laurence:Which ones really get my mojo going and get my creative juices flowing?
Laurence:And, and that for me is often the sing signal of needs, either being met or not being met.
Laurence:And that also leading us to, you know, our purpose in some ways of this is what I should be doing with my time, because that's where I'm best making my impact, or like you said earlier, this is what I'm here to do because I'm getting signals in my body even of what's working and what's not.
Carlos:And I think that's an interesting bit as well.
Carlos:That whole signals in my body aspect of it, which I think for a lot of people in business, when you're thinking about starting a business is very cerebral.
Carlos:It's very about, um, kind of logically and coldly calculating how is this business gonna grow?
Carlos:What is it?
Carlos:How is it gonna make profit?
Carlos:How do I put a strategy together that's gonna get us on this really, um, upward tra trajectory?
Carlos:Without thinking about how does it actually feel to do this personally?
Carlos:You know?
Carlos:And, and we've seen a number.
Carlos:organizations and agencies who are bigger than us or whose founders were like, they looked like they were trapped in a successful business.
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:On the outside, everything looked great.
Carlos:It was making money.
Carlos:Lovely team, beautiful offices.
Carlos:And then you talk to them and they just feel stressed and they feel trapped and they feel, um, like a weight on their shoulders.
Carlos:The whole, oh my God, tens of thousands of pounds of salary that I have to find every month, and that was never something that I'd envisioned for myself.
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:So I think what we're trying to tap into with this idea of the Playbook is like, capturing some of that vision that you do have for yourself and not forgetting that and not falling into or stumbling into, uh, our job, a business, a Startup, the is totally in the opposite direction.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:And that links to that whole, you know, another element of what we talk, talk about on the program is like, I'd love it if.
Laurence:Well, again, I think with this stuff we're trying to get people to, to dream in some ways, you know, to, to look ahead and think, what is it I want for myself, for my life?
Laurence:And so with that exercise, I'd love it if we've got four quadrants.
Laurence:So there's money, time, relationships, and impact.
Laurence:And trying to get people to look at, you know, a vision through that, those lenses rather than just, I wanna make loads of money, actually thinking about money's important, but it's just one factor to consider.
Laurence:And we had some conversations this morning on our LHL call, Like-Hearted Leaders call around often, you know, the sort of mainstream focus is you get more money, you take the offer, whatever the thing is, is just, you know, more salaries good, more money in business is good, bigger contracts is good.
Laurence:Not taking into account what does that mean for my time?
Laurence:What does that mean for my energy, my relationships?
Laurence:Is there get any, a feeling of impact?
Laurence:So yeah, if we just base it on the spreadsheet, more money's great.
Laurence:But if you take into account more human elements often it's not always great.
Laurence:So looking at this kind of visioning through that lens, you know, what's the, what are the relationships I wanna build?
Laurence:You know, do I wanna have community around me?
Laurence:Do I wanna collaborate with people?
Laurence:Do I want to have a co-founder?
Laurence:Whatever these things are.
Laurence:Do I wanna be part of communities?
Laurence:Do I wanna create communities with time?
Laurence:You know, what is, what are the bits that I wanna ring fence?
Laurence:Do I wanna focus more on my wellbeing or my time in nature, whatever it might be.
Laurence:Understanding those things.
Laurence:And again, with impact, like what's the feeling?
Laurence:Impact that I want.
Laurence:And like you said, for everyone that's different.
Laurence:Some people, they wanna build the scalable app that helps millions of people.
Laurence:And, and for us we enjoy more of the intimate spaces.
Laurence:And so again, there's no right or wrong way of doing this stuff, but it's creating definition of success that works for you.
Laurence:So that quadrant time, money, impact relationships under this I'd love it if question is, um, yeah, we found a useful framer for just trying to break down your ideas so it's not just a sexy vision board, you know, but actually something that's a bit more, yeah, it's got a bit more sort of structure to it.
Carlos:So in the kind of the classical Startup world, they talk about this kind of three phases of a startup, you start off with a problem solution fit.
Carlos:So find a problem that is worth solving or needs solution.
Carlos:Then you can talk about product market fit.
Carlos:Like will people pay you to have this solve, um, problem solved and will they pay you enough?
Carlos:And then there's scale?
Carlos:You know, like can you build a business that will grow because of that, um, uh, product market fit?
Carlos:What they forget is product founder fit.
Carlos:Like is the thing that I'm creating Ashley suited to the person that I am and the things that I want?
Carlos:And this is where I, this Purpose Playbook and particularly this element about, I'd love it if talks to the consciousness or the clarity in which you can make to help you make a decision as to, all right, how do I want to make this business work?
Carlos:And how, what kind of impact do I wanna make in the world?
Carlos:Because for instance, if, if impact and big impact, global impact, for instance, or impact on a lot of people is really important to you, and time on your own is important to you, and relationships with other people need to be intimate and I would say small in a sense, you know, not too many people, then maybe writing a book is the best way for you to make global impact.
Carlos:Maybe doing online courses, maybe productizing an idea that can be shared with other people.
Carlos:And it starts, oh, that's how the fit works.
Carlos:Or maybe you, you love spending your time with traveling and meeting people and relationships.
Carlos:You wanna have loads and loads of friends.
Carlos:And impact for you is like really on an intimate level where you are actually in it.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:Then maybe you are, you're traveling around and you're doing retreats and you are coaching, or you are speaking.
Carlos:You know, that's what you wanna do.
Carlos:So it starts to make sense of Ah, that's what I'd love it if, and that's the business I could run that fits in with that.
Laurence:And that's what we call it a playbook, because it's a way to start playing, to start playing with those ideas and, and seeing it as a, a way to experiment not to hold those things too tightly.
Laurence:But I think the other thing is it's a, it is a great, uh, reflection tool for other people.
Laurence:So whether it's a coach or your peers to be able to then say Ah, you've put that there.
Laurence:Um, and a great example of this is chat to someone a couple of weeks ago, and I meet so many people who start businesses who, you know, freedom and autonomy is a big factor in their decision of why they wanna start a business.
Laurence:But often the the go-to thing is they wanna raise funds from investors.
Laurence:And so they're looking to get investment for their business so they can get it off the ground, which makes sense, you know.
Laurence:No one really thinks about what that means for their freedom and autonomy when they're starting a business if they then have investors to report to.
Laurence:Uh, and the founder was with a couple of weeks ago, he said he was at the point where he spent half his time reporting back to investors every week, um, and that's 50% of his time he's not spending on his business.
Laurence:And also it's impacting on his own feeling of freedom and autonomy cuz he's having to, he's basically got a boss, you know, which is the person he's given this big chunk of money.
Laurence:So that's for me, why it's important to start to have people reflect on what you've put here so that you can go Well you've said that, but are you actually acting in a way that, um, relates to that?
Laurence:Because it all aligns with that.
Laurence:And, and, you know, we don't often think about those things.
Laurence:Oh, money's great, but how's that gonna impact on my need for freedom and autonomy?
Carlos:So we kind of like, we talked about needs, and that for me is like quite present.
Carlos:It's something that's happening now.
Carlos:It's something that I wanna address right now.
Carlos:And we talked about, I'd love it if, and that's like the future and where we'd like to get to and the kind of the, the constraints around what success looks like in a sense.
Carlos:And it isn't just about money, it's also about time, relationships, and impact.
Carlos:What's the other things that we talk about?
Laurence:well, big one, my zone of genius, this one and the mantra is the other.
Laurence:So, um, the zone of genius, because think about it as like the, there's the place where you play best.
Laurence:Like what is it that you can do?
Laurence:What's effortless to you?
Laurence:You know, where, where are you most in flow?
Laurence:What feels easy?
Laurence:But also exciting and also pushes you too.
Laurence:Um, and so you can think about your strengths, your superpowers, the things that you might uniquely do, or maybe they're not unique, but they, they make you feel alive.
Laurence:And, and understanding that zone of genius where you play best, I think it's important because, again, linked to the idea of what excites you and what drains you, if you're spending more of your time doing things that drain you, then what does that mean for the things that are important to you and important to the business?
Laurence:Versus if you are more in your zone of genius, then you can start to maybe delegate some of the things that you don't wanna do, or just not do them if they're not important.
Laurence:And so just understanding that and, you know, for example, you can look at your week and through that lens of what gives me energy, what drains me, energy, look at your calendar, you know, how many activities in your day are things that you know, you feel like you're using your strengths and superpowers, um, in versus those that are just straining you.
Laurence:And there's always gonna be things that we don't wanna do, whether it's the accounts or sending that email or having that awkward conversation.
Laurence:But I think our goal is for people to spend more of their time doing the things they love doing, so that they can then be of best use for others, but also get more out of it themselves.
Carlos:The word flow, springs to mind, and there's two elements to that for me.
Carlos:Um, there's the sense of flow where you, you know, you are working at your peak performance nearly, you are nearly on the edge just about, you know, really pushing yourself.
Carlos:And so when you're working that way, you are making the best thing you can make or you're doing it in the best way you can.
Carlos:Um, and that means whoever you're serving or whatever the business is, they're gonna benefit and it is gonna benefit in the best way.
Carlos:because you really, your, your energy is there.
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:The other aspect of flow for me, which is quite interesting, is really being present and enjoying the work.
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:Rather than worrying about where, you know, the future and how it's gonna scale or how big is it gonna be, or whether it's gonna be a success or what's gonna happen if, you know, things tank in the economy, whatever it is.
Carlos:Or regretting, oh my God, I should have made that decision in the past.
Carlos:And we're not, we haven't reached that level yet.
Carlos:And you know, you are always in, well when you're a flow, you're in the present.
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:And how that is a feeling from my perspective, is a happy feeling because you are enjoying the thing you're doing at the moment.
Carlos:And, and so when we forget to have flow in our work and we forget to work within our zone of genius, then we'll probably get bored.
Carlos:We'll start doom scrolling through social media.
Carlos:We won't do our best work.
Carlos:Uh, and we'll probably resent where we are at the moment.
Laurence:Yeah.
Carlos:And so that isn't a great place to be and I don't think it's gonna be an opportunity to really make impact.
Carlos:So that, you know, that, that the book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, I think, I dunno, um, very much.
Carlos:It's an experience, uh, something experienced by athletes, um, this idea of flow of just being lost in the zone.
Carlos:But I I, we believe you can also experience it when you're running a business
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:Because it's, and that's kind of one of the core things, particularly at the beginning of the Happy, Startup School.
Carlos:We, we were asking for people to, how can you find more flow in your work and not necessarily do stuff you're good at, but do stuff you lose yourself in.
Laurence:Exactly.
Laurence:And again, link to that, you know, I think Sandy said something earlier about downscaling the vision.
Laurence:Um, I think it's also knowing, I think you talked about it too, the idea of, you know, you might wanna grow your team, for example, but then if you look at your calendar, like we did with the agency and you know, we spent a lot of time having meetings and meeting with clients and having proposal meetings with potential clients and doing lots of things that maybe weren't our zone of genius, but you had to do for that business to work.
Laurence:And then we looked ahead and thought, okay, do we wanna bring in more people and have bigger contracts and bigger proposals and a bigger office?
Laurence:And it started to feel like, oh, that's not really feeling like fun.
Laurence:It looks great.
Laurence:Sounds great to have that kind of business.
Laurence:Might be good on the turnover, but then at what costs?
Laurence:And so, like you said, now we're at a point where yes, we've got a smaller team.
Laurence:Yes, you could argue maybe we've got, um, less numbers in terms of impact, but it's more sustainable because, you know, we have more, more of our days spending, doing the things we love doing versus, and trying to minimize the admin.
Laurence:So not always having so many meetings using tools like Loom to be able to like asynchronously communicate with one another.
Laurence:You know, finding ways to yeah, fill our days more with the things we are good at and can add most value to versus the things that are, yeah, just there for the sake of it.
Carlos:And some people may say, you know what kind, that's not a real business.
Carlos:And we could argue, well, we make more money than we spend.
Carlos:We've been around for like 20 years doing this kind of work.
Carlos:Uh, and there's people who love what we do, so, That.
Carlos:If that's not a business, then fine.
Carlos:We just keep on doing this and see, see where it takes us.
Laurence:Oh, they're plastic.
Laurence:Oh, that's, oh.
Laurence:One of those lifestyle businesses.
Laurence:Oh, I know.
Carlos:Yeah, yeah.
Laurence:Or, or, or with us, like our friends games.
Laurence:So what is it you actually do, like, what do people actually buy?
Carlos:that, and I think that's the, well, maybe it's the fault of programs like The Apprentice and traditional ways of thinking about business and, and not realizing there's such a wide variety of ways to serve people these days.
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:And because there's so much opportunity, being able to have some level of clarity and constraints so that you don't get overwhelmed by choice.
Carlos:Like actually now it's, rather than the case of like finding a, a job, just particularly because it's, it's got a certain salary and a kudos is like, how, how do, how do I wanna live?
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:And how do I find a work or business that suits that way of living?
Carlos:As opposed to how do I fit into an organization and what is the suit that I need to wear?
Carlos:What's the suitcase I need to buy, and what are the shoes that need to be on my feet?
Carlos:And, and that feels to me the flip.
Carlos:But then if we're gonna do it that way, if we're gonna work from the inside out where we say, this is what we're about, this is, uh, these are our needs, this is where we want to get to in the future, how, how we then use that to make sure that we don't make choices that take us away from what we really want and how we always check in to those ideas?
Carlos:Which leads me onto the last thing that we do, which is that whole thing about the mantra.
Laurence:Mm-hmm.
Carlos:And why we think that's.
Carlos:So, yeah,
Laurence:this came about, through a friend Jack who spoke at Summercamp few ago.
Laurence:He talked about this book called, Does it Make the Boat Go Faster?
Laurence:I think that's what we're called.
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:Does it Make the Boat Go Faster?
Laurence:Um, I think we've talked about this before.
Laurence:Yeah.
Laurence:The Olympic rowing team from the Sydney Olympics, um, had this mantra that allowed them to make better decisions in terms of their focus for the Olympics.
Laurence:And they weren't, uh, favorites for the gold, but they ended up winning gold.
Laurence:And one of the things that helped them was this, this mantra to ask themselves when they're at a point of, should we do this thing?
Laurence:Should we go to the pub and get pissed?
Laurence:Will it make the boat go faster?
Laurence:Probably not.
Laurence:Should we go and do another session, um, on the row machine, probably.
Laurence:And so this kind of daily mantra that allowed to drive them to the, towards their goals.
Laurence:And so we found it useful both in terms of, you know, business wise, but I think much more individually to then have a mantra that allows you to, like you said, just stay true to what it is you've put on your, on your vision, on your playbook.
Laurence:And, you know, mistake a lot of people make is they focus on the big picture, but then really struggle with the day-to-day trying to integrate that vision into their day-to-day life and trying to build those habits that allow them to move towards that.
Laurence:And so, for example, with me, I've on my playbook is effortless impact is my mantra.
Laurence:And that's something I've had for a few years.
Laurence:And it's just, it just helps me to say yes and no to things more confidently, um, on a day-to-day basis.
Laurence:And so the word effortless, you know, is, is it almost a mantra for me on its own in terms of how could this be easier?
Laurence:You know, how could the business run easier?
Laurence:How could I manage my day easier?
Laurence:How can I help people more easily?
Laurence:So it's almost a mantra to simplify things, to make it easier to deliver and also easier to receive.
Laurence:And then the impact piece again is like, how do I balance.
Laurence:Helping other people was also helping myself and not burning out in the process of trying to help others.
Laurence:So just that mantra, for me, effortless impact, allows me to just be more clear about how that vision translates to a day to day.
Laurence:And we've seen that with other people too.
Carlos:And that's ultimately, what we want people to be able to do in terms of instinctively make choices, make useful choices around whether it's the direction that we wanna go with their business or the choices they have to make within that business to make it work so that they stay within that zone of genius, that they're working towards the, the vision of the future they want, and it's always addressing their needs.
Carlos:And the more I think you can do that, the longer that you'll stay in the game and you'll be doing the things that you need to do, and you'll iterate towards the, your purpose might change or the purpose of the business might change, or the things that you do might change, but ultimately you are still gonna be feeling energized.
Carlos:And that's what we hope is that everyone always feels energized by the work that they're doing.
Laurence:And just one thing to add on that, like I've seen some people find it really useful to use the mantra as a way to move them towards something that they've, they would typically not do.
Laurence:So a good example of that is Ben who's in, he was in Mark's group on the, on the program.
Laurence:Ben Davies, his mantra was underthink it, uh, because he's always an overthinker.
Laurence:And so he deliberately put that to allow him to try and move away from his natural habit, which was to overthink things and just trying to move towards a future that was more, um, useful for him.
Laurence:So I just think it's interesting how people use it as a way to sort of trick their minds almost to, to move them towards their direction of travel.
Carlos:And it goes back to this idea of trying not to get distracted by the disen dissenting voices outside or inside your head so that you, you are always moving towards where you need to be and, uh, and with clarity.
Laurence:And, and maybe get a t-shirt with, uh, your trons.
Laurence:You don't pick.
