could have been different

 Just because things could have been different, doesn't mean they'd be better. - Anonymous 

find a what, a who, and a why

We identified three big buckets of motivators: career, community, and cause.

Career is about work: having a job that provides autonomy, allows you to use your strengths, and promotes your learning and development. It’s at the heart of intrinsic motivation.

Community is about people: feeling respected, cared about, and recognized by others. It drives our sense of connection and belongingness.

Cause is about purpose: feeling that you make a meaningful impact, identifying with the organization’s mission, and believing that it does some good in the world. It’s a source of pride.

These three buckets make up what’s called the psychological contract — the unwritten expectations and obligations between employees and employers. When that contract is fulfilled, people bring their whole selves to work. But when it’s breached, people become less satisfied and committed. They contribute less. They perform worse.

In the past, organizations built entire cultures around just one aspect of the psychological contract. You could recruit, motivate, and retain people by promising a great career or a close-knit community or a meaningful cause. But we’ve found that many people want more. In our most recent survey, more than a quarter of Facebook employees rated all three buckets as important. They wanted a career and a community and a cause. And 90% of our people had a tie in importance between at least two of the three buckets... We’re all hoping to find a what, a who, and a why.

Lori Goler, Janelle Gale, Brynn Harrington, and Adam Grant

"The 3 Things Employees Really Want: Career, Community, Cause"  Harvard Business Review. February 20, 2018

establish a clear starting point

A vision is a statement about what the leadership agrees a company could reasonably stretch to be in a generation--a 30-year aspiration... if the statement doesn't contain "to be," it's not a vision statement. For example: "We wish to be the largest bicycle manufacturer in the United States as measured by sales within 30 years..."

"A mission is what you wish the company to be over the next three-to-five years." Again, it should contain "to be." Your mission sets a shorter-term agenda for steps that will allow you to someday achieve your vision...

"Objectives (interchangeable with 'goals') are what you want to have."

Not "be." "Have."

The key is to sift through all the possible metrics and KPIs to determine the goals that most define success. Dunkin's mission was to be "the dominant doughnut and coffee provider in each and every market" in which it competed. Its early objectives?

• To have earnings per share grow at 15-to-20 percent per year.
• To have store-level economics achieve at least a 15-percent return on investment on average.
• To have debt never total more than three times EBITDA...

Strategic initiatives are, "the four-to-six most important tasks an organization must execute in order to bridge ever-scarce resources to achieve stated objectives..."

Tactics are, "the four-to-six action steps needed to support the achievement of each department's strategic initiatives..."

Jeff Haden, quoting Robert Rosenberg - CEO of Dunkin' Donuts'

"Think Company Vision Statements Are a Waste of Time? How Dunkin' Donuts' CEO Created a Plan to Recover From Disaster," by Jeff Haden. Inc. Nov. 17, 2020

create a “stop doing” list

There are only so many hours in a day. As your to-do list grows, you cannot keep accumulating more tasks. Solitude gives you the space to reflect on where your time is best spent, which provides you with the clarity to decide which meetings you should stop attending, which committees you should step down from, and which invitations you should politely decline. This is something that Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, has been advising people to do for many years.

Mike Erwin

In a Distracted World, Solitude Is a Competitive Advantage. Harvard Business Review. October 19, 2017. 

See also, How Do You "Stop Doing?" by Jim Collins. jimcollins.com 2017.

and Saying 'Yes' To 'No': The Power Of A Stop Doing List by Robert Glazer. Forbes. Sept. 12, 2018

all politics is personal

I believe all politics is personal, because at bottom, politics depends on trust, and unless you can establish a personal relationship, it's awfully hard to build trust.... I have always followed my father's advice: Never tell a man what his interests are. Be straight and open with him about your own interests. And try to put yourself in his shoes. Try to understand his hopes and his limitations, and never insist that he do something you know he cannot. It's really just about making the effort to make a personal connection.

Joe Biden

Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose. By Joe Biden. Flatiron Books. 2017. Preface. 129