Friday mornings create a little space.
The week begins to slow. The inbox is a little quieter, the meetings are beginning to taper off, and for a few moments there is room to think beyond the work immediately in front of us. It is often in those quieter moments that familiar ideas deserve another look.
One of those ideas is surprisingly simple.
How do you describe what your company does?
The answer usually comes almost automatically. A repair shop fixes cars. A software company develops software. A manufacturer produces parts. The descriptions are accurate, and in everyday conversation they are perfectly adequate.
But sometimes accuracy is not the same as clarity.
Look a little deeper, and the description begins to change. The repair shop is not simply fixing cars. It is helping people remain mobile. The software company is not simply developing an application. It is helping customers accomplish something more effectively than they could before. The manufacturer is not simply producing parts. It is helping another company build a better product, serve its customers, or keep its operations running.
What the company does is simply the current way it fulfills that purpose.
That distinction may seem small, but it quietly changes the way a company thinks.
When we define our company by what it does, our attention naturally turns toward becoming better at the current method. But when we define our company by the purpose it serves, something different happens. We become more open to new ways of fulfilling that purpose.
Consider Blockbuster. It could have described itself as a company that rented DVDs. It could also have described itself as a company that provided convenient access to entertainment. Those two descriptions quietly point toward very different futures. One leads toward becoming better at DVD rental through more locations, more inventory, or a wider selection. The other leaves room to discover entirely new ways of fulfilling the same purpose.
The words used to describe a company quietly shape the questions its leaders ask, the opportunities they notice, and the strategies they pursue.
As the week comes to a close, it may be worth considering how you describe your company.
Does the description explain what the company does today? Or does it express the purpose the company exists to fulfill?
The difference may seem small, but it can shape nearly every decision that follows.
Enjoy the coffee. See you next Friday.