Inspire a Collective Purpose

There are no reasons for groups to shoulder the difficult work of adaptive challenges if you do not have a compelling purpose to serve. Your collective purpose provides the inspiration and direction for your action. However, as you have probably experienced, your purpose can become eclipsed by everyday tasks and crises. To this end, try to connect your everyday life with the collective purpose by building in physical reminders (for example, an inspiring quote or poem) and using ordinary rituals (for example, lunches or meetings) to keep the collective purpose alive for yourself and others.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• What is the group’s collective purpose?
• What about this purpose is attainable? Is there anything unattainable?
• How are you igniting imaginations around the collective purpose?
• What kinds of physical reminders are you using to keep your collective purpose alive in others?
• Which ordinary rituals can you use to keep the collective purpose alive for others?