Finding your purpose: A less intimidating approach | Dan Cable | Big Think

Finding your purpose: A less intimidating approach
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Do you know your purpose in life? If not, London Business School professor Dan Cable says that's OK. It's normal, even.
Many people have trouble finding their purpose because the task itself is too demanding. One way to solve this problem is by connecting with the end-user of your work.
For example, Microsoft will take its teams on-site to interview clients and find solutions. Programmers understand who's using their products by hearing it straight from the source, and this gives more meaning to their work.
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DAN CABLE:
Dan Cable is Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School. Dan's research and teaching focus on employee engagement, change, organizational culture, leadership mindset, and the linkage between brands and employee behaviors. Dan was selected for the 2018 Thinkers50 Radar List, The Academy of Management has twice honored Dan with Best Article awards, and The Academy of Management Perspectives ranked Dan in the 'Top 25 most influential management scholars'.
Dan Cable's latest book Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do at amzn.to/3dd32Mj
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TRANSCRIPT:
DAN CABLE: I think that it's really typical for somebody to not know what their purpose is. I think that the idea of saying find your purpose is a very high challenge. And I think it's probably too demanding in many ways, especially if you're talking about a relatively young person that's just entering the workforce. And so I think that it's kind of interesting to remember that personalizing purpose doesn't mean that you have to find somebody that has a burning passion to serve. It also doesn't mean that the leader has to deliver purpose. Like handing it out like playing cards. I think that the middle ground is to foster interest and to help people experience firsthand the end user of their work.
Let me give you an example of this. I work a little bit with Microsoft and in Vienna there is a country manager there named Dorothy. And one of the things that she does that I find really compelling is when they start up a new project, they go on site with the client. And they don't just take the senior leaders. They take the whole team. They might take as many as 15 people including the programmer, the actual person that'll be doing some code, up to the client representative who's kind of running the whole relationship, and basically everybody in between - the logistics person, the person that'll run the scheduling. They all go on site. They might go on site, for example, to a hospital that's going paperless.
And they'll go on site and just interview and try to understand where would it be hard to go paperless. They'll go to Tesla and they'll talk not only to the engineers at Tesla, they'll talk to the people in finance. They'll talk to the people in production. They'll talk to the people in operations. Another example of this would be Xbox, where they'll go on site and they'll talk about what kind of shipment and delivery issues are you facing right now.
The way that Microsoft is approaching this is twofold. Number one is they're trying to move from a know-it-all culture where we sell software, to a learn-it-all culture where we sell solutions. And so that aligns really nicely with this idea that we need our teams to understand the customer's problems. What are the pinch points? What are the things that we can help with? And then what Dorothy is doing by taking her whole team, even some fairly low, what I would call typically low-level workers, you know, they're not the senior managers. They're the folks that have just been hired within the last year or two. They go on site and they get to hear who it is they're solving and what are those problems.
And I think that is one very small, inexpensive way to think about increasing the sense of purpose, the why of the work in a way that doesn't demand you to call it your dying passion. It's not like you go in there because if I don't do this I'll die. It's more saying listen, either way I'm a programmer and I just need some money. But I happen to work for an organization that really lets me understand why I'm doing the programming. I really understand who's going to use it. It allows me to understand that if I do a good job those people at Xbox will be able to get their shipments on time and that sort of connects me to the why of the work.

[@bigthink]

How can people define their purpose in life?

[@donschallert1206]

I can only offer how I "found" it; here you go: 1) Assume that there is a Part of You that KNOWS. 2) Ask the Part of You that KNOWS, to let that knowledge become conscious to you. 3) Meditate daily, to connect with the Part of You that KNOWS. 4) Keep doing steps 1, 2, and 3. For me, it did take time, and now I do step 3 every day, which gives me a daily "path" of specific acts and steps. It can't be found out through ego consciousness; it has to come from one's Center. That's where all the answers are. Also, for me, the movie Revolver gave me insight to the fact that "little i" does not know, but "Big I" does know.

[@EugeneKhutoryansky]

I once saw a poster with a picture of the Titanic sinking, with the caption, "It could be that your only purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others."

[@mtnvalley9298]

Fatherhood comes to mind.

[@mostawesomedudeever1]

Lol

[@Paperbagman555]

Interesting topic but the video title is a bit misleading.

[@nikkidatlangin6603]

Paperbagman555 not necessarily - he may be talking about it in a business perspective, but the idea of focusing on understanding the problems you want to solve (and what the ideal outcome is for those who go through them) is a great way to look at personal purpose :)

[@TheMimeGogo]

I recall finding my purpose when I was... 16 I think. I remember it well, my classmates and I were looking at the entrance exam results at for a prestigious University. I was one of the 15% of people who Failed entry. So while a lot of my peers were overjoyed, rolling in the grass, I recall sitting on the sidewalk asking what would become of me. That day I resolved to not let my failures, nor the name of my place of education get in the way of what I would deem a successful goal. I am now 40 years old. In my 18++ year career, I've managed to find work and live in Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Manila. I currently reside and work in Stockholm. I have a Singaporean wife, 2 kids - and while my career has mainly kept me within the bounds of the Film, Animation and Games industry, I've had my share of ups and downs(got fired a few times along the way - one of them - Ubisoft), but for the most part - I feel fulfilled, and satisfied, while I continue to take challenges. I come from a backwater farm town, didnt own my own PC until I was 30, my first computer was a crappy hand me down laptop I was given when I was 25. Limited resources, an almost no name education yet I got to see the world, not as a tourist, but as a career person. I am currently a specialist in Character Rigging, Technical Animation and Animation Pipeline creation. Everything I learned is mostly self taught, from job experience, and from KZbin tutorials. Being driven by a solid purpose early in life - was something nobody imparted onto to me - in fact where I came from, I was met with mostly nothing BUT resistance to my goals (even from family). Find yourself a meaningful goal and the resolve to pursue it, it can take you places and enrich your life.

[@SP-us7ql]

Your story gives me hope, i am at a similar juncture currently in my life. cheers and hope for the best for you and me.

[@IRgaming918]

Thanks for sharing your story

[@dylanwestrand9507]

I am happy for your experience, and it gives me more reason to keep trying.

[@BrainsApplied]

This is quite logical. I've heard of SAP projects that went completely wrong because the programmers don't know what they're actually building.

[@rickharold7884]

Totally agree getting involved with the customer is critical. something we learned long time ago in providing purpose. It makes the customer a person and not a task in a spreadsheet.

[@TheDJkarsy]

Left this video with less answers

[@cgtsang]

He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how

[@orvilleraposo7760]

Thank you for such light

[@qianzhang9092]

by Nietzsche？

[@optimize.]

Qian Zhang yes

[@elchaski]

Such kind of leadership is dramatically lacking in work context of Italy.

[@Guitarisforgrins]

Most of the world I would bet.

[@chuckm1961]

Wow. What an insight. The lowest people on the totem pole do the most work. The highest people on the totem pole do the least work, and have the least understanding of what is actually going on. Beyond obvious.

[@Guitarisforgrins]

I mean, that's not at all what was expressed in the video.

[@reachsuccessredlyrics4946]

I have followed Big Think for a long time and I can only say that this channel is AWSOME! This channel have inspired me to start my own channel, I have gotten great response on my videos and I get really happy every time I see that my channel has got a new subscriber

[@Fuchsstern]

Oh no! It's the constant-head-tilt-man! I guess he's found his purpose.

[@Guitarisforgrins]

His purpose is obvious.... eating the leaves on the top of very tall trees.

[@banksofbarcelona3893]

For me, finding your purpose means solving pressing problems that people face, teaching people how to fish, as opposed to giving them fish. Anything that impacts people for the long term as opposed to the short term

[@philosophicalharmonics3470]

You have to be your own boss even when you aren't. Any job you do by definition adds value to the lives of others. And it's when we add value to the world that we feel we did something meaningful. When we do stuff for ourselves we feel enjoyment but that's not as lasting a feeling. So back to being your own boss, when you do your job because you feel driven to add value but you are being controlled by others you will feel like only a cog in a machine, but when you take personal responsibility for what you do then you feel like an instrumental driver of that value. Seriously, you can clean toilets for a living and feel fulfilled, just by changing how you relate to the task. Be a boss, not a servant, in whatever you do in life.

[@streameant]

Everyone will be replaced by robots, then humanity will cease to be important

[@Guitarisforgrins]

While I agree with the sentiment, I feel there are diminishing returns for that mentality. Burnout is real.

[@philosophicalharmonics3470]

It's evolutionary necessity that we are replaced by robots in many basic areas so we can spend more time on the higher areas. The only reason we have science and philosophy is because people had enough leisure time due to technology to ponder existence. We live in a world that reflects our mental growth. We have more growth to acheive in that area and areas such as spirituality which needs an overhaul. In fact, the growth is ceaseless. The fundamental drive of our existence is to further develop the faculties we currently have, which are here because more primative faculties were developed by our ancestors. The greatest gift you can give your descendants is growing yourself and becoming more so that you have more to give.

[@BboyKeny]

I make webshops and websites for a wide variety of businesses, but the only feedback I receive through my colleagues is what is bad and needs to be changed. I'm not included in design or delivery. I'm only working for the money, which is a legal minimum salary. I love programming, but in terms of work. This is not it.

[@MoeSkirllz]

Great topic and video

[@jukkanikki3395]

Vera practical. Thank you.

[@francescos7361]

Thanks .

[@markkravitz4678]

👌 Charles Swindoll said life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent of how I react to it. A money maker @evenkingsfall (his insta) has always said you have to THINK BIG to WIN BIG! Always keep that mindset! Great videos always 🎯

[@EbonZEN]

This isn't finding purpose as he doesn't speak about searching for purpose, or letting purpose find you, or forms of exploring purpose. At best this can solidify purpose in an already chosen or predetermined path. You can find purpose or reinvigorate purpose in the way he speaks, but without a sense of care this boils down to choosing to attach purpose rather than discovering purpose.

[@xMckingwill]

Yes thats why people turn to a 2,000 year old fiction book to find purpose. ( This comment was solely based on the title, which i assumed was a philosophical question)

[@mtnvalley9298]

Laziness?

[@xMckingwill]

@@mtnvalley9298 the reason people dont find purpose or me not watching the video?

[@thstroyur]

@@mtnvalley9298 Yes - that's what motivated the OP

[@alexsclewis]

[microsoft team] "are trying to move from a "know it all culture", where they sell software, to a "learn it all" culture, where they sell solutions." 🤦 so that's what you call it when you remove enough settings, functions, and buttons for my 108 year old grandmother to find it basic...

[@importantname]

children are told to find their purpose. We dont know what we dont know.

[@allertonoff4]

Neat posr

[@PeterZeeke]

Everyone except QA

[@valeriesanchez3074]

Farmer's Insurance has joined the chat

[@PeterZeeke]

Yeah but Xbox has no games

[@nelsonartemio4218]

Why do I feel like this is Brendan Frasier playing a putz for a short youtube production?

[@Guitarisforgrins]

Because you're blind and deaf?

[@nelsonartemio4218]

We need to expand the idea of what it means to have purpose. From the example, this guy defines purpose as "reason" for why you are even doing your job. The "why". Ok. I fail to see how knowing this makes work anymore meaningful. I know the "why" behind my work and yet it remains devoid of purpose. Probably because I, like many others are not defining purpose literally as "the purpose" for why you're doing what you're doing within the context of the job. This video solves the problem by over simplification and redefining "purpose" such that the word doesn't carry the connotation people commonly use it for. For something bigger, enriching and meaningful. Big no on this vid.

[@ParthenogenesisMan]

Do you know where I can claim US citizenship? In 1969, the sound of one of NASA's rockets triggered my birth.

[@Guitarisforgrins]

Try an upper orbit.

[@maxischmidt1299]

Long neck island

[@dasanji90]

Mr. Boomer, what's your purpose?