This is a tale of two restaurants and the power of purpose as a motivator.
My mom (the skydiver) and brother were in town for a visit last week. They spent a lot of time exploring Chicago's sites. One night they and their three dinner companions had a terrible experience at a restaurant-that-shall-not-be-named. After waiting an hour to get served, their server brought two of the five meals they ordered. He couldn't explain the mix-up, exactly, but he suggested that they just share! When the hungry diners complained, the manager came by and, without apology, rudely explained that they weren't getting anything else to eat that night: The kitchen had closed! They went away shocked, mad as heck, and eager to tell everyone to take their business elsewhere.
On the other hand, the night they visited the Chicago Burger Company in the Sheraton Hotel, they were sitting at their table for 20 minutes waiting for a server
when the manager came to them full of apologies, embarrassed to say that the kitchen had run out of food. Deja vu, right?! Not exactly. The manager of this restaurant knew that his purpose was to give people a great experience, along with a meal. Since his kitchen was closed, he sent them upstairs to be his guest at the Chi Bar, where they wined and dined like royalty. They were just as shocked as they had been at the restaurant-that-shall-not-be-named, but in a totally different way. They went away stunned at the great service and care they received, and eager to tell everyone the Chicago Burger Company is a MUST stop on their next visit to the Windy City.
This is the purposeful question I'd like to ask the manager of restaurant-that-shall-not-be-named: Why are you here?
"No, really," I'd say. "Why are you here?" In other words,
- Why does your restaurant exist?
- And why are you working here?
- What is the point?
- What is it that you and your team have been called to do together?
- What is it about this place and your work together that you love (or used to love)?
- What really matters to you?
Of course, we would work playfully:
- Maybe I'd ask them to draw a picture of a time they felt like their work had made a really positive difference for somebody, either a fellow worker or a customer.
- Or I'd have them use found objects and work together to build a prototype of their restaurant when everybody is in top form, at their best, and working together to do what matters.
- Or I'd invite them to use magazine and newspaper pictures to create a montage of the kind of experience they want people to have when they visit.
They would remember. And that would make all the difference.
A clear sense of purpose is a powerful motivator for people. Author and blogger, Dan Pink, reported on a study by Wharton's Adam Grant proving this connection. Grant used college students working the phones for a fundraising campaign in his research. Those who had been helped to see the difference their work was making in people's lives raised TWICE as much money as those who just showed up to do a job.
It is remarkable to me how often people need help remembering the point of their work together. This is as true in nonprofit organizations and churches, where people are assumed to be "doing good," as it is in burger joints.
Do you know why the organization you care about exists? Can you explain what the point is? Do you know why you're here? Do you know what matters? Are you doing it? When was the last time you asked your coworkers these kinds of purposeful questions?
These would be good questions to talk about over a burger today, don't you think? If you happen to be in Chicago, you know which restaurant to look for.
Think we might be able to help you and your team reconnect with who you are and what really matters to you?
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