Moving from Alignment to Emergence
A collective purpose is considered as the holy grail for teams. It provides direction, meaning and a reason to act. A well-crafted purpose can synchronise efforts and bring coherence to a team’s performance. Yet, the very purpose that defines a team, over time, could limit its potential and become less of an enabler and more of a boundary, if held tightly.
This article explores how teams can reimagine their purpose not as a static statement but as something evolving and responding to changes by being open, flexible and curious about future possibilities.
When Purpose Helps and Hinders
For an organisation, a clearly defined and articulated purpose answers the ‘why’ of its existence. When cascaded well, it can offer meaning to the teams and guidance to the individuals. For a team, when its purpose aligns with that of its organisation but remains distinct enough to define its uniqueness, it can energise the team’s morale and actions to become a powerful force.
In our team coaching experience, we have witnessed that when there is a high degree of coherence of purpose among the team members, it invariably shows in the performance. The coherent teams go beyond their goals, and their members collaborate to solve problems and support each other when needed, all qualities of high-performance teams.
However, a team’s purpose must be viewed in the context of today’s challenging and volatile business landscape. Geopolitical uncertainty, technological disruptions like AI, rapidly shifting markets, and increasing environmental expectations impact the strategies and actions of businesses Teams, as microcosms of the organisations, also need to navigate such complexities.
In such contexts, when purpose becomes rigid, teams stop sensing, innovating and adapting. They may begin to prefer predictability over curiosity, certainty over possibility and continuity over creativity. That brings up the question; is well-defined and shared purpose enough for a team to excel consistently in today’s dynamic and unpredictable world?
Redefining the Purpose of Purpose
A fundamental outcome of a purpose is alignment. It means the members know their roles, understand priorities, minimise friction and move in the same direction. It transforms a group of individuals into a cohesive force. But there is a paradox; the stronger the alignment, the higher the risk of teams focussing to what is already known and becoming too dependent on the past to solve future problems. In such cases, is valuable but not sufficient. This is where teams need to reimagine their purpose to be future safe.
Teams need the ability to redefine their purpose following an approach that can help them evolve, innovate, adopt and respond to rapid changes. This is where emergence becomes essential. Emergence allows new possibilities to surface – ideas, opportunities, collaboration and ways of working. It requires teams to loosen their attachment to current purpose, move from the known, and explore uncharted territory. Emergence cannot be planned; it is discovered in the journey.
Teams can take practical steps to move from fixed purpose to emergent purpose. Here are four considerations.
Bring Broader Perspectives
Teams that hold purpose tightly may unconsciously close out ideas and fresh perspectives that appear misaligned with their purpose and thus narrowing their potential. To allow emergence to happen, teams should be open to a wider range of perspectives; they should engage regularly with diverse stakeholders, periodically invite external experts, learn from peer teams and adopt business frameworks that broaden their field of vision. Fresh and alternate perspectives provide the inspiration needed for a more dynamic purpose.
Treat Purpose as Hypothesis
Teams tend to treat purpose as a fixed statement that needs to be adhered to at all circumstances. Instead, teams could treat the purpose as a hypothesis, a work-in-progress statement. A hypothesis invites inquiry and testing; challenging the assumptions made in the purpose, assessing changes around and inviting new evidence that could prompt a revision.
Focus on Presence
During team coaching, we often see teams defaulting to analysing, planning or deciding during the coaching sessions. Emergence requires a state of presence, the ability to pause, sense and reflect on what is unfolding in real time. In such an ‘awareness’ mode they can observe their own bias and blind spots and, in the process, uncover hidden opportunities and possibilities they had not considered before. Presence shifts the team from reacting to realising.
Purpose as “Leading from Emerging Future”
Professor Otto Scharmer, known for his ‘Theory U’, describes two sources of learning; (1) learning from the past and (2) learning from sensing emerging future possibilities. Most complex challenges of today cannot be solved by applying past methods. Purpose, therefore, must help the teams break the patterns of the past, sense what is unfolding and create new patterns. This requires vulnerability, courage and trust among the members to let go of old ideas and shape the emerging landscape.
Conclusion
Pivoting away from a fixed purpose can be unnerving for teams. It can confront their long-held beliefs, past decisions and deeply valued identity. In a world marked by uncertainty and change the goal is not to discard the purpose but allow it to evolve. Team coaching can support this transition, offering a space to reflect, bring in perspectives and help teams move from alignment to emergence. Teams that revisit their purpose with openness, question their assumptions, listen to diverse perspectives, stay present, and sense the future become capable of reinventing themselves and flourishing in emergence.