impact

Why I’m Writing About Justice on My Business Blog

Like many of you, current events leave me searching my heart for the right words, the right tone, the right course of action, and the right response to injustice in our culture. On occasion (e.g. here and here), I have used my business blog as a platform.

I have settled on two rules for this: (1) Business blogging must tie back to the work; it should not become a platform for either ranting or navel-gazing. (2) When my writing invokes others’ pain, it must be motivated by a sincere desire to help. The point is to share my expertise and perspective to alleviate suffering, not the other way around.

These two rules can coexist logically, I hope, because I have aligned my business model with my values.

Speaking out for justice aligns with my business strategy. This is a good thing.

Truth be told, I worry sometimes about limiting my client pool. However, I am determined that the normal anxiety of business development will not warp my values or my vision. It’s simple, really: I want to work with clients who share my concern for justice.

Social justice, racial justice, economic justice, LGBTQ justice, food justice, sexual justice, environmental justice, international justice, intersectional justice. Justice for the elderly; justice for youth. Justice for the differently abled. Justice for all.

Once I put my brave face on, I see this more clearly.

Marketing 101: know your best-fit clients.

These are the clients who will most benefit from your particular services, who will value your particular contribution, and for whom you know you can do great work — based on your particular acumen.

My unique background–in management and as a trained ethicist–differentiates me from other coaches. My best-fit clients want a coach who will support their values and ambition for impact, while also propelling their professional growth. They are business executives, nonprofit leaders, educators, artists, and individuals in transition. They walk many paths, and I walk my own as their coach. Together, we leverage their talents for positive impact — in their lives, their organizations, and the wider world.

Why do I write about justice on my business blog? My mission is to empower others to align their work with their values. My goal is to lead by example.

The #1 Question to Ask About Your Work

I write this in the wake of horrible violence, yet again, in my country. Last night, snipers killed 5 police officers at what should have been a peaceful protest against bloodshed. Our nation is deeply troubled by cycles of violence, both individual and systemic. Civil discourse has degraded into partisan bullying, and everyone is heartbroken. You know this. I know this. But what do we do?

Let’s turn that question inward. **What do you do?**

Seriously. What do you do with your time and energy each day? What is your work?

These are not easy questions, ethically speaking. In fact, they are decidedly uneasy. As you consider them, I propose that you employ a concept from just war theory. The just war tradition has been used for centuries by heads of state and other political leaders to make sense of right and wrong in the context of war. It has been extremely influential in world history.¹Learn more about the content and history of just war theory here, and learn about pacifist ethics here. However, it interests me today because of its framework.

Specifically, just war theory unravels two distinct aspects of war-making and sets clear ethical parameters for each. The two aspects are jus ad bellum, which governs the decision to go to war, and jus in bello, which governs conduct in war. I see this framework as useful for examining the ethics of work because it untangles two important threads of consideration: major strategic decisions and in-the-trenches tactics.

Here are analogous categories for the ethics of work:

Strategic:

What is my profession?
Whom do I work for?
What is my organization’s mission?
What is the broad impact of my profession and organization?

Tactical:

How do I conduct myself at work?
Am I learning as much as I can, to do the best work that I can?
Am I practicing self-care to support engagement and energy?
What are the practical ethics of my profession? Do I know them and hold myself accountable?
What are the impacts of my specific, day-to-day decisions?

Surely, both of the categories above are paramount to ethical work. We need more people (you! me!) to choose professions and organizations that make positive impacts on the world. We also need to work ethically and earnestly within those contexts. What we learn from the just war framework is that both sets of conditions — the strategic and the tactical — are necessary. Either/or is inadequate.

I urge you to examine how closely your answers align with your personal values, your philosophical and religious commitments, your family’s collective mission, and your desire to DO SOMETHING in light of our shared struggles. Find the support you need as you make the changes you should (and surely we all must change).

What you do with your time is your impact on the world.

Let me say that again: what you do with your time IS your impact on the world. You likely spend 40, 50, 60 or even more hours at work — especially if you factor in commuting, travel frequently, or work as a caregiver. If you are fortunate enough to choose your work (and too many aren’t), you have a responsibility to choose wisely and a responsibility to go about it honestly. Bring your values into the equation, rather than compartmentalizing work vs. life.

“What do you do?” is classic small-talk, but it shouldn’t be. It’s the most important thing we can ask ourselves as we grapple with the dark and difficult. Honest answers will begin to shed a little light.

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Learn more about the content and history of just war theory here, and learn about pacifist ethics here.

An Outlandish Idea for a Peace

After taking the better part of a week to process events in Orlando, I have an idea.

Like many of you, I have experienced the sadly familiar feelings—not again, this is heartbreaking, this is hopeless, I’m afraid, repeat, repeat, repeat. However, I’m currently sitting with an emotion that feels OK, and maybe even empowered: the burning desire to DO something.

I have decided to embrace a different paradigm: creative determination. To me, this means the tenacity to:

think differently (boldly!)
have outlandish ideas
test those wild ideas
take concrete steps
connect with other torch bearers

For the moment, I’m not talking about political matters like gun control, mental health advocacy, or counter-terrorism. Those things are important, but they aren’t getting us very far. At best, political frameworks are not delivering the harmony we desire. At worst, the discourse around them has become so toxic that they do harm.

Instead, I want to remind us all that we share a history of creative determination. We share a history of revolutionary problem-solving and bold innovation. I truly believe that we, the people, can form a more perfect union.

Consider this short list of transformative examples, which exist or happened or changed, but were once just a notion:

the Internet
the Appalachian Trail
the moon landing
Central Park
The Grapes of Wrath
the Montgomery bus boycott
interstate highways spanning 45,000+ miles
a dazzling array of museums, free to all in the nation’s capital
Woodstock
the United States Constitution

Fine points are debatable. Yes, violence is pertinent to this list in important, nuanced (and some not-so-nuanced) ways. No, American culture doesn’t deserve singular credit for all. No, we don’t have the only creative culture in the world. Those and other complexities are real. I accept them.

However, big picture, these examples represent our culture’s extraordinary capacity for creativity. They are vastly different, but they all began as the kernel of an idea.

Many of you have kernels of creative ideas for solving, putting a dent in, or changing the frame of our national discourse on guns and violence. You have outlandish ideas that may promote our shared goal of harmony. Take a moment right now to think creatively — market solutions, scientific solutions, health solutions, community solutions, educational solutions, and categories of solutions that I haven’t even dreamed of. Ask yourself, what can you uniquely offer? (Don’t be humble–you will test and refine later.)

In this spirit, here is my outlandish idea: I am offering two hours of free incubator coaching to anyone with their own idea for creating a more peaceful American society. The point is for you to explore your next step with a thought partner — how you might test, connect, build on, learn more…whatever it is that your idea needs.

Ground rules:

Your idea must entail full and equal respect for all human beings, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc.
This offer is for creative ideas that can be executed legally and outside the partisan political process.
That’s it!

Logistics:

Email me (jlp at jlpstrategy.com) to set up a phone session.
For now, this is an open invitation with no time limit.
If I have the welcome problem of idea overload…well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

If you pursue it, your outlandish idea will become a step forward.

#wethepeople

Laugh Your Way to Meaningful Work

I love satire. It cuts to the heart of matters, and it makes me laugh. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see McSweeney’s tackling an issue that I feel strongly about — meaningful work (or, more to the point, meaningless work):

Despite the business being obscenely profitable, our office is overcrowded, we are underpaid, and our work almost certainly supports fracking, heart disease, and the blatant exploitation of the poor. In recent months, it has occurred to me that this makes what I do, at best, completely void of meaning and, at worst, totally amoral. In short, my life has no meaning… but, have you tried the new toaster?

If this hits too close to home, you can do one of two things. Either laugh it off and proceed, or…

Let the satire do its full work, which is both to make you laugh and to convey criticism. It should leave you chuckling, but uneasily, wondering, how did this happen? And, how can I change it?

How did this happen?

In one of three ways:

(1) Though you are not actually manipulated by perks like shiny new toasters, you do bear the paradoxical burden of your compensation and benefits. Golden handcuffs are real — and really tight. They stand between too many people and meaningful work.

(2) You are smart, hard-working, and an expert in your field. You care intensely about everything you do at work, pouring intelligence and energy into each task and decision — whether small or large, meaningful or meaningless.

These favorable qualities propelled you to your current position. However, you bring this intensity to every situation and task, indiscriminately. In doing so, you rob yourself of the energy and time required for discernment and the work that really matters.

(3) The likeliest culprit — some combination of both.

How can you change it?

Laugh (heartily!), but don’t laugh it off. Channel that self-deprecation into a decision to prioritize your impact goals.

Since you are already smart and hard-working, this doesn’t mean finding new time in the day. Instead, you must redirect your existing resources towards more meaningful goals. This requires introspection, careful discernment, and re-prioritization.

It is likely that the process will also entail some risk — financial, professional, and perhaps even emotional. Be clear on your tolerance for that, as well as the return that you can reasonably expect. To that end, have a trustworthy person in your corner, who will both challenge you and respect your boundaries.

Laughing it off may be easy, but it isn’t a strategy. It leaves you as restless as ever and does nothing to improve your professional footprint. By contrast, self-examination and change are difficult. They promise valuable returns not only for your work satisfaction, but also for your legacy — and for the positive impact you will make on the world.

Let’s be real: this is a fortunate problem.

Many, many people suffer extreme poverty, unemployment, under-education and other hardships that make the challenge of meaningful work a privileged one. In that light, the “paradoxical burden” of golden handcuffs seems superficial.

However, this gulf is all the more reason to leverage educations and opportunities wisely. We owe it to ourselves, our communities, and the wider world.

SMART Goals Aren’t (Always) Dumb

I recently came across an interesting hypothesis in Forbes magazine: SMART goals “act as impediments to, not enablers of, bold action, and actually encourage mediocre and poor performance.” Author Mark Murphy takes the position that we should aim higher than “achievable” and “realistic.” To make his point, he looks at two modern innovators, Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs, both of whom pushed for impact with ambition and determination.

“We’re here to put a dent in the universe.” – Steve Jobs

I agree with Murphy, at least in part. The world needs big thinkers: entrepreneurs who will innovate mechanisms for sustainable food distribution; activists who will dismantle unjust structures; school administrators who will find a way beyond the testing morass; artists whose creativity will broaden our perspectives. As he correctly points out, SMART goals undermine ambitious impact when they limit us to the “achievable” and “realistic.”

What’s more, I propose that the other SMART attributes—“specific,” “measurable,” and “timely”—can be equally limiting. The grandest ambitions (e.g. to make a dent in the universe) are anything but specific, at least at first. Because of that and because they may not be empirical, they will be difficult to measure. Finally, we must face the reality that we might not complete the work alone, or even in our lifetimes.

“I may not get there with you.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Consider Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” The speech was delivered in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968, less than 24 hours before his assassination. It conveys both the beautiful promise and the daunting scope of his vision. He declares:

I’ve looked over (Yes sir), and I’ve seen the Promised Land. (Go ahead) I may not get there with you. (Go ahead) But I want you to know tonight (Yes), that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. [Applause] (Go ahead, Go ahead) And so I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. [Applause]

Behold: One person’s ambition, bigger than himself.

On the one hand, this example confirms Murphy’s point. On the other hand, King’s work included both visionary statements and very hard work. He collaborated with organizations, politicians, experienced activists, and ordinary citizens to bring about real change on the ground…one campaign, one lawsuit, one march, one meeting, one boycott at a time. The work was imperfect, incomplete, incremental, and inspired. The goals of the American civil rights movement were indeed visionary, but they were also—in their increments—specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

There is hope for the SMART concept yet.

SMART goals can be a crutch for small thinking, but they aren’t the root problem.

The real problem is with SMART goals existing out of visionary context. When they stand alone, SMART goals deserve all the criticism that Murphy heaps on them. As he describes, the problematic isolation of SMART goals often happens explicitly, through, for example, lackluster strategy or performance reviews that focus only on the near-term.

However, it also occurs implicitly—and more perniciously—via organizational culture. In these cases, isolated SMART goals are a symptom of larger, cultural weaknesses that permeate the organization, affecting every position and business function. When an organization’s culture cannot tolerate change or when it prizes short-term over long-term outcomes, it undermines employees’ potential for vision, creativity, and impact.

By contrast, organizations with healthy impact cultures tie their work to mission at every turn. Accountability to the organization’s impact drives performance review and goal-setting processes, rather than following them or existing tangentially. Leaders both model and manage genuine support for strategic risks, creative problem-solving, and purposeful change. And employees, from the corner office to the smallest cubicle, embrace the freedom to think big. The SMART goals they set reflect this.

SMART goals are truly smart when they connect to impact goals.

When I was working on my doctoral dissertation, someone offered this wisdom: “It’s like eating an elephant. You do it one bite at a time.” It was brilliant advice, and I leaned on it throughout the process. I needed to think in increments because the full scope of the project was so unwieldy. Likewise, SMART goals are a tool for incremental progress—one bite at a time.

I suggest editing the “R” in SMART from realistic to relevant. When connected to a larger mission, SMART goals shine. They are extraordinarily useful for incremental progress on big ambitions. Instead of limiting potential, they connect bold ideas and beautiful aspirations to real-time actions. They enable positive impact by making it concrete: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.

Whether you are moving towards a career ambition, your dent in the universe, or a nascent vision for a better world, keep your eyes on both the next bend in the road and your true north. You will only move in the right direction when both are in focus.

JLP Strategy