Put purpose back into purpose.

"The secret of success is constancy to purpose" (Benjamin Disraeli). Ah, yes, but..."The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose" (William Shakespeare).

And there you have it. Is purpose a good thing, or even a relevant thing, in business? A couple of years ago, there was no debate. Purpose was not only a good thing, but a necessary thing, a big thing, the biggest thing. And that, we think, is where the problems started. Would a global law firm ever be truly purpose-driven? (It's not one of the P words in the PEP all law firms seem so keen on broadcasting.) Could a mayonnaise really have a purpose?

Not for the first time, once the bandwagon (or should that be brandwagon?) gathered pace, people started to force their way onto it, it became unwieldy, lost direction, and then the wheels began to fall off. Leaving purpose where now?

We think it's still valid. It should be at the heart of every organisation, every corporate brand. In fact, we've been using the word 'cause' at the core of our brand strategy model since the days before purpose. But, as with everything we do, it needs clarity.

We created a simple framework to help clients think through the basics of what their purpose might be. It's based on two questions, which we think have tended to be forgotten in the clamour for ever-greater purpose statements: who are we for, and what do we do for them? It's always struck us a glaring, and arrogant, oversight that Simon Sinek's golden circle has its Why, its How and its What - but no Who. How can you have a purpose that doesn't recognise who is meant to benefit?

Clients we've spoken to about this have found the clarity of these two questions, and the framework their answers create, enormously valuable. It's allowing them to develop a better, more credible statement of their purpose; and a workable process to ensure it really does drive their organisation.

If you'd like to get clarity on your own purpose - even on whether your organisation should be developing one at the moment - we'd be delighted to talk.