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The Goosebumps Test
By Simon Marshall
revised on 12th October 2020
You know those organisations that just seem to be on a special mission?
We ran a Why Discovery Workshop for a retail bank that provides banking and credit facilities primarily for people who have not had credit before or have lost it due to difficulties they have encountered in their lives. We worked with a group of their senior team and a few other passionate people across the organisation to help them discover those things that make them most proud and fulfilled in the work they do. We asked them how doing those things makes a difference to the lives of their customers. After staying with the dialogue for a while, their experience of and connection to a Higher Purpose started to emerge. They began to experience a sense of shared purpose.
Julie stood up and told a story about John, whom she had helped to complete his application for a bank account and credit card. He had recently started a job and was still living with no fixed abode.
To get permanent accommodation John needed a bank account and a financial reference. To get a bank account he needed an address, a vicious cycle with no way out. Through committed action from Julie, John got an account, and then a flat. She explained how she has supported him to better manage his finances in a sustainable way as he began thriving in his new life.
She had tears in her eyes when she told this very touching story, which resonated with many people in the room. Then someone said,
“You believed in john and never gave up on him!”
As people in the room listened, many felt inspired and some reported having Goosebumps. Suddenly things became very clear to this group.
The sense of purpose they shared was about believing in people, those who had been abandoned by others and helping them to get access to the world of banking, credit and finance. These are opportunities that most other people enjoy and take for granted. We quickly paraphrased this into;
“We believe in people to enable them to have more choices in life”
One of the group members stood up and said “we need to change our website!” She described the current online credit scoring part of the website where, after answering some basic questions, people could find out if they qualify for a credit card. If they did not, the software simply said “sorry, we are not able to offer you a credit card.”
She continued, “but if we believe in people, like Julie did, we should never say no to them.” This made so much sense, the group decided to change the website so that if someone did not meet the scoring criteria, the message simply said, “sorry, not now” and offered simple steps to improve their score and invited them to apply again. Then, consistent with the new approach this message appeared “then we’ll be delighted to give you a credit card”.
Someone else said, “our advertising needs to change.” Currently it was all about the features and benefits of their credit card’s terms and conditions over and above other providers – instantly a campaign was created with the working title, “we’re in your corner.”
Over the coming months, many things in this organisation were tested against their Higher Purpose. These ideas were accelerated if they fitted, reshaped if they didn’t or stopped if they did not fulfil on the bank’s Higher Purpose.
Whenever I see the adverts on TV I smile, remembering the workshop and the profound relationship that this group of people generated to the very thing that bound them together. That had so effectively remained hidden and undiscovered in the day-to-day rush of “normal business activity.” I also know the work went much deeper than merely changing a slogan or a poster, it began a process that reworked the bank’s operations from top to bottom.
Like this bank, organisations that are grounded in and are able to articulate their Higher Purpose, the very reason they exist and the difference that they make to others. When purpose is deeply felt, at a personal and visceral level, it helps direct decisions, communications, and of course, branding and advertising. We believe that the best organisations of the future start with their Higher Purpose, that goes beyond short-term profit or growth.
I learnt in that workshop one simple thing.
You know you’re on the right track in discovering your higher purpose when talking about it gives you goosebumps.
