Thinking bigger about purpose and transformation
One of the reasons my partners and I built 18 Coffees to be focused on strategy, change management, and organizational development was that we knew we were in a unique moment in business history, one in which our basic assumptions about what it means to be a business were about to be questioned.
Our background in digital transformation showed us the structural challenges of changing the DNA of organizations. But when you add on top of that the changing expectations about the private sector’s role as a driver of societal change, the game completely changes. Suddenly we’re not just talking about finding efficiencies, new business models, or new areas of value for a profit-driven business, we’re navigating thorny ethical issues—about which we may not have organizational alignment—in real time.
That’s why I’ve always believed that conversations about a business’s purpose, its social impact, and its role in society have deeper implications than most business leaders realize. We often think frustratingly small about the need for transformation if we’re really going to live up to the values we proclaim to have.
This is a moment when corporate purpose can not just be a talking point; it can be a rallying cry for completely reimagining how business is done. And collectively, we can move toward a more inclusive and sustainable economy, away from old models of scarcity and exploitation.