Building A Culture of Purpose: The Intentional Futures Experience
The Intentional Futures Team
When Microsoft Founder Bill Gates had the idea for the Big History Project, he wanted to make available the span of 13.8 billion years of history of the universe on the internet for anyone to dig into. Gates and his colleagues were faced with the problem: How can educators incorporate this vast knowledge base in their school curriculum? This was critical to the success of the BHP.
Gates needed experts to design courses for high school students and devise a plan for training and co-creation with teachers, for BHP. At the time, Michael Dix served as a General Manager, and focused on the company’s innovation and long-term vision. He left Microsoft and was enlisted by Gates to lead this effort.
“The first course we created was a digital public good. It focused on high school students and educators with the goal of advancing 21st-century skills and establishing a framework for multidisciplinary learning,” Michael Dix, CEO of Intentional Futures (iF) informed.
This decision marked the start of Intentional Futures, a strategy and design consulting firm based in Seattle. Their mission is to be the most impactful consultancy by advancing the world's capacity for empathy, ingenuity, and effective collaboration.
“The Big History Project gave us a chance to work on hard, deep and meaningful problems. Our team has continued to work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with other innovative clients in health, education and high-tech,” he shared.
Solving Global Issues Needs a Culture Around Shared Purpose
With the rise of stakeholder capitalism (a term coined by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum) companies need to rethink their purpose. They have to find ways to create value for all of their stakeholders and not just optimize profits for shareholders. In this pursuit, leaders are waking up to solve bigger social problems, like social inequity and climate change often overlooked in the profit-oriented capitalist world.
So how can organizations pursue their intent to create a broader social impact? “ These are hard problems. They take years to see final results. People have to recognize and appreciate your work over a long period of time. We have to convert the discomfort of solving big problems into positive energy,” explained Dix.
To solve big, wooly problems, organizations need to start with a strong sense of purpose, a spirit of collaboration and build a cohesive culture around a bold commitment to affect social impact.
“Every member of our team needs to be comfortable with ambiguity. The complexity and ambiguity are the signs of a worthy problem to solve,” Dix said.
“The people we attract really believe that they can make a difference. Our culture and leadership reflects this purpose,” Marketing Manager, Malia Nakamura said.
How do IFsters measure and communicate the impact they make? IF defines its social impact through an annual impact report that lays out the work they do with their clients to further Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, combat climate change and build equitable systems and structures. “To measure our impact, we started tracking how much of our project work prioritizes equitable outcomes,” Nakamura informed.
Recently, iF embarked on the process of B Corp certification. By being certified as a B Corp, it reiterates its commitment to social and environmental impact. “Usually, we let our work speak. We have started to become more proactive in communicating how we are unique. Becoming a B Corp aligns with our beliefs about ourselves. It signals to the world a sense of deep empowerment,” Dix said.
Let Your Culture be Your Organizational Superpower
Bringing together a set of people that believe in a shared purpose is important, but this is not enough to drive social impact. Their sense of shared purpose has to be moved towards tangible action.
Consulting partners like iF come into play when this action needs to be scaled-up. Usually this action is complex and needs collaboration with several other stakeholders. It needs strategic thinking, frameworks, models, and tools. It needs expertise in design, communication and a culture based on innovation.
“Collaboration is our key capability. We work closely with our clients and their partners to sharply define the problems and activate their convictions,” Dix said. “The work we are entrusted to take on by our clients is challenging and intends to drive positive social impact. We have built a culture around the willingness to take risks and innovate, ” he continued.
iF operates according to 5 core principles that guide their internal and project work. They include:
Taking a learning disposition
Making the complex intelligible
Designing with, and not for end users
Being systems thinkers with a broad vision
Activating sustainable impact
In situations where problems are cross-sectoral, complex and need a highly collaborative environment, organizations’ culture can amplify the success of outcomes. The pandemic revealed the need for organizations to become agile, resilient and innovative. In recent months, iF has expanded their services to better address issues organizations and their leaders grapple with, including organizational design and cultural awareness and integration where they empower, create alignment and activate action.
The iF experience shows us that building an empowering culture, framework for communication and collaborative partnerships are critical when we talk about creating greater social impact.
About Impactika Consulting:
We at Impactika Consulting help do-gooders do better through purpose-propelled® consulting. We are a digital marketing, strategy, and social impact consulting firm. We help for-purpose organizations take on the world’s toughest challenges in digital rights, social and economic justice, education, and more.
As an advocate for both business and doing good, Impactika is a women-led team committed to helping organizations around the world find impactful and meaningful ways to market their purposes and connect with others.