In 600BC, Aristotle said: “where the needs of the world intersect with your passion, therein lies your purpose.”
Simon Sinek turned this knowledge into a modern business philosophy, confirming that successful companies today focus on their WHY, before the WHAT and the HOW. At GMM we have taken this ‘thinking’ further into our ‘How the world works’ philosophy. With Mark Campbell’s three circles approach.
Let’s start with the Purpose, and let’s start at the real beginning. God’s purpose for us is simply to bring glory to God, by using our God given talents & abilities to serve the world and to add value, making a difference in people’s lives.
Let’s look at the three circles:
The top Left circle represents us as individuals or us in a team or organisation. We refer to this circle as the “R1” circle where R1 = Resources. These resources are our talents, abilities, skills, knowledge, experience and wisdom. In other words – our capabilities. These are the gifts or resources we bring to the world.
The Top Right circle represents the groups in the world with whom we interact. We refer to this circle as the R2 (Relationships) circle. The groups include our families, friends, colleagues, customers, suppliers, church community, sports clubs etc.
When we use our R1 (Resources) to serve and add value to our world communities, we build trusted relationships and contribute positively to this world we live in. Effective use of resources require a Value set to adhere to, systems, policies and procedures. These we refer to as R3 and are depicted in this diagram as the foundation rectangle.
This brings us to the bottom circle. We refer to this circle as R4 (Results). When we use our R1 Resources to add value to our communities, build effective R2 Relationships and manage how we do this through R3 Rules we are rewarded in various ways. E.g.’ a fulfilled life, meaning, love and respect, loyalty, a legacy but also financially – salary, profits, dividends and our ultimate reward Eternity in union with God – God’s ultimate reward for his Saints.
In the book Good to Great by Jim Collins – he says: “When (what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at and what drives your economic engine) come together, not only does your work move toward greatness, but so does your life. For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquillity that comes from knowing that you’ve had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.” – (Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t)
The heart where all three circles intersect each other represents our Purpose. This is where our Passion lies and is what drives us to focus outside of ourselves. Our Purpose is what God has specifically called us to do. It allows us to operate at a high-level utilising what is called your “X-Factor” or “Unique Ability”. See the diagram below.
The three circles become an ever-increasing value generation model. As we are rewarded for the value we add through applying our resources, we are able to re-invest in ourselves and in our teams. This increases our R1 Resources which in turn increases the value we are able to add to our communities and so provides continued reward. Hence, investing in the continued growth of your people and teams brings growth to the organisation. This simple business model looks like this:
R1 (Resources) + R2 (Relationships) + R3 (Rules) = R4 (Results)
R3 (Rules) are important to the correct functioning of the three circles model, in particular, your personal values or your organizational values. Values are the boundaries which drive right behaviour and enable correct decisions. If driven by poor values a person or organisation works through the circles in an anti-clockwise direction.
People or organisations, driven by greed and the desire for selfish gain (R3), focus on utilising their R1 (Resources) on R4 financial gain and they manipulate the people(R2) with whom they interact to accomplish these selfish goals. They add little or no value to others and often bring suffering and pain.
For example, we only need to look at some classic examples of business failure in South Africa and from around the world.
Alex Edmans, who wrote, Grow the Pie, says: “When all members. Of an organisation work together. Bound by a common purpose, and focused on the long-term, they create shared value that is to the benefit of everyone – shareholders, staff, customers, suppliers, the environment and communities.” This is how we bring glory to God, our creator.