In the early 1990s I spent about 5 years doing a lot of work with the Canadian Armed Forces (teaching them how to question the rules – great fun!), and during my time there I learned a powerful lesson about the power of purpose.

Image by Tjflex2 via Flickr

Like many bureaucracies, the Forces suffered from many inefficiencies – fighting over policy, union-management issues, etc.  Then the first Gulf War happened, and they had to become operational within 3 weeks, something that was impossible – but they did it, and they did it by breaking every rule in the book.

A week before the Gulf War hit, this would have been impossible.  But the Forces are about mission, mission, mission.  There was a clear purpose, one that almost every Canadian could believe in, and this mission drove them.  Regulations were irrelevant.  Long hours for unionized workers was not an issue.  People working outside their job descriptions was not an issue.  The mission was something they all believed in, and it over-rode all of that.  They all had a clear, shared sense of purpose.

Once the operation was over, they reverted back to the way it had always been and all the inefficiencies came back.

The Forces know how to work in wartime, when they have a common, shared purpose – they can and will break every rule in the book to accomplish the mission. When the war is over, and there's no clear, shared purpose, they get lost in their silos and policies and that takes over.

Are other organizations that different?  What do you think?