I don't know how I know, but I'm gonna find my purpose.
For the past year, I’ve been referring to myself as “Agent Provocateur” or “Instigator”. I don’t know what that means, but I’ve embraced change and my inner contrarian. Mark and Tara and Chris have written ‘social mission statements’. Tara proposes an exercise “Take your personal purpose or raison d'etre and look at what you are creating with your business”. (As much as I want to take this seriously, I can’t help but start singing “Purpose” from Avenue Q in my head, which doesn’t help). It reminds me of Kawasaki’s “make meaning”.
- Increase the quality of life
- Right a wrong
- Prevent the end of something good
This is not the first time I’ve asked what it is to give back. John Oxley asked me about “what legacy do I want to leave”. For the past year, I think I’ve been trying to make Toronto a better place to live and work. Is this a mission? A career? A year? I’m not sure. Is this big enough? Does it affect people? Hugh offers up:
The more amazing, the more people will click with your idea. The more people click with your idea, the more it will change the world.
The reason that people continue to come out to these events, is that they click with the BarCamp ideals and the open community that we are building. Is that enough? I thought I should look to where I find big ideas and inspiration: WorldChanging.com and IDEO are 2 places that I’ve found inspiration. What meaning do they make?
WorldChanging.com works from a simple premise: that the tools, models and ideas for building a better future lie all around us. That plenty of people are working on tools for change, but the fields in which they work remain unconnected. That the motive, means and opportunity for profound positive change are already present. That another world is not just possible, it’s here. We only need to put the pieces together.
IDEO helps organizations innovate through design…we use design thinking to help clients navigate the speed, complexity, and opportunity areas of today’s world.
What’s your purpose?
Popularity: 1% [?]
