The reason why I've started wanting fewer things and why I can't put my purpose into words are probably the same thing.
Last month, during my monthly brainstorming session with a client who is a business owner, I casually mentioned myself. "Lately, I feel like I want fewer things," I said.
When I was younger, I had a very strong desire for material possessions. I wanted to own nice things, and I wanted others to think I "knew good things." There was definitely a time when those feelings were my driving force. But now that I'm approaching 50, that desire has clearly diminished.
I said it just as casual conversation, but it bothered me strangely. That's because I realized that this was actually the same problem that business owners who come to me asking me to "put their purpose into words" are facing.
For the past few years, I've received many inquiries from people wanting to articulate their purpose—the reason for their company's existence. But when it comes to the actual process of formulating it, the first hurdle for managers isn't that they "can't find the words." Rather, it's that they "don't yet clearly understand what they truly value." If you proceed without clarifying these two points, purpose formulation will fail from the start.
Even if you put photos on a treasure map, the number of things you want won't increase.
I recently watched a summary video of a self-help book. It introduced the vision board technique, where you place a picture of yourself smiling in the middle of a corkboard and arrange pictures of things you want, places you want to go, and the person you want to become around it. The video continued by explaining that the human brain is energy-efficient and has a tendency to recognize things that it sees repeatedly as "what you truly want." I understand the logic behind it. The idea that repeated visual exposure can motivate action makes sense from the perspective of how the brain works.
But that's not where I got stuck. A prerequisite for a vision board to work is that you already know what you want. People who can collect pictures of what they want already have the answer. The real struggle in purpose formulation is overwhelmingly more often with what comes before that. It's more common for companies to start out without even a clear outline of what they want to value.
It's not that my desire for material possessions has decreased; my standards have simply changed.
Returning to my own story, although I said that I "want fewer things," when I think about it, my desire for material possessions hasn't disappeared entirely. Looking back at the things I've bought recently, there's a high-priced vacuum cleaner and an electric shaver. Both are completely different from the designer bags and watches I longed for when I was younger. They're practical items, like tools made to prevent periodontal disease. What they have in common is that I'm paying for "value in use," not "value in display."
I believe this directly relates to a company's purpose. Startups are often driven by simple desires like "we want to grow" or "we want to become famous." There's nothing inherently wrong with that; in fact, it's a healthy initial driving force. However, at some point in the company's maturation process, there's always a shift in criteria: do you want to be a company "to show off" or a company "that is used and relied upon"? I think the process of formulating a purpose is about catching up with this shift in criteria through language.
What's interesting is that this shift in standards occurs before the person even realizes they've "changed"—their actions change first. They no longer hesitate to spend over 10,000 yen on a toothbrush, or tens of thousands of yen on a vacuum cleaner... When you write it like this, you realize that it's orders of magnitude different from the business owners around them.
In a company setting, for example, hiring criteria might subtly shift from "someone who seems competent" to "someone we want to work with for a long time," or the types of work we turn down might change. Putting purpose into words is similar to picking up on these already occurring behavioral changes and giving them meaning. It's definitely not about writing an ideal from scratch.
The premise is that "ideals are not something to be merely proclaimed, but something to be used."
At our company, we value the idea that a philosophy isn't something to be merely stated and then satisfied with; it's something to be actually used in daily decision-making. The same goes for purpose; it's not something that's finished the moment you frame it and hang it on the wall, but rather that's when the real work begins.
When discussing our purpose and vision with clients, the initial words are usually too beautiful and fail to resonate with anyone. "Contributing to the local community" or "For the smiles of our customers"—these aren't wrong, but they don't function as a basis for daily decision-making. Truly usable purpose needs to be unearthed from more personal experiences and the "uncompromising sense of unease" felt by the business owner. This is fundamentally different from searching for a beautiful slogan.
Reasons why SMEs stumble when formulating their purpose
What I've noticed while working with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on purpose formulation is that many companies immediately start searching for "cool-sounding words." As soon as they begin filling in the mission, vision, and values framework, they converge on bland, inoffensive words that are similar to those of other companies. I think this is more than just a common occurrence; it's a structural problem.
What may seem like a roundabout way, but is actually the shortest path, is to start with personal insights, such as changes in the manager's own "material desires." What have you started spending your money and time on recently? What no longer moves you? Conversely, what things did you never pay attention to before but now strangely pique your interest? By identifying these specific changes, you can begin to see the outline of "what this person and this company truly values." Purpose formulation is about refining that into words, not about searching for eloquent words from the start. From my experience, a considerable number of companies get this wrong.
There's another common pitfall: relying solely on the personal experiences of the CEO. While the founder's vision is a crucial starting point, simply translating it into a slogan at face value will only make it "the CEO's essay" to employees. After uncovering the CEO's unease and personal experiences through brainstorming, it's essential to include a process of comparing how employees on the ground interpret it and how those values are reflected in actual work situations. Skipping this back-and-forth process will leave the purpose as mere words for management, becoming a mere embellishment that no one on the ground uses.
After putting it into words, how do you turn it into something you can actually use?
Once the purpose is finalized, the next challenge is figuring out how to translate it into business decisions, hiring criteria, and daily behavioral guidelines. In our case, we have the simple words "respect, honesty, and self-accountability" as our behavioral guidelines, but these aren't just slogans to hang on the wall. We use them in actual evaluation and decision-making situations to ask ourselves, "Is this an action worthy of respect?" This is how a purpose should ideally be positioned; the moment it's formulated isn't the end goal, but rather something that's refined and used as a daily basis for decision-making.
Summary: What's truly important becomes visible after the unnecessary has been stripped away.
The method of listing and presenting "what you want," like a vision board, can certainly be encouraging in some situations. However, what I've realized from casual conversations with clients is that what's truly important isn't something you add as you get older or as your company matures, but rather something that becomes visible after you've stripped away the unnecessary. I think the process of defining a purpose isn't about creating beautiful new words, but rather about unearthing what you already value, putting it into words, and using it to its fullest potential.
If you're struggling to articulate your company's purpose, before resorting to frameworks, I suggest you start by taking stock of "what you've recently been spending your money and time on" and "what no longer moves you." Frankly, doing this alone is quite difficult. It's usually much faster to brainstorm with a third party. In fact, this kind of brainstorming and inventory is often the first step we take when helping clients define their purpose.
WRITTEN BY
Ichikawa Atsushi
Representative Director and Chairman
After starting his own business at the age of 26, he has over 20 years of management experience in the design and branding fields. In 2016, he moved with his family to the Philippines and established a local IT outsourcing company, leading its global expansion. Currently, as a "GLOBAL BRANDING AGENCY," he supports the growth of companies while also actively working on organizational reforms within his own company. Based on the real-world struggles and firsthand information he has faced in organizational development and overseas management, he shares practical branding and organizational theories that are thoroughly aligned with the perspective of business leaders.
