The Mission Funnel: Finding Your Purpose in Your Organization
If you’re part of an organization, especially a larger one, you may know that feeling.
A cog in the machine.
Or, even worse, a helpless cog in the machine.
If you feel this way, I have news for you. You kinda are a cog. I know that’s not terribly empathetic or comforting! But it ‘s true. And it’s important.
Here’s why.
How organizations come to be
Organizations are created because there is some kind of purpose or mission to accomplish that is beyond a single individual. Sometime, somewhere, somebody (or multiple somebodies) decided there was a mission they wanted to accomplish. And they realized this mission was bigger than something they could do themselves, so they grabbed a bunch of other people (or agreed to work together), and developed a formal way of organizing themselves.
Ta-da! An organization was born!
For an organization to function, it must have the parts that make up the whole. So yes, you are a cog, in a way. You are an individual that is part of the greater organization.
But cog is a very depersonalizing, inhuman term, so let’s not use that. Instead, let’s move from cog to contributor. You are in your organization because there is something that you do that contributes to the greater mission of what the organization is trying to accomplish.
You are more than a cog. You are a contributor. What you do matters.
Your Part
However, there are times that even if you’re part of an organization, it starts to get a bit fuzzy. Why are you there? Does it even make a difference? Should you stay?
Those aren’t easy questions to answer, but understanding your role in the organization helps with processing. First, let’s look at the organization, and then let’s look at you and your role.
Every organization has a Mission Funnel. It starts with its mission, and it figures out how to accomplish that mission.
To work on the mission, the organization engages in activities, i.e. the people work on stuff and throw it all in the funnel. In the end, the organization achieves its outcomes, which represented by pouring out the bottom of the funnel.
Let’s look in more details about the activities. After all, organizations don’t go around doing random activities that don’t contribute to the mission. (Well, they aren’t supposed to, anyway. I know how easy it is for me — er, I mean, for the organization — get distracted and do things that don’t contribute to the mission!)
The activities filter through a number of layers.
Philosophy
The philosophy is an approach the organization takes to do its work. It’s like driving down a lane of a highway. It chooses driving down one lane but not another.
This philosophy is based on certain values — principles that are important to the organization. For example, if the organization really values precision, it will make sure its employees cross their t’s and dot their i’s. But if the organization values speed, it will try to push out its work quickly and then go back on the precise details later.
Values drive the philosophy the organization chooses to take.
Strategy
The strategy is the type of plan that the organization takes to accomplish the mission. It’s important to figure out the philosophy and values first because the strategy needs to fit within that.
Before COVID-19, churches had a physical strategy for their weekend services. But after the pandemic struck, that was no longer an option for many churches, and churches developed a digital strategy — virtual services, virtual small groups, virtual connection times.
The philosophy of the importance of gathering together for worship and community was still there, but the plan of how to do it changed, and churches adopted a different strategy.
Goals
Goals are needed to make sure you’re trying to achieve what you’re trying to do. I include milestones in this category — sign posts along the way that make sure that you are moving along your strategy and staying on track.
Actions
And then people actually do the work.
The activities get filtered from bigger picture down to discrete tasks that must be accomplished.
Ideally, you end up with the outcomes that the organization wants from all these activities.
You, again
So here’s where you come in…
As a member of the organization, you have your own mini funnel. You have a mission that your role is trying to accomplish you engage in activities, and you end up with outcomes.
Your mini funnel contributes along with your colleagues to the greater organizational mission funnel. The efforts of everyone working together is what achieves the overall outcome.
When everyone is working together, there is alignment, and there are a lot more outcomes that pour out the Mission Funnel because people working together well creates momentum and more fruitful results.
The problem is when individuals do not align.
The first funnel above has a little drip coming out. The second funnel is doing its job. The third funnel is secretly channeling its efforts in another direction.
What we have here, folks, is misalignment. One person is doing the job, but that’s only one-third of the workforce.
When the mini funnels are not doing their part contributing to the overall Mission Funnel, the outcomes decrease to a smaller drip because the input is decreased. There is friction, conflict, malaise, sabotage, or passive-aggressiveness that prevents the work from going forward.
This internal misalignment slows down work, keeps things from moving forward and even at times causes projects to go backwards or break down. It is not a pretty sight. We have cogs falling off right and left, (or funnels leaking all over the place) and the organization grinds to a halt.
Why misalignment?
In my observation, these efforts often happen because of one or more of the following reasons:
Not understanding contribution. The person does not understand what they are trying to achieve or how they contribute to the overall mission.
Lack of agreement. The person does not agree with some element of the Mission Funnel. Most of the time the disagreement is not on the mission, because people would not have joined the organization in the first place if they did not agree with the mission. I find that often misalignment eventually goes back to the level of philosophy or values. The person may agree with the overall mission, but disagree in how that mission should be carried out. There are sometimes disagreements about strategy, but most of the serious conflicts where people are at odds are often around philosophy and values.
Lack of clarity around role and decision rights. Another area that causes conflict is when there is clarity around authority. The Daring Decision Tree tool is one way to bring some clarity.
What about you?
How clear are these three areas above for you in your role in your organization?
If you’re the one at the top, you do have it a little easier because you get to call the shots or at least speak significantly into them. But if you’re not at the top, you might sometimes struggle with one or more of the items above.
If you do, the next steps are reflection and conversation. Do some journaling or processing and prayer to discern where there are misalignments. Then seek someone in your organization who can help clarify or define things for you.
Navigating organizations is a journey. Organizations are living organisms that change, so chances are once you figure out something, it will change! Understanding the Mission Funnel will help you navigate some of the challenges you may face as you and your colleagues carry out the mission together.
What other reasons have you seen for misalignment? Post a comment below!
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