Do we have a Common Purpose?

At Shared Interest we believe in developing our people and their capabilities for both the personal and organisational good. Since February, I’ve been lucky enough to be on the Common Purpose Meridian programme. This is a fantastic opportunity to develop as an individual and also to better understand the context that Shared Interest is operating in.

One of the key things that I kept hearing from previous graduates was that the course provided invaluable networking opportunities. Now, I’m happy enough to chat to strangers and going into a room where I know no-one no longer provides the fear that it may have done in my teens or early twenties but ‘networking’ often conjures up images of people all under immense pressure in their roles to meet their next most useful contact and achieve that all important ‘sale’. The networking that happens on Common Purpose is far more organic, and not at all pressured. It is our ‘common purpose’ if you like, to share knowledge, embrace our joint learning and naturally break down some of the barriers that exist between different sectors and businesses within our own region or establish an unofficial ‘network’ if you prefer. This led me to think about my own organisation and how this unified approach to problem solving i.e. the shared interest of our staff, members, volunteers and indeed those who choose fairtrade products on a daily basis has led us to such a strong position. Within an organisation, this can be relatively easy to achieve if the goal you are aiming for is particularly emotive and attracts those with a passion for the issue in question, but it does not often exist between separate organisations, particularly rivals within competitive sectors.

So what is it about Common Purpose that does this so effortlessly? (I’m not on commission, I just appreciate how it operates). Hard to say for definite, but the overriding feeling that no matter at what stage of your career you are at or which sector you are in, there’s a fraternity that not only supports and encourages you to develop further but removes all barriers within a safe environment. If Shared Interest and Common Purpose can do it, why not more of us? Am I being too naive to wonder what it would be like if more groups of organisations got together and thought about how a joint approach might actually work for them, rather than just being a tick in the box of joint working? Maybe it just takes a few of us to make that initial leap…