On The Power of Mission

“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead.

At iThemes, I got to see the power of this statement unfold in a beautiful way.

And what ignites that is a shared mission.

I’m not talking about the stupid corporate fake mission statements that are simply ways to try to manipulate flat out greed.

I’m talking about a mission, a theme, a simple concept of what a group is seeking to do together.

Done right, they capture the common focus and alignment of a team. It’s something we can think about, share with others and point to when we talk about what we do at work.

They unite us. They give us common energy. They help us get up in the morning and feel pride in what we do in our work.

It might not go up on a wall (although we did ours). But the key is for the people to see the possibility of what each of us as part of a team can do BIGGER and BETTER together.

And what I’ve learned is you can do that for your customers too.

Create identity and belonging around a shared cause.

As Corey Maass and I continue to collaborate on a new WordPress product called Crop.Express, I couldn’t help but see an opportunity for a shared customer mission.

We’re still working on it, but the current iteration is:

Make creative chores fun

It’s more in our marketing conversation. And please note: Marketing does not have to be evil.

I’m an idealist, but marketing is just messaging. It’s communication that seeks to share the message with potential customers.

Our growing shared interest in both products, WordPress and the particular problem we’re solving is definitely evolving.

But it’s more than marketing to us, it’s missional.

And who knows where our product grows, but I deeply know and value that common cause, shared mission, however big, to do cool things together.