**September 20, 2022** #### #### Links [Transistor](https://share.transistor.fm/s/c6c57920) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4i0tTv9L65OTOxGO7cGbzU) [Google Podcasts](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL2Vzc2VudGlhbC1keW5hbWljcy13aXRoLWRlcmVrLWh1ZHNvbg/episode/ZTgzZTk2ODgtOTY1Zi00YmViLWExZDMtNDA2NGM5MjZhNGIy?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjw34fGj6T6AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ) [Apple Podcasts](https://share.transistor.fm/s/c6c57920) [Podcast Addict](https://podcastaddict.com/episode/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.transistor.fm%2Fc6c57920%2F9ce011f2.mp3&podcastId=3153944) #### Summary Brad Ferguson joins Derek again to talk about the power of purpose, especially how the power of narrative can bring people together in an organization, based on Brad's work on helping the Province of Alberta consider its Quest. #### Concepts - [[Purpose]] - [[Quest]] - [[The Hero's Journey]] #### Quotes >If you knew what you were working on and how it contributed to a single scoreboard...I saw people get very excited about the work they were doing and how it was contributing. The power of narrative brought that together. >A lot of the narrative in Alberta was "overcoming the monster" or "David versus Goliath". It was Alberta fighting back on Ottawa, Alberta fighting back on everything. And what Albertans really wanted was to show a journey or a quest story, which everybody is genetically engineered to understand. >Once people across the country start to understand the quest Alberta is on then can give time to the province to show results, and to show progress, versus just judging it for this moment in time. >Sandy McTaggart and Mr. [Jean] de la Bruyere, they were both coming out of Harvard University, and they took a map of the globe...and they said we want to be entrepreneurs, we want to be in the real estate business... and out of all the places, they put the pin right in Edmonton... I would suggest two kids coming out of Harvard today, should take a look at a map of the world, and I bet that pin ends up right back in Alberta. >What happens is they form two lists, in isolation, when actually, there needs to be a principle, and a limitation that comes with that. Those principles or values need to be met with a moment of a limitation to them. If we can talk about things within ranges, I think that somehow starts to form a basis for a healthy dialogue. >Let's start with the premise that people want to be productive and they want to contribute. The next level of that is clarity and what are we contributing to...The third level is consistency of message from the top... If that message can be consistent and clear and purposeful, people know how they work together and people find meaning in what they do and they can see the results, when you get alignment in that...I've never seen an organization that can't refresh. #### See also - [[Episode 55 Brad Ferguson - Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization]] - Brad Ferguson is at [Optimus SBR](https://www.optimussbr.com) - Derek Hudson is at [Unconstrained](https://getunconstrained.com) %% What did we learn from this discussion? - frame the objective as a story, a quest - be clear about the purpose - be consistent in how you talk and act about the pupose - that's what employees are looking for