Imagine The End to Find Your Beginning
An exercise to uncover your company's true purpose
We regularly support teams who’ve found themselves struggling with a lack of clarity and focus. These teams often started out with a definite sense of their mission but find that this has drifted over time. The further this drifts, the less engaged people become all while their day-to-day distracts them from pulling things back together.
In many cases, what these teams need is both a fresh perspective and an injection of urgency in the search for a renewed sense of purpose. It may seem ironic, then, that one of our favorite exercises for fostering this kind of vitality is the ‘company obituary’.
The idea is simple enough. All things pass. Your company will too. When friends (and fans) raise a glass to its memory, what will they most remember it for?
What does the company obituary deliver?
When we run this exercise, we consistently see that it…
Forces critical thinking: By imagining the company's demise, teams are compelled to evaluate its core strengths, weaknesses, and overall impact.
Highlights core values: The organization’s fundamental beliefs are also laid bare when the discussion turns to ‘what we stood for’.
Identifies potential threats: Looking at the company's end can uncover vulnerabilities that might otherwise be overlooked.
Stimulates strategic planning: Considering the company's legacy sparks conversations about long-term goals and sustainability.
How to run a company obituary exercise
The Obituary Writing Process:
Individual Reflection: Each team member writes their own obituary for the company. We usually suggest imagining it is somewhere between 20-50 years from now and the company is no more. In narrative style, we invite them to write 3-6 paragraphs that describe how the company will be remembered - considering its accomplishments, failures, and impact. Since we primarily work with distributed teams, we usually have each person do this in a Google Doc.
Group Sharing: Then we share the Google Docs and have other people highlight, comment, annotate what they liked, what stood out, questions they have etc. The idea is to get the team talking about the themes, similarities, differences and to explore what they might mean. You can, of course, run this exercise in person using flipcharts, colored markers and stickies too. We’ve done this during company retreats and people enjoy both the visceral process as well as the philosophical discussions that arise.
Identifying Core Values: The group collectively identifies the company's core values and mission based on the obituary insights. Following the discussion, you can either re-write the obituary together (using the pieces the group is aligned on) or simply focus on identifying the key points that came from the exercise. Often the ultimate goal of the session will inform your choice here. I.e. is the goal to produce an artifact or is that a bonus - and the actual goal is to realign and re-energize.
Facilitation Tips:
Encourage honesty and vulnerability throughout. Teams often fear that they’ll discover significant misalignment amongst the group if they poke around in this manner. However, that kind of misalignment is a tiger hidden in the long grass. Knowing it’s there is almost incalculably better than hoping it isn’t.
This works best with a group of under 10 people. If you have more than that, you’ll need to break into sub-groups and work out a share back process that makes sense. Video call breakout rooms work well for this.
Timing can be tricky for this exercise as some people will need 10 mins, others 30 mins. We suggest using the longer time slot and having some additional self-led activities that people can do if they finish earlier than the allotted time. You can also consider having the individual writing done async and then gathering live for the sharing and discussion.
Remember to state explicitly how the group will build on the insights gained to further develop a clear company mission and set of values as appropriate.
The great thing about this exercise is that you can run it for a company, a team, or a brand. In fact, the origins of this exercise come from the world of marketing where brand experts help budding orgs to develop memorable, impactful brands.
If you’re looking for an exercise for a retreat or pre-retreat, this could be a good choice and of course, if you’d like expert facilitation and guidance. We’re at your service.