What is Your Quest?

What is your Quest? What is your team's common goal en route to an overall purpose?
On this episode Derek Hudson and host Reed McColm start to break things down.

Show Notes

Derek is at derekhudson.ca.
See full show notes at the Essential Dynamics Wiki.
Your feedback is always welcome!

What is Essential Dynamics with Derek Hudson?

Join Derek Hudson as he explores Essential Dynamics, a framework for approaching the challenges facing people and organizations. Consider your Quest!

Reed: 00:21

Welcome once again. We're at Essential Dynamics. I'm Reed McColm and I'm here talking with Derek Hudson, is my mentor and teacher on this subject of telling me what how essential dynamics work in the marketplace and in the the business world, which is fairly unfamiliar to me, but I want to know more. And Derek, we were talking about a quest that everybody has to have one. Is a quest the same thing

Derek: 00:52

as a purpose or is it separate? So the way I look at it is that all human endeavor can really be described as people working together for a common goal. Okay. That's standard definition of team right now. I thought about that a lot.

Derek: 01:13

Step back a bit and then realize that that's really the hero's journey. Yes. That some ordinary person is plucked out of their circumstance, set on some quest to right some wrong or achieve some

Reed: 01:31

Right back to Greek theater.

Derek: 01:32

Grand purpose.

Reed: 01:33

Odyssey, the Aeneid.

Derek: 01:35

And that from a to b there's this journey. And so those are the way I kind of describe the essential elements is people, path and purpose.

Reed: 01:49

And so you separate path and Path and purpose. Purpose, you separate.

Derek: 01:54

Yeah. And it started from my analysis of business models. So the purpose is the objective of the organization and you have people, you bring the people together and then the people build a system. You know, labor specializes, you buy equipment, you have process control, whatever it is, marketing

Reed: 02:14

Yes.

Derek: 02:15

So that you can change things so that you can accomplish this purpose. And so I've I made I found this connection that's I'm not sure I'm not the only one between the stuff that we do every day at work and this grand idea of a quest.

Reed: 02:31

Okay. I I just I just wanna stop you there. I just wanna in terms of business, frequently a mission statement is their purpose, stated purpose for any business. Is that correct?

Derek: 02:42

Well, you're gonna see a variety of applications of that. Some mission statements are not very useful. A lot of organizations, smaller less mature ones, you know, wouldn't have one.

Reed: 02:56

Okay.

Derek: 02:57

Lots of not for profits really work hard on it because they don't have the obvious profit motive.

Reed: 03:03

Right. That was my experience in theater. Yeah. All of us trying to put our mission statement together and articulate what we wanted to do. But really, doesn't every business want to make a profit?

Derek: 03:17

You know, it's often not enough because it's hard. Work is hard, working with people is hard, working you know with customers and suppliers is hard. You need to be on a bit of a mission beyond just making money to really put yourself into it. But making money is important because it allows you to continue in the game. Okay.

Derek: 03:39

It rewards investment and it's one way of determining whether decisions are good or not. You know, I'm an accountant, I know how those numbers come together and it can't be the only way and it's actually sometimes not very precise way because you're measuring something that's not actually physical, real. It's it's a concept.

Reed: 04:04

I agree. I think there's a I like what you're saying because making enough money to to survive or for the for the company to profit financially is only one aspect of why you have a business. It seems like if your purpose a is to make money, if if your main purpose of the business is to make money, you've got all these other people, these people who are working so that the people at the top can make money.

Derek: 04:38

Yeah, I had that experience. I was at Pricewaterhouse, I was fairly senior, maybe on track to partnership, that's what they tell you anyway. Mhmm. Not really, that wasn't really where I wanted to go but I was in a meeting in Toronto, people from all over the country and the partner was talking about this consulting unit that I was part of and about how it was going really well and that the main variable that they're trying to get was revenue over profit or revenue or profit in relation to staff salaries. In other words, what they wanted to do was make more money off what they pay me.

Reed: 05:21

So what is that? How do they do that? They reduce your salary?

Derek: 05:26

Oh, they weren't doing that, they just make me busier and charge me out more and collect the money and don't share with me.

Reed: 05:32

I see.

Derek: 05:33

So yeah, profit for the shareholders isn't necessarily an advantage for all of the other stakeholders. So that's another reason that it's limited. So anyway, in this idea of the quest, the other thing that we talk about in essential dynamics is dynamic forces. Okay. So life is hard.

Derek: 05:55

There's opposition. Right. And we do better when we have some source of opposing forces that we can choose and manipulate and use to make decisions or to compliment. You know, if you think about building a building, the way a building is held up is that these stresses are set off against each other. You frame a house so that the weight here creates stability there even though more weight would you know

Reed: 06:26

Crush it.

Derek: 06:26

Crush it. So there's this aspect of what are the dynamic forces and as I was thinking about purpose and this idea of dynamic forces which came to me easier on other aspects of the essential dynamics. As I thought about purpose I realized that for that stated mission that a company might have and you could call that purpose x. There's also a purpose y. Okay.

Derek: 06:55

And purpose y may be unstated, it might be a hidden agenda, it might be different for different people. But if you can actually lay out what's purpose x and what's purpose y, then you can use your creativity to figure out how you're gonna create something new out of that.

Reed: 07:14

Is there

Derek: 07:14

always a purpose why? I believe there's always a purpose why. There might be a purpose said too. But to keep it simple for the model right now, let's say purpose x, purpose y and I'll give you an example and

Reed: 07:25

Yes, please. Kinda

Derek: 07:26

how I learned this. So early in the pandemic, I'm embarking on my consulting career for the second time. It's a hard time to get clients Yeah. But it's a good time to talk to people and good time to think. Yes.

Derek: 07:41

It's hard time to bill I guess is what I'm trying

Reed: 07:43

to say. Yeah. Yeah.

Derek: 07:44

So I reach out to a bunch of people that I knew and I just said talk to me about your business. And I've got a bit of a coaching mindset and so you know, maybe some of my questions would be valuable to you and I'm trying to figure out what's going on in the world right now. And one of the things I found out is that people who owned their companies maybe had built them over ten or fifteen or twenty years, that they actually without understanding it themselves were separate from their company. And so that they've they've created a company that was big enough that it had ongoing customers, had employees, suppliers, the bank and there was a system that had built up. That was you know, sometimes it went well, sometimes it didn't go well, it was a functioning system with multiple you know, elements to it.

Derek: 08:38

And then there's the owner. And so purpose x is provide the customer with quality product from motivated employees and you know and trustworthy suppliers. Is this the stated purpose? No. Like it's just I mean, one way or the other that's what it is, right?

Derek: 08:55

You walk into the store and they say, our purpose is to feed you excellent pizza.

Reed: 09:01

Okay.

Derek: 09:03

Our purpose is to make great widgets and that you will give us money and then we will have money and you will have widgets. Yeah. So, there's the operating business that becomes an entity. Okay. And then there's the owner.

Derek: 09:19

So, my business right now is almost inseparable from me but you know I'm starting to get other people involved and you know, I'm gonna end up creating something

Reed: 09:29

Mhmm.

Derek: 09:30

That's separate from me. So now that we have the owner and so one of the questions I was asking people is you know, this is a hard time for your business. If you can't go back to that business, what are you gonna do? And the answer I got for most of them was well, I'll get another business.

Reed: 09:47

Uh-huh.

Derek: 09:48

It wasn't that I am so tied to plumbing, you know or I'm so tied to construction that I just like it's in me to build, I have to build. I am a builder. I'll get a job as a builder. I'll just build stuff and sell it whatever. That wasn't it, I'm an entrepreneur.

Reed: 10:04

I see.

Derek: 10:05

And I need to provide for my family and I need to be busy and be creative. And so I will find a way to do that. And then I went, that's not the same as the company. I'll just give you another example. I just thought this the other day.

Derek: 10:19

This is fascinating to me. So I know this guy was a doctor. Yes. And he had a small office, maybe one or two people. But that was their job.

Derek: 10:29

And then he had this body of patients. Yes. And I think he was a good doctor and they trusted him they came to him. And one day he said, I'm done. And he walked in to the office and he said, I'm done.

Derek: 10:43

So, told the people, he said like close it up.

Reed: 10:45

During the pandemic No, no, this was years ago. Oh, I see. This was years ago.

Derek: 10:48

He just But he just said I'm done. So, the doctor had a business and there's a system there and there's people relying on the service and people relying on the income that came from that.

Reed: 10:59

Exactly, what happens to the client list if you

Derek: 11:02

Yeah, all that stuff is going and then there's the doctor who says, I'm gonna be a doctor until I'm done being a doctor and I'm gonna retire.

Reed: 11:10

I see.

Derek: 11:10

And so purpose x and purpose y. The people working in the business had no idea about purpose y. Uh-huh. And and then all of a sudden the separation became suddenly clear. I was talking with another fellow, this is more recently and he's been affected by the cuts in post secondary.

Derek: 11:32

Mhmm. So he's got a few classes to teach but time on his hands and he's he's now kind of selling his services or in a position where he needs to sell his services as a consultant and expert. He's got a PhD. And he was trying to get his head around charging people for stuff that he didn't used to charge for.

Reed: 11:55

That he gave freely in a university

Derek: 11:58

Because he was an academic and you know and all that kind of stuff. And so, you know, I wasn't trying to solve his problem. We were just talking. I said, well, hey, let me tell you about essential dynamics.

Reed: 12:06

Okay.

Derek: 12:07

And I said and there's purpose x and purpose y and he goes, oh. So my purpose y is like making money to provide for my family.

Reed: 12:14

Is that all that astounds me he would say it would be purpose y. I thought that would be purpose x.

Derek: 12:20

Well, know what? You know what? And that's one of the reasons why I call them x and y. I see. Because that doesn't imply any priority.

Derek: 12:28

Okay. My mistake. Sure. So but they're different but they're not opposite.

Reed: 12:37

Uh-huh.

Derek: 12:39

But to accomplish purpose x there's certain things that have to be there and to accomplish why there might be some other things. And our job whether it's managing our home or marriage or

Reed: 12:50

Yes.

Derek: 12:51

You know a company is like creatively how do I accomplish both of these things?

Reed: 12:57

Right.

Derek: 12:58

And I think there's so much potential for people, organizations, even our society to do better if we just own purpose x and purpose y as opposed to sort of ignore one Or Am

Reed: 13:12

I wrong to consider purpose x as stated or obvious and purpose y as more hidden or I mean, I feel like that's almost sinister.

Derek: 13:22

So so that's that's one way to look at it and that could be. But right now like in my analysis for clients and you know when I'm thinking through problems, I just say there's two. Uh-huh. And whatever I think of first is purpose x and then the other one's purpose y. So not necessarily a sense of priority or obviousness.

Derek: 13:45

Right. It's just that they're not the same. So I think I told this story on a an earlier podcast but it it bears repeating because it's maybe where I learned this. So my daughter Right. Was a young university student living away from home and she came to me and she said, dad, I figured it out.

Derek: 14:04

I'm like, what did you figure out? And she said, well, I used to think When I was a kid, used to think that your job as a parent was to make sure that I was happy all the time. And she said, I love this. And I didn't think you did that good of a job.

Reed: 14:21

I didn't think you were focused on my happiness.

Derek: 14:23

But now as I'm older and she was like maybe 22. She said, I realize that what you're trying to do is is help me be a happy adult. And there it is. Purpose x, happy child. Purpose y, happy adult.

Derek: 14:38

Yeah. Not the same thing.

Reed: 14:41

And not diametrically opposed.

Derek: 14:42

No, not opposed and if you're a parent that only focuses on purpose x, you know you're a terrible parent. You raise a spoiled kid

Reed: 14:51

Yeah. Yeah.

Derek: 14:52

Who thinks the world revolves around them. On the other hand, if you're only focused on purpose y, then you're in a boot camp. Yeah. And you can crank out kind of like cold war era robot Olympians. So you still have people.

Reed: 15:10

So you still have a yin and a yang Yeah. Even though they're not necessarily opposing forces. But they do come into opposing as if the child wants something that'll make them happy in the moment, but is opposed to making them better as an adult.

Derek: 15:24

Sure. Sure. So it's Friday night and the kid wants to go and play with the friends, but the promised chores aren't done, the homeworks aren't not done, the grades aren't there.

Reed: 15:36

Yeah, you have to

Derek: 15:36

So the parent is helping the child, you know, figure this out and you know, and I don't know if this is relevant to this conversation but something I think would be really valuable is at what point in a child's life are they responsible for their purpose x and purpose y? Yeah. And you as an adult are supporting them rather than decreeing whether it's gonna be Okay,

Reed: 15:57

I think I think I'm getting it. I I really appreciate this Derek and I guess the next question is, will you be my dad? I'm I'm wishing I had learned this many years ago. You're listening to Essential Dynamics with Reid McCollum and Derek Hudson. And Derek, where can they find you?

Derek: 16:16

Easy to find on the web. It's derek hudson dot c a and that's d e r e k. That's the right way to spell Derek.

Reed: 16:22

Okay. Good. Derek Hudson, one word, dot ca.

Derek: 16:26

Dot ca.

Reed: 16:27

Well, I hope you'll our listening audience will go and look for it and find out a little bit more about where we can discuss more essential dynamics which we're going we're gonna be hearing doing.

Derek: 16:39

You know, and if things go really well, at some point you're gonna be able to buy purpose x, purpose y t shirts. That's why the website. X and

Reed: 16:47

y. Yeah. People are gonna be thinking we're advertising men. Alright. Thank you very much, Derek.

Reed: 16:53

I sure appreciate it. I'm I'm learning a lot just talking to you and I I guess I always have. So thanks very much for listening to Central Dynamics. Consider your quest.