Manifesto
In the last 20 years or so, a lot of our self-help and management literature (it's scary how much an overlap those two have, but that's a topic for some other time) was about values, vision, and purpose, both personal and collective. We've been told we should figure out what we want to do with our lives and what our set of values is.
And yet, somehow, when we bare ourselves out on the web, I don't see anyone writing about these things. Sure, some social networks have a field where you can write your religious views or political leanings… that's not quite the same thing though, is it? Besides, who does fit so neatly into convenient little boxes anymore? Ultimately, judging people by their political or religious views is still a form of prejudice; it's just a stand-in for the things you really want to know about someone: What do you stand for? How do you judge good and bad? What gives you satisfaction?
Values
And morals should come first. What do good and bad mean for you? It's easy to say you try to do the right thing, but I find it slightly disturbing how most people don't seem to realize “the right thing” doesn't mean the same for everybody.
And it's not a simple question, either; you probably have a vague, instinctive idea, you probably have a gut reaction to certain behaviors and to most news you read, but actually articulating it into coherent words takes a lot of soul searching — unless you simply subscribe to a pre-built system conveniently passed on to you. And yet, even if you do, some soul searching will most likely reveal that you have your own interpretation…
It's an exercise I recommend, anyway; because until you do articulate it, there's a pretty good chance you're not being 100% consistent about it. That doesn't mean you should set it in stone and never allow it to evolve; but having it spelled out means you know yourself better, and more importantly, a vague, intuitive value system can only influence your decisions in a vague, intuitive way; a well-defined, explicit statement can be used as a scale to inform your decisions even when you're making them by a rational process.
Many systems, notably major groups of Christians and Jewish, prefer to express values as a list of bans (such as the Commandments); others, as a set of guidelines. As part of my professional experience, I developed a dislike for long checklists; they tend to encourage disuse and shortcuts. I prefer to express values as a simple statement, which I call “definition of good”.
So all that introduction aside, what does “good” mean to me?
Freedom of choice and fair opportunity for all, to pursue happiness and fulfillment.
Purpose
That said, what do I want to do with my life? What brings me satisfaction, fulfillment, realization?
I tried to distill it into a single purpose statement, as Covey likes it, but I ended up with a short list instead, because I guess I'm not that simple ;–) It's ordered by priority, though.
Helping people become better.
This used to be “smarter”, but in formulating my values statement, I realized I need to allow each person space to define what “better” means for them. It's also too limiting; if I'm honest about my satisfaction, really any kind of better will do — in my professional life, as I transitioned first to team mentor in China, then to full-time ScrumMaster at Ableton, I found it really made me happy to see colleagues get better at their job, which if you think about it isn't quite the same thing…
Telling stories.
I guess this is my oldest passion and what I've been doing most of my life.
Getting people together.
I like building teams. I don't know what it is about it, but it's beautiful. Finding points in common and a shared goal/purpose, reducing friction and learning to work together, and then that ecstasy when goals start, bit by bit, to be achieved.
Bonus points for combos: at work, I tend to combine 3 and 1. And when I'm writing, it makes me extra happy if I can make you think in interesting directions, and if I hear from my readers that I not only entertained them, but somehow made a positive change in their lives.