‘People, then, are spiritual human beings. Because we have a spirit we are capable of being inspired. We look for meaning and purpose. Our spirit is active or dynamic, so change, forward movement and journeys attract us at a deep level. What I suggest we explore next is the kind of task that is capable of evoking our full range of energies.’
‘That surely must be a matter of values,’ said the young chief executive. ‘But before we come to that may I ask why the top circle – the apex of the triangular relation – is labelled TASK and not, more fashionably, MISSION or VISION. Quite frankly, TASK has an old-fashioned ring about it.’
‘You may be right, but it’s a question of choosing the right word, the one that must work at all three levels of leadership – team, operational and strategic. So it is general, and it implies little more than something that needs to be done. There’s an element of must about it, an obligation of some kind – imposed from outside or within – to complete it. It is a psychological sense or feeling in groups, the lust to finish as John Wesley once called it. That is why it is appropriate to call it a group need.’
‘The strength of that internal group need to achieve the task must vary quite considerably,’ observed the young chief executive. ‘Doesn’t that take us immediately to the value the group attaches to accomplishing the task?’
‘What do you think are the factors that come into play here?’
‘To state the obvious, if the group itself or its individual members are to receive large financial pay increases or bonuses, then they will be more eager to achieve the task.’
‘Yes, but these rewards are extrinsic – they are distinctly outside the task in question and are not derived from its essential nature. To complete the picture, we would have to sketch in the more negative penalties of not accomplishing the common task. For fear is a strong motivator. Soldiers, for example, who do not win a battle are liable to be killed in the rout or to spend a long period in captivity.’
‘True,’ he said, ‘but these positive and negative consequences – the traditional sticks and carrots – are by their very nature completely unlike the given task. What are the intrinsic elements in a task – those that belong to its essential nature – that excite the enthusiasm and commitment of people, that make it potentially inspiring?’
‘What does your experience suggest?’ I asked.
The young chief executive considered the question and then suggested we look at actual cases. So we then discussed what constitutes the TASK circle in a wide range of organizations – those like his own producing goods or services for profit, government departments, public services like health or the police, schools and universities, sporting bodies, voluntary bodies, charities and churches. He mentioned, too, some of the tasks that he had found inspiring. Then he offered a tentative conclusion.
‘The common element in the tasks that inspire – or are capable of inspiring – people seems to be that they contribute directly or indirectly to some wider purpose for good.’
‘What is your concept of good in this context?’ I asked.
‘It could be social good – producing the goods and services that society needs – or doing good for needy or unfortunate individuals, as charities do. Public services are also, as the name implies, serving the good of the public…’