109 - How to talk about soft topics with rational people with Marloes Sikkema

Purpose is becoming an increasingly important part of corporate culture, but how there are still misconceptions and doubts about its value - especially in ‘rational’ fields, such as engineering.

But the thing is, every company has a purpose - even if it doesn’t seem obvious to the people within it.  How can we help clients understand purpose, empower their people to take ownership of their part in it, and take it away from theory and into ‘real world’ application?

Marloes Sikkema, the founder of AMICA Innovatie and designer of ZENITH (the Purpose Anatomy game), is the perfect person to ask… so I did!

Find out about:

• Marloes’ technique for translating ‘elusive’ purpose into ‘rational’ language
• Cutting through buzzwords and broad terms when defining purpose
• Managing the risk of opening schisms and misalignments within a company
• Why innovation and purpose share far more in common than we might think
• Exploring ‘purpose in action’ – the real-world application of purpose
• Marloes’ one piece of advice for anyone who wants to push their company towards a conversation around purpose

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Questions and Answers

[01:24] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator, if you do?

[02:54] What does facilitation mean to you?

[04:45] What do you think holds people back from really buying-in to purpose and believing that their voice matters?

[06:48] How do you align with a client before starting an engagement to help them get over the purpose ‘threshold’?

[10:33] How do you help groups understand that purpose is important to work on and how do you use games to help them do that work?

[17:07] Can you explain the relevance of animals in your game, ‘Zenith’?

[19:57] How do you overcome broad, corporate buzzword terms (e.g. ‘being trustworthy’) when working on purpose?

[23:11] Do you often uncover contradictions within a company when working on purpose?

[27:25] Whose responsibility is it to own and manage realignment from moments of contradiction?

[29:42] How much time do you spend on properly defining the words used to describe a company’s purpose?

[35:19] What makes a workshop fail?

[38:51] What’s your favourite exercise?

[41:47] When you ask somebody about their purpose, do you put them into breakout rooms or ask as part of the wider group?

[46:03] How do you bring the conversation about purpose back together after breaking it down into smaller parts?

[47:36] What’s the impact of the purpose conversation on the innovation conversation?

[50:02] What is the one thing you would recommend to someone who wants their company to start talking about purpose?

[51:42] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?

Links

AMICA Innovatie 

Traction’s curated collection of business tools (including Zenith)

Serious game (& the Dutch version) 

Information and guidance on when to use Zenith

Connect to Marloes on 

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