Parliament | Your Purpose Statement is Worthless (Until You Do This)
We've all seen the familiar dance: Companies trumpet lofty mission statements on their websites while their internal practices tell a completely different story. The disconnect is more than just disappointing—it's damaging. And in a post-pandemic world where talent has options and heightened expectations, it's downright lethal to your culture.
Purpose Without Practice is Just Pretty Words
A recent article on Medium reinforced what we've been saying for years: purpose-driven organizations aren't just nice to have—they're essential. But here's where many companies stumble: They craft a compelling purpose but fail to build the scaffolding that turns that purpose into lived experience.
Let's be real: Your employees don't experience your purpose through your written statements. They experience it through your policies, benefits, everyday decisions, and, most importantly, how you respond when your values are tested.
The Disconnect Is Costing You
When there's daylight between what you say and what you do:
Trust erodes - 60% of employees who don't believe their company's values are genuine report lower engagement scores
Retention suffers - Purpose-driven organizations experience 40% lower turnover
Recruitment struggles - 86% of millennials would consider taking a pay cut to work for a company whose values align with their own
But the most dangerous cost? The cynicism that takes root when employees learn to tune out your "values talk" because they've seen it doesn't translate to action.
From Talk to Walk: Operationalizing Your Values
At Hoot, we've developed a methodology that bridges this gap by operationalizing values and creating on-brand benefits. Here's what that looks like:
Operationalized Values
Values aren't just wall art. They need to be actionable guidelines for decision-making. For each value, define:
Specific behaviors that demonstrate the value in action
Clear boundaries that indicate when a value is being compromised
Decision frameworks that help teams navigate complex choices
Recognition systems that celebrate when values are lived out
For example, when we say "Candor" is one of our values, we define exactly what that means in practice:
"I talk to people, not about them."
"I regularly bring up concerns and dissent even when speaking with leadership."
"I use candor with clients and coworkers and avoid zigzagging difficult topics."
These aren't vague aspirations—they're specific behaviors we can observe, measure, and hold ourselves accountable to.
On-Brand Benefits
Benefits should be more than competitive compensation packages—they should be tangible expressions of your brand values. When we designed our "Life Support" benefit, which reimburses employees up to $250/month for anything that buys back their time, we weren't just checking a benefits box. We were creating a living, breathing expression of our belief that work should enable people to become their best selves.
On-brand benefits answer the question: "If our purpose and values were a benefit, what would it look like?"
Some examples we've helped clients develop:
A tech company with a "lifelong learning" value offering employees quarterly learning stipends
A healthcare organization with a "whole person" approach providing mental health days separate from sick leave
A professional services firm with a "family first" mentality implementing no-meeting Fridays
Building the Scaffolding
Creating the infrastructure that supports your purpose isn't a one-time exercise. It's an intentional, ongoing process that requires:
Auditing current practices - Identify where you're already living your values and where gaps exist
Designing new structures - Create policies, benefits, and practices that align with your purpose
Training leadership - Equip managers to make values-based decisions
Gathering feedback - Continuously assess how well your structures support your stated purpose
Iterating - Be willing to evolve as your organization grows and changes
Walking Our Talk
At Hoot, we know this work isn't easy—because we do it ourselves. When we found ourselves supporting three maternity leaves on our ten-person team this year, it tested our commitment to our value of "Joy" and our vision of helping people become their best selves through work.
It would have been easier to offer the bare minimum required by law. Instead, we designed a maternity policy that reflects who we are and what we believe, even though it cost us $26,000 out of pocket.
Was it challenging? Absolutely. Was it worth it? Without question.
The Real Work of Brand
This is what we mean when we say brand is the being, marketing is the doing. Your brand isn't just your external face—it's the internal scaffolding that shapes how you operate. It's the framework that guides decisions when nobody's watching. It's the structure that helps your people understand not just what you do, but why and how you do it.
In a world hungry for authenticity, the companies that will thrive are those that don't just talk about purpose, but build the infrastructure that makes that purpose real. That's not just good branding—it's good business.
Your Move
If you're ready to bridge the gap between purpose and practice, start by asking these questions:
If someone shadowed our company for a week, would they be able to identify our values based solely on our actions?
Do our benefits, policies, and everyday practices reflect what we say matters most?
When our values are tested, do we have clear frameworks for making tough decisions?
Are we recognizing and celebrating when our people live out our values?
The answers might be uncomfortable, but they'll point you toward the scaffolding you need to build.
Remember: Your culture isn't what you say it is. It's what your people experience every day. Make sure that experience aligns with your purpose.
Let's create change together.
Artwork by Nya McClain, article by Senior Art Director, Bri Thomas
Consistency Doesn't Mean Boring: Why brand consistency is about intention, not limitation
The Persistent Myth
"We need to be more creative, let's break away from the brand guidelines." "Brand consistency is holding us back." "Our guidelines are too restrictive for social media." "We need something fresh - let's ignore the system just this once."
These are the justifications used every time someone wants to prioritize short-term creative impulses over long-term brand building. But here's the thing: consistency isn't your enemy - it's your secret weapon.
The Reality Check
The most innovative brands in the world are also some of the most consistent. Think about:
Apple's product launches - always minimal, always powerful
Nike's advertising - decades of "Just Do It" finding fresh expressions
Coca-Cola - evolving within their brand world for over a century
Google - playful while maintaining clear system principles
These brands aren't consistent because they lack creativity. They're consistent because they understand that consistency creates recognition, and recognition builds trust.
The Freedom of Framework
Strong brand systems work like music – they're built on a fundamental structure that enables meaningful improvisation, not restricts it. Think of your brand guidelines as a musical scale: once you truly understand the rules, you can play with them in infinite ways while still creating something recognizable. The structure isn't limiting your creativity; it's giving it direction and purpose. When you have a clear framework, you don't waste energy wondering if something is "on brand" – instead, you can focus your creative energy on finding fresh, innovative ways to express your brand's core truth.
The best brand systems don't wall you in; they give you a foundation to build upon. They provide the tools and principles that enable teams to move quickly and confidently, ensuring that every expression of the brand adds to its equity rather than diluting it. It's about creating guardrails that focus innovation rather than barriers that prevent it.
What Actually Matters
Real brand consistency isn't about mindless repetition or rigid rule-following – it's about strategic intention and purposeful choice. It's understanding that every brand expression is either building or eroding brand equity, and making conscious decisions about how to move forward. True consistency comes from having a deep understanding of your brand's core principles and using that understanding to guide evolution, not prevent it.
This means looking beyond surface-level consistency like colors and logos to ensure you're creating coherent experiences that build meaningful recognition over time. It's about understanding that your brand isn't just a set of visual rules – it's a tool for creating lasting impressions and building trust with your audience. When you approach consistency from this perspective, it becomes less about what you can't do and more about how you can use your brand's established equity to create more powerful work.
The Bottom Line
Remember: The most powerful creative work doesn't come from ignoring your brand - it comes from understanding it deeply enough to push it forward with purpose.
