The Headwaters
I want to go on record and say this is has become the most important and informative tool I use.
The Headwaters Process™
PURPOSE → MOTIVATION → ENGAGEMENT → PRODUCTIVITY → PROFIT ™
To me, it feels like some sort of magical formula. Not magic in a gimmicky way. More like something ancient. Something that has the taste and feel of truth. Something so deeply aligned with how God has uniquely and intentionally designed us.
The first time Mark Herringshaw casually drew it on a whiteboard, I had one of those rare moments I’ve only experienced a handful of times in my life…
“Wow. Yeah, that’s the secret. This process has the potential to change everything.”
If we put substantial time and effort into this it would change everything in our organizations.
Try This
Follow this progression:
PURPOSE | Clarify your organization’s unique purpose. Something so true, so pure, and so compelling that you cannot ignore it. Then only bring on people whose own unique purpose aligns with that deeper why. If your “purpose” can be reduced to a number, it isn’t your purpose.
MOTIVATION | Put those purpose-aligned people in seats they are naturally motivated to occupy. Roles where the top three to five responsibilities sit right at the core of who they are.
ENGAGEMENT | When those two things are true, engagement becomes almost inevitable. The person feels alive in their work. The organization gains energy, creativity, and ownership. The people they serve feel the difference.
PRODUCTIVITY | When someone is deeply engaged and operating from their natural strengths, productivity follows. Not forced productivity. Not burnout productivity. Aligned productivity. The kind that produces outsized results.
PROFIT | The downstream result of all of this is greater profit or deeper impact. Not as the goal. But as the proof.
Everything flows from and is influenced by your organization's purpose and people.
If you want a more engaged workforce... Go upstream. If you want to influence productivity and profit... Go upstream.
Purpose and people shouldn’t be afterthoughts or accessories to the widgets you are producing.
Final Thoughts
This upstream work could feel like working backwards. In one sense, it could be. But the reality is it’s likely the most important proactive work you could do, and has the potential to influence the entire stream.
If you do this, the rest of the work should almost effortless. Like a natural flow. Like you and everyone who is aligned living out who you already are - becoming more of your true essence.
Double down here. Do the hard work to go upstream.
CLICK HERE for a pdf overview to use and reference in the future.
PS - All the same principles apply in your personal life! Define your core purpose. Identify your core motivations/desires. Do more work that engages your purpose and motivations. You will be more productive. And you will have more margin in the end. Everyone around you wins as well.
PSS - Did you know the mighty Mississippi starts as a small trickle over rocks at one end of Lake Itasca? What happens upstream influences the entire river. That small stream becomes an absolute force by the end.
