This article is a little different from others I’ve written. In November, I spent a couple of weeks volunteering in Armenia. I made a last-minute decision to fly out in response to a crisis I saw unfolding from a distance. Now that I am back home and reflecting on the experience, I wanted to capture the striking differences — and similarities — between the for-profit and the non-profit worlds and to share the lessons those of us in the corporate sector can learn from our non-profit colleagues. 

Some context: On September 19, 2023, there was an escalation in the decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The unfortunate outcome was that territory changed hands, and a formally independent territory of ethnic Armenians was ceded to Azerbaijan. Within 24 hours, over 120,000 Armenians were mandated to vacate their homes. 

This situation was serious and, despite feeling entirely out of my depth, I knew I wanted to help. I was in touch with three incredible organizations, all with very different mandates, who agreed to host me as a volunteer. The first was a well-funded global aid group; the second, a grassroots, women-led humanitarian relief group; and the third, an independent think tank and policy accelerator. Not my typical clients! My mandate was to provide guidance on strategic planning to individual program directors, in a rapidly changing environment. 

Walking into the office of the global aid organization on day one, I was surprised at how normal the office looked. A series of white lacquered desks were lined up in an open floor plan. Associates were huddled around an espresso machine, while directors dressed in business casual were convening on laptops in the boardroom. Amid all this normalcy, there were hints that this wasn’t like most offices I’ve been in. Through the window of one closed room, I could see stacks upon stacks of children’s jackets and a pile of plastic bags that were filled tight with thick blankets. There was hushed chatter from volunteers coming in and out of the office to grab stacked boxes of provisions — rice, lentils and other dry goods — to load into their cars for distribution. 

Like any business, the organization inventoried and organized goods, briefed and coordinated teams and offered and distributed services, but I knew the impact of these activities were to save and sustain lives.

It struck me that the mechanics of their operations and even their strategy were like any other business’s: they created a long-term vision for success, planned to execute on that vision, aimed for alignment among all stakeholders, and operated within a defined budget and set of resources. Yet the consequences of their strategic actions were significantly higher than those of most other businesses because lives were at stake. I was astounded by the ways in which they assessed and made decisions in the face of a constantly changing environment, agreed to take action, and determined which needs their goods and services would support. Volunteering in their Armenian headquarters for two weeks made me realize that there are some key lessons that for-profit businesses can learn from our non-profit counterparts:

1. Big bets don’t help you achieve your goals: your capabilities do

There is no way to predict every kind of change or crisis, but, with the right tools, there are several ways to stay prepared. In a humanitarian aid organization, if you are not ready with the right partnerships, resources and capabilities in the event of a crisis, people will suffer. In 2020, the grassroots humanitarian aid group with which I worked had responded to a crisis by delivering hot meals to families in need. This response was made possible through a partnership with World Central Kitchen. They chose to continue this partnership because having the resources to quickly feed those in rural areas enabled them to provide meaningful aid during a crisis. 

In a business context, changes in a given market or in the competitive landscape are seen as a threat. When preparing for change, clients will often refer to “big bets” they might make when change occurs. Here at Faculty of Change, we advocate for assessing the quality of the changes around you early and often. That way, your business can determine which capabilities will be important in the future, and then build (or buy) them as needed. This approach puts you in a position to take advantage of the many opportunities that change provides, rather than taking a risky and reactive approach.

2. Aligning stakeholders and teams is easy when they believe in the mission

Sienna, a project coordinator, brought me to her team’s final status meeting. She was going to ask them for support on a small additional project. Instead of using the status meeting to close things out, she talked about the extra effort that would be required — more volunteers, more drivers and more time from everyone. As she said this, I held my breath, expecting resistance. Instead, the team was immediately on board. Despite being exhausted, they were instantly ready to work out what was needed to get the project done and were even encouraging and cheering each other on. They believed in the benefit they would create and were compelled to act. 

Aligning different stakeholders around a plan and multiple objectives can take months of co-creating, debating, compromising, lobbying and decision-making. Clearly not every project team behaves like this one, yet there is a clear benefit to helping everyone in an organization understand the benefit of their individual contribution. And when team members from every level of seniority understand the benefits of a project or mission, there is a startling bias towards commitment and action.

When team members from every level of seniority understand the benefits of a project or mission, there is a startling bias towards commitment and action.

3. Your purpose is not just a series of words: it is about striving to meet real needs

We often talk about understanding customers as humans and uncovering their fundamental needs. Nothing is as fundamental as food and shelter. I have seen clients articulate a purpose statement including words such as “prosperity” and “wellbeing,” but I’ve never seen an organization embody those words as much as the organization I supported in Armenia. When helping to deliver boxes of food and warm clothes to homes, I witnessed a kind of gratitude I’ve never seen before. People were so grateful that they insisted on giving us something back. One woman made us come in and served us coffee, tea, baked goods, even pomegranates! Families wanted us to join them around their table so they could share their stories — and they also wanted to hear ours. One widowed man was so grateful that he played us songs on his clarinet.

A business’s purpose should be inextricably linked to the needs of the people it serves. This isn’t about choosing the right series of flowery words to put on your website. It’s about understanding people, meeting them where they are and offering them real benefits.

This approach creates so much more than a loyal customer: it creates a positive relationship with mutual benefits. Such relationships are a great responsibility and also a privilege. Any business leader that hasn’t seen, heard or felt the real and palpable needs of their customers has missed out on an opportunity to create a real exchange and a lasting connection between their clients and their business.

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If you have any questions, or want to talk about how to make your strategy more impactful, sustainable or even meaningful, get in touch and let’s chat.