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The meaning of life, at AxiaOrigin…
2nd September 2019
This article is part of a series of thought pieces celebrating the launch of AxiaOrigin, a values-driven consultancy which is dedicated to building a more prosperous and resilient future through the differentiated use of data and analytics.
Every person ultimately strives towards some purpose.
Something that drives us to do what we do, to expend our effort and time to achieve some outcome or end. The same applies to organisations – however we, as a team, have found that all too often organisational aims get lost in the day to day of commercial challenges and the often misaligned personal incentives of employees created by the organisation.
I want to share our purpose with you because we believe there are like minded organisations out there who will relish the opportunity to work in partnership with us to create an even more powerful impact in society.
A new type of business is evolving.
When our team came together, we explored our individual values and aims, and found alignment in wanting to make the world a better place. We emphasised how profit is critical to any business, but we all agreed it wasn’t itself the aim – like air to humans, whilst we need it to survive and fulfil our aspirations, the reason we exist is not to breathe, nor simply to make profit.
With our increasingly smaller and connected world, we are all acutely aware of the global and local challenges humanity is facing, and our team are all passionate about being part of the solutions to these challenges, hence our aim of creating a more prosperous world. Prosperity, for us, is much more than ideas of profitability and financial wealth. It entails a future world where communities and businesses can thrive and generate opportunity for those in disadvantaged positions, elevating the potential for all to contribute positively to society. We also want to leave lasting and sustainable impact, and so we want to help ensure any prosperity is resilient in the face of current and future challenges.
Our measure of progress.
Our progress will be measured by the success of others – our clients and communities.
The model we are choosing to use to measure the impact we make will be through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is a framework where the majority of what we are striving towards as an organisation is contained within a single articulation that has global recognition – whether it’s around reducing inequalities, climate action, quality education or partnerships for the goals.
Aligning our work with clients with the SDGs provides us with the opportunity to collaborate towards an SDG, whether on projects directly or through creating surplus profits that can be re-invested in innovative activities that can be measured against the SDG targets.
Our annual social impact project.
Just one example of our commitment to our values will be evident each August – every year, this will be a special month for us in AxiaOrigin. We believe in being generous with others and our commitment each August is the epitome of that principle. Every summer we will turn our attention to a social impact project to make a real difference to a topic / community that needs our help.
We will empower our employees to suggest, pursue and develop opportunities for high impact global or local benefit, as well as actively pursuing an open and collaborative approach with interested partners and members of the public to find creative solutions to some of the most difficult challenges. We will set aside surplus profits in an open and transparent way which will provide the enablement to realise these solutions, and facilitate the journey from ideation to impact.
It’s all a bit virtuous!
I know many leaders and organisations with similar ambition. It’s not just us at AxiaOrigin. No matter how big and complex the challenge, it can be divided into many pieces and then added back up again. Imagine if everyone had a similar mindset – every business leader, every teacher, every parent, every elected official. When it all gets added back up again our power will be remarkable.
Whether your passion is local or global, about your family or your country, we all have the power to make a difference. What’s your reason for being? Can we help you? Can you help us? Can we help each other?
Like I said, what are you doing next August? Do you want to change the world together?
Being successful at Axia Origin includes being generous with others, doing meaningful work and developing people around us on the journey.
Are you with us?
Hayder Allawi | Co-founder