Excerpt from Transformative

Intentionality is a broad sense of organizational intent that aligns vision and drives momentum. It defines a goal that drives action, but it is loose and aspirational enough to inspire the team to participate in how to achieve it and maintain it.
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There is one question that determines an organization’s likelihood of achieving differentiated success: “What is the goal of your innovation efforts?” The answer you hear determines intentionality.
 
Intentionality is the intangible drive that provides the momentum toward delivering something truly unique and valuable. It starts with a vision of what winning looks and feels like and leads to a deliberate and intentional focus on how the organization will achieve it, along with a rethinking of what it will take to achieve it. While it is unlikely to be formalized and documented, you can hear it throughout the organization. It’s often informally codified in a short statement that expresses the vision that drives the organization. It’s an expression of intent that is at once both defining and flexible enough to inspire contribution.
 
Steve Jobs was a master at creating intentionality. He used it to drive Apple to develop a personal computer that would “change the world.” That was exhibited in its famous 1984 advertisement that symbolized Apple freeing the world from the oppression of the IBM Personal Computer. Jobs used intentionality again when developing the first iPod, making it clear that the vision was to “Put 1,000 songs in your pocket.” When the iPhone was under development, the intentionality was to “Make the phone the killer app.”
 
Other transformative companies similarly demonstrate the ability to create intentionality in terms that are visual and clear. Uber’s intention to make “Transportation that is as reliable as running water” is simple and clear but also open to inspired interpretation.

Explore this and other topics in the upcoming book Transformative.