“Innovate with purpose” is not a tagline. It is a practical discipline for turning strategy into sustained innovation—by aligning your growth choices to a clear “why” that people can believe in, act on, and defend when trade-offs get hard.
When innovation is framed only as “we need growth” or “we need more ideas,” it often becomes episodic. Innovation with purpose changes that. It mobilizes energy, sharpens priorities, and helps leaders make consistent choices about where to play, what to stop, and what to invest in—so innovation becomes a durable capability, not a campaign.
What motivates entrepreneurs?
Reduce infant mortality
In the late 1860’s Henri Nestlé invented the Infant Cereal. Nestlé was a true entrepreneur. Coming from a middle-class family, he started several more or less successful businesses. In those times, infant mortality in European cities could be extremely high—often around 200–250 infant deaths per 1,000 live births (20–25%) in parts of the 19th century. He himself had lost 7 of his 13 siblings at a young age. Henri and his wife Clémentine were childless and these circumstances inspired Nestlé to spend years of development in an effort to create a worthy substitute for breast milk. His relentless work, driven by purpose and passion, laid the foundation for what is today the world’s largest food and beverage company.
Saving lives
In 1953, another entrepreneur, Lennart Lindblad, founded the auto repair shop that was to become Autoliv. Already in 1956, he launched the company’s first safety product, the safety belt. The purpose and values that still underpin Autoliv’s innovations are clear: a commitment to saving lives.
Entrepreneurs, such as these great innovators, have always been motivated by goals beyond financial gain. They are often driven by a desire to fix a problem, to make a difference in people’s lives.
Convenience as a purpose
Think about Uber. When Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp founded Uber they wanted to make it as easy as possible for a customer to get a taxi ride. Inspired by the challenge they had themselves experienced when trying to catch a cab, they set out to create a service that would get you a ride at “the touch of a button”. Uber has since expanded globally.
The vision pulls you
The founders of all three companies above were not motivated by wealth, even though they received their fair share. Instead, what drove them was a purpose to solve a problem they believed was important, and this passion fueled their innovation efforts. In the words of Steve Jobs: “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you”.
The effect of purpose on customers preferences
In the book The Tao of Innovation, Professor Teng-Kee Tan argues that the difficult path of innovation requires the kind of passion and resilience that can be sustained only by a purpose greater than financial gain. And he is not alone in his thinking. In a US study, 71% of consumers say they would purchase from a purpose-driven company, all other things being equal.
Why innovation with purpose matters for established companies
As illustrated by the examples above, innovating with purpose makes good business sense, whether the original purpose is altruistic or more practical. Granted, the examples are about starting up a company. But we argue—and have repeatedly experienced—that the ambition to resolve problems that impact people’s lives as well as society is equally relevant for established companies.
The difference is this: founders often have a “default purpose” embedded in the origin story. Established companies need to make purpose explicit, then operationalize it so it can guide strategy and innovation choices at scale.
How to unleash innovation with purpose in your company
Here’s what you can start doing to unleash innovation with purpose in your company—without turning it into posters, theatre, or vague statements.
Set aspirational goals for your business
While we all aim to earn an honest buck, businesses should look beyond obvious financial or market goals when defining strategy. Ask yourself “why you are in this business” instead of “what you do.” What you aspire to achieve shapes your purpose—and that purpose can inspire innovation in a more powerful and meaningful way.
A Strategos test: if your aspiration does not influence decisions, it is not yet usable. A strong aspiration clarifies:
- what you will prioritize,
- what you will stop doing,
- and what you will do to win.
Make innovation with purpose operational
Many companies have a mission statement. Far fewer have a purpose that actually shapes choices. A practical purpose has three characteristics:
- Externally anchored: it starts with a real customer, human, or societal problem (not internal ambition).
- Strategically distinctive: it reflects where you can credibly lead, given your capabilities and right-to-win.
- Decision shaping: it helps you say “no” to work that dilutes focus, even if it looks attractive.
A simple way to draft a usable purpose statement:
We exist to (impact) for (who) by (how we uniquely do it) so that (outcome).
Seek to engage your employees
Innovating with purpose is all about generating passion. Engage your organization by being passionate and explicit in your communication. Talk about innovation as a way to positively impact your customers, employees, and society—and be explicit about how you believe your company can contribute to making that happen.
We often hear leaders talk about innovation with phrases like: “We need to regain growth in our core markets – Let’s innovate!”; “You have freedom to do what you want 20 % of your time!”; “Our goal is to increase our market share,” and so on. These calls for action are very internally focused, and although they may motivate some, these goals won’t engage the entire organization. For that, you need passion, and for passion, you need purpose.
A practical shift: don’t just broadcast purpose. Turn it into a small number of “missions” that people can own (see below).
Translate purpose into an innovation agenda and portfolio
Innovation with purpose becomes real when it drives “where-to-play” and “how-to-win” choices. We typically help leadership teams convert purpose into:
- Strategic arenas (2–5): the few domains where you will concentrate innovation.
- Opportunity themes: the customer problems to solve, frictions to remove, or outcomes to enable in each arena.
- Portfolio logic: a deliberate balance across horizons so purpose translates into near-term results and long-term advantage. (more on innovation portfolio management)
A simple portfolio lens that works in practice:
- Core: strengthen today’s value proposition in line with purpose
- Adjacent: leverage capabilities into new segments, channels, or offerings that reinforce purpose
- Transformational: place selective bets that could redefine the category around your purpose
How to start in 30 days
If you want to innovate with purpose, you can start fast—provided you focus on choices:
- Define the tension: what must change in your customers’ world (and why now)?
- Draft a purpose: use the template; keep it testable, not poetic.
- Stress-test it with trade-offs:
- If we take this seriously, what will we stop doing?
- What capabilities make this believable for us (and not others)?
- Who benefits, and how will we know?
- Choose arenas and themes: decide where you will play, and what kinds of opportunities you will pursue.
- Mobilize with missions: launch 2–3 cross-functional missions (90–120 days) with clear outcomes and owners.
Measure innovation with purpose
Purpose should increase accountability, not reduce it. A pragmatic measurement system balances three levels:
- Direction: are we investing in the arenas that express our purpose? (e.g., % of innovation spend aligned)
- Execution: are ideas moving through the pipeline effectively? (e.g., learning velocity, time-to-decision, healthy kill rate)
- Impact: are we creating meaningful outcomes? (customer adoption/retention, growth/margin, plus purpose outcomes relevant to your context)
Common traps to avoid:
- Purpose as marketing: inspiring words, no trade-offs, no investment shift
- Purpose without strategy: intent without “where-to-play” choices
- Innovation theatre: hackathons and 20% time without an agenda and governance
- Over-internal framing: growth targets masquerading as purpose
A Costa Rican company leads the way
We had the pleasure of working with a visionary CEO and his ambitious team in Costa Rica. The company, FIFCO, has achieved significant progress. For several years, FIFCO has been implementing a Triple Bottom Line strategy. The company invests a substantial portion of its revenue in Corporate Social Responsibility activities and has been very successful in engaging employees in volunteer work, for example.
The CEO aimed to turn this drive into a competitive advantage by developing a growth strategy that blends innovation with the Triple Bottom Line. The result is a plan that clearly connects the brands’ goals of benefiting their customers, consumers, the environment, and society. FIFCO firmly believes that by achieving this, their business will grow sustainably. (update: since then FIFCO has demonstrated this is true and in 2025 was aquired by Heineken)
What makes this powerful is not the statement of intent; it is the translation of intent into choices: a defined role to play, clear strategic arenas, and a coherent innovation agenda that supports people, planet, and profit.
The connection between strategy and innovation
At FIFCO and others, we have seen great results from applying the principle that strategy development needs to answer four key questions:
- Where will we lead and how will we transform ourselves?
- Who will we become, and what role do we play?
- What do we believe drives this choice?
- How will we get from where we are today to where we need to be?
Business leaders need to develop their own perspectives before they start answering these questions, such as what changes will happen in the marketplace and society at large, what rules we believe we need to follow to succeed (and which ones we might potentially break), what we are currently exceptionally good at, and what untapped opportunities we can explore.
Purpose emerges as a result of developing perspectives to address these four questions. Our role as consultants is to inspire and facilitate this dialogue, ensuring it moves beyond the client’s comfort zone and introduces strategic stretch and purpose.
Try a different way to develop your next strategy
For successful businesses like Nestlé, Autoliv, Uber and FIFCO, purpose defines the role they want to play in the future they aim to help shape. It is driven by a desire to have a positive impact on the lives of consumers and customers—and to engage their employees in building the future of the company.
Having a clear purpose will outperform more traditional strategy development because it helps you:
- focus innovation on a small set of strategic arenas,
- mobilize teams with meaningful missions,
- and sustain commitment when uncertainty rises.
That is what it means to innovate with purpose—and why innovation with purpose is one of the most underused advantages in established companies.
