Want To Make Difference? Focus On Contribution, Not Impact

Want To Make Difference? Focus On Contribution, Not Impact

Want To Make Difference? Focus On Contribution, Not Impact (forbes.com)

I nominate “impact” as one of the most annoying and potentially harmful buzzwords in business today.

Countless clients tell me they want to make an impact. Whether they are leaders in growing startups or tech giants, Millennials seeking meaning or mid-career professionals pursuing their next big job, they define success as having this thing they call “impact.” But what is it really about?

Impact is defined as the striking of one object into another, a collision. This kind of impact is violent, even shattering, like a hammer through plate glass. (Echoes of Facebook’s “move fast and break things” mantra?) When used in the term “Impact Investing,” it refers to the pursuit of a social benefit as well as profit. And because measuring social benefit is trickier than measuring profits, there is an ongoing debate about how and if to measure impact. It turns out it can be pretty hard to assess.

我提名“影响力”作为当今商业中最令人讨厌和可能有害的流行语之一。

无数客户告诉我，他们想要产生影响。无论他们是成长型初创企业的领导者还是科技巨头、寻求意义的千禧一代或职业生涯中追求他们下一份好工作的专业人士，他们都将成功定义为拥有他们所称之为“影响力”的东西。但它真正意味着什么呢？

"影响力"被定义为一物体与另一物体的撞击，碰撞。这种影响是具有暴力性的，甚至是破碎的，就像锤子砸碎玻璃板一样。（Facebook的“快速行动，打破陈规”的口号的回声？）当用于“影响力投资”一词时，它指的是追求社会效益以及利润。由于衡量社会效益比衡量利润更加棘手，因此如何以及是否衡量影响力仍在持续辩论中。结果表明，这可能相当困难。

When individuals talk about wanting to make an impact, they typically look at two things: results and role. The first is results: They want to make a difference. They want their work to matter. Many genuinely want to make people’s lives better. The second is about their role: They want influence or “a seat at the table.” They want to be seen and valued. They long to be important. This drive for impact shows up in a variety of ways. An executive coaching client strives to build his influence so that he can increase his impact and make the next promotion and climb the career ladder so he keeps up with his peers. A job-seeker says she the most important criteria for her is impact, so she wants a role where she can have “ownership” (another buzzword that refers to autonomy and responsibility) of part of the business. When others talk about impact, they may include making a difference by helping others. Many managers have a sense of accomplishment from building and leading a great team. Some leaders find it rewarding to coach or mentor a more junior person. Whether pursuing power and promotion or helping others, all of these examples of impact have the individual at the center (like the striking of a pebble in a pool that sends out ripples). As the cliché goes, there is no “I” in “team,” but “impact” starts with I, and there is an element of ego-centrism in all these pursuits.

当个人谈论想要产生影响时，他们通常会考虑两件事情：结果和角色。首先是结果：他们想要发挥作用。他们希望自己的工作有所意义。许多人真正想要改善他人的生活。第二个方面则涉及他们的角色：他们想要影响力或“有发言权的一席之地”。他们希望被看作重要的人。他们渴望成为重要人物。对于影响力的追求以各种方式呈现。一位高管教练的客户努力建立他的影响力，以便他可以增加自己的影响力，获得晋升并攀登职业阶梯，与同行保持同步。一位求职者说，她最重要的标准是影响力，所以她想要一个可以拥有“所有权”的角色（这是指自主权和责任感）的职位。当其他人谈论影响力时，他们可能包括通过帮助他人产生影响。许多经理从建立和领导一个伟大的团队中获得成就感。一些领导人发现指导或指导一个资历较深的人是有意义的。不管是追求权力和晋升还是帮助他人，所有这些影响的例子都以个人为中心（就像在池塘中击打鹅卵石，涟漪扩散一样）。正如老生常谈的话说，“团队中没有‘我’，但‘影响’从‘我’开始，所有这些追求都有一定的自我主义元素。”

In his recent New York Times Op Ed, David Brooks observes that seeking happiness through individual achievement can lead to a moment of reckoning, failure, loss or disappointment. Brooks holds up those who take this moment as an opportunity to shift away from the egoistic pursuit of happiness through achievement and start seeking joy through commitment and contribution. They stop putting themselves at the center and instead offer themselves in service to others.

If you shift your focus from impact to contribution, a world of possibility opens up. You commit to something other than yourself—an institution, person, cause. Your aspiration becomes less about the importance of your individual role or action and more about helping create a shared purpose or benefit. Your title and place on the career ladder are in service of your contribution rather than a measure of your worth. Being a contributor means that you are focused on giving, and this generosity suggests that you will also be open to others’ input, ideas and feedback. You can also be less defensive: if you are not at the center, you can invite others in without fear that they will take something away from you. You are less concerned with who gets credit. You pursue excellence not to get a gold star but because you want to do your best to make good on your commitment. If you are in a leadership role, you are likely to be a servant-leader. You value responsibility and responsiveness less than ownership or getting credit. Whatever part you play, you can find value and meaning in contribution.

In any case, I can’t help but think that the whole impact question is one that exists only for a privileged few. Most people are too busy trying to keep ahead of their bills to worry about whether they are having a unique impact. But contribution is available to all, and there are many ways of making a contribution every day. A middle manager may have no voice in setting company direction but can still create a positive work environment. An administrative assistant helps leaders stay organized. A CEO provides vision, direction and resources for his or her company. A hospital janitor cleans the room of a patient. And anybody who works for pay to support a family makes a contribution. All these actions have meaning and significance when we shift from chasing individual impact to making a contribution.

在他最近发表于《纽约时报》的专栏文章中，戴维·布鲁克斯观察到，通过个人成就寻求幸福可能会导致一个令人警醒的时刻，即失败、损失或失望。布鲁克斯称赞那些将这一时刻作为一个机会，从自我主义追求幸福通过成就，转而开始通过承诺和贡献寻求快乐的人。他们不再将自己置于中心位置，而是向他人提供服务。

如果你将重点从影响转移到贡献，一个可能性的世界就会展现在你面前。你承诺的不再是你自己，而是一个机构、一个人或一项事业。你的抱负变得不再关乎你作为个体的重要性或行动，而是更多地关乎帮助创造一个共享的目标或效益。你的头衔和职业阶梯是为你的贡献服务，而不是衡量你的价值的标准。成为一名贡献者意味着你专注于给予，这种慷慨表明你也会对他人的建议、想法和反馈持开放态度。你也可以少一些防守：如果你不处于中心位置，你可以邀请他人参与，而不必担心他们会从你那里得到什么。你不那么关心谁得到了荣誉。你追求卓越不是为了获得金星，而是因为你想尽你所能实现你的承诺。如果你处于领导地位，你很可能是一名仆人领袖。你更注重责任和反应能力，而不是所有权或获取荣誉。无论你扮演什么角色，你都可以在贡献中找到价值和意义。

无论如何，我认为整个影响问题只适用于少数特权的人。大多数人都太忙于努力赶上他们的账单，以至于不用担心他们是否产生了独特的影响。但是，每个人都可以进行贡献，并且每天都有许多种方式可以做出贡献。一个中层管理人员可能没有发言权决定公司方向，但仍可以创造积极的工作环境。一个行政助理可以帮助领导者保持组织性。一位CEO为公司提供愿景、方向和资源。一名医院清洁工清洁患者的房间。任何为了支持家庭而为报酬工作的人都在做出贡献。当我们从追求个人影响转向贡献时，所有这些行动都具有意义和重要性。