Putting Humans at the Centre of Strategic Purpose

Have We Become Distracted From Our Core Purpose?

In a recent article by Michael Kitson of Cambridge Judge Business School, Michael argues that governments, businesses and educators need to understand megatrends in order to navigate the complexities of our evolving world.

Michael and his team at Cambridge Judge Business School prepare leaders to be able to recognise the opportunities and threats that megatrends, like climate change, AI and global politics, present and adapt their strategies accordingly. We, at Purposeful Innovators believe that we need to focus on putting people into the centre of those strategies in order to help individuals, communities, businesses and institutions mitigate and manage the impacts of crises and shocks caused by megatrends.

We need to put humans at the centre of strategic purpose because all organisations — whether businesses, nonprofits, governments, or social enterprises — ultimately exist for and because of people. Rania Laing, Founder, Purposeful Innovators CIC.

Too often, strategic impact is calculated from data analysis that involves financials, complex scientific formulas and statistics. These miss the mark on what makes an impact valuable and successful. Human-centred strategic purpose is not a fluffy, nice-to-have marketing ploy but the critical core element of the success of your project, business or initiative. 

 

Six Ways Human-Centred Strategic Purpose Improves Your Impact

 

Authentic Relevance to Stakeholders

Strategies that ignore human needs, desires, fears, and values quickly lose relevance. People — customers, employees, communities — are the ones who decide whether a purpose is worth supporting.

 

It's Personal! Building Trust and Loyalty

Human-centred strategies build trust. When people feel seen, heard, and respected, they are more likely to stay engaged, loyal, and advocate for the organisation.

 

Innovation and Creativity That Resonates Deeply

Understanding human problems deeply leads to better, more innovative solutions. When strategy starts with real human experience, it creates products, services, and policies that truly improve lives.

 

Future Preparedness Based on Resilience and Adaptability

Human-centred organisations are better at sensing change. They listen to people and adapt faster when needs, markets, or environments shift.

 

A Moral Responsibility Compass

In an age of global poly crises (climate, inequality, AI ethics), organisations have a responsibility to ensure that their strategies contribute positively to human well-being, not just profit or efficiency.

 

Long-term Sustainable Success

Short-term wins can be achieved without focusing on humans, but long-term success — meaningful impact, enduring legacy — depends on serving and uplifting people.

At Purposeful Innovators, our members work to put humans at the centre of everything we do and help you do the same.

Contact us to learn more about how we support you with:

• Toolkits for integrating what is healthy for your stakeholders
• Project interventions to help you achieve positive explorations for impact
• Multidisciplinary and diverse consulting expertise
• Stakeholder harmony and alignment to bridge polarisation and conflicting needs
• Global alignment of people, purpose that result in real performance indicators

 

We Partner, Collaborate and Test in New Ways

We share a strong partnership philosophy in understanding behaviours, and engage in open dialogue to cover the needs, concerns and perspectives of diverse and conflicting stakeholders. All our consultant members hold senior-level qualifications in their respective fields of social and behavioural science.

We admit we don't know the answers, but we support you in the collaborative ideation process. Through the organisation and facilitation of workshops, sessions and hackathons, we work with you and your teams to generate ideas, solutions and co-create new inventions.

We integrate and innovate from multidisciplinary knowledge sharing. Combining the broadest, most polarised insights and experience brings wisdom from across sectors to develop a more robust, more holistic and more human solution.

We believe in experimental action that carefully considers calculated risk-taking. We know that humans learn from experience, so quickly moving from theory to piloting, prototyping, and real-world testing is critical to success. Our methods deliver just that.

Book a free consultation and learn more about how we can support your success.