In this chapter, the book explores how organizations often drift away from their original purpose, focusing on internal goals rather than delivering value to customers. By understanding satisfaction gaps and aligning goals with customer needs, businesses can achieve long-term success and innovation.

Rediscovering Purpose in Business

Many businesses start with a clear mission—to provide value to customers—but over time, profit pressures, competition, and internal metrics shift their focus. When companies prioritize efficiency over effectiveness or speed over strategy, they risk losing customer trust and falling behind competitors.

In Unlocking Business Agility with Evidence-Based Management, this chapter explains how companies can realign with their core purpose by:

  • Understanding why businesses lose their focus
  • Identifying satisfaction gaps between customer needs and current offerings
  • Setting customer-driven goals that create lasting value
  • Using evidence-based decision-making to stay adaptable

Why Do Businesses Lose Their Purpose?

1. Chasing Internal Metrics Instead of Customer Value

Most businesses measure success through internal metrics, such as:

  • Revenue growth
  • Market share expansion
  • Operational efficiency

While these metrics are important, they do not always reflect customer value. A company may be profitable, but if customers feel neglected or underserved, long-term success is at risk.

2. The Watermelon Effect: Superficial Success Masks Deeper Problems

Many organizations rely on green-yellow-red project reports to track progress. Projects often appear green externally (on schedule, on budget) but are red internally (failing to create real value). These “watermelon projects” give executives a false sense of success, leading to:

  • Wasted resources on low-impact initiatives
  • Lack of innovation due to rigid structures
  • Missed opportunities to improve customer experience

3. The Wrong Metrics: Measuring Efficiency Instead of Impact

Traditional business metrics often track:

  • Speed of production (How quickly can we launch?)
  • Operational cost reduction (How much money can we save?)
  • Profitability growth (Are we making more money?)

But they fail to measure actual customer value, which should focus on:

  • Current Value (CV): How satisfied are our customers?
  • Unrealized Value (UV): What unmet needs exist in the market?
  • Time to Market (T2M): How fast can we deliver meaningful improvements?
  • Ability to Innovate (A2I): Are we continuously improving?

How to Rediscover Purpose and Align with Customer Needs

1. Identifying Satisfaction Gaps

Businesses must recognize the gap between customer expectations and current offerings.

Example:

  • Today’s reality: Knee replacement patients require months of recovery.
  • Customer’s ideal state: A procedure that reduces recovery time to a few weeks.

A company that identifies this gap can set meaningful goals that address real needs, rather than just launching new products without customer insight.

2. Shifting from Outputs to Outcomes

Instead of focusing on what the company does, focus on what customers experience.

❌ Bad Goal: “Launch five new product features by Q4.”

✅ Good Goal: “Reduce customer support requests by 30% through improved usability.”

Businesses should measure success based on customer impact, not just project completion.

3. Setting Customer-Focused Strategic Goals

When businesses set clear, measurable, and customer-centered goals, employees are more engaged, and decision-making becomes data-driven.

✅ Example: Revising a Medical Device Company’s Goal

Instead of “Launch a new knee replacement technology next year,” the company should set a customer-focused goal:

“Reduce post-surgery recovery time by 40% through innovation in knee replacement technology.”

This refocuses efforts on real-world impact, guiding teams to deliver true value.

Case Study: A Failed Digital Insurance Project

A major insurance company spent $10 million over three years developing an automated system for generating quotes. The system:

  • Improved internal efficiency
  • Reduced manual workload for employees

However, customers still had to wait 10 days to receive a quote, just like before.

❌ What went wrong?

  • The goal was internally focused (“Make it easier for employees”) instead of customer-focused (“Reduce customer wait time”).
  • The company failed to track the real problem—delays in quote generation.

✅ What they should have done:

Set a goal like “Reduce quote time from 10 days to 1 day.” This would have led to smarter, more impactful solutions rather than just automating inefficiencies.

Final Thoughts: Moving Forward with Purpose

To regain purpose and create real value, businesses must:

  • Identify satisfaction gaps – What do customers truly need?
  • Shift from outputs to outcomes – Measure impact, not just activity.
  • Set customer-focused strategic goals – Ensure every decision improves customer experience.
  • Measure the right metrics – Focus on value delivered, not just internal efficiency.

By applying these principles, businesses can stay relevant, build lasting customer relationships, and drive sustainable success.

* images are created by AI