Vision versus Purpose

I’ve been reading again from E-Myth Mastery and I find Michael Gerber to one of the few people that understand the mystery behind the entrepreneur.  There was one section in particular I hadn’t really noticed before that had quite an impact on me.  Gerber is discussing the difference between having a vision and having purpose.

“A purpose has a clear, palpable construction to it.  A vision is what you see through feeling. The passion of the mind and the passion of the soul creates vision.  A vision makes you laugh out loud for no reason.  A purpose makes you dig down deep to persevere.  Managers have purpose.  Entrepreneurs have visions. Vision is where the passion lives.  Purpose is a doing that fills the space that passion cannot occupy.  Vision leads.  Purpose follows. Vision is the aura of enlightenment.  purpose is the work of the monk.  Bottom line, vision is about magic…the ecstatic experience of the magic of being human (Gerber, 47).”

He goes on talking about what makes the entrepreneur unique – vision.  It’s not about fulfilling some purpose that’s either self determined or socially constructed but rather, it’s about the creation of ideas and dreams in such a way that one can build a great company.

Here’s a quick blurb by Gerber about taking this dream and building a world-class company.

Small Business Excellence – Dreaming by Michael Gerber

Rather than bogging ourselves down with trying to figure out our purpose we should follow our passions to create ideas and visions that can provide a service to others.  Gerber himself said in the book he doesn’t know what his purpose is in life. He didn’t get involved in business because of his families experiences or because he found he was good at it.  He did it because it triggered something inside of him.  It brought him an ecstasy that few things offer in this life. It became his passion and while he doesn’t exactly know why, he does have that vision and he’s spreading to others.

This really ties in well with what Jim Collins says in his books, Built to Last and Good to Great.  Your company must be about your core values.  Why do you exist?  What is your passion and how can you use it to make something constructive? This is what makes legendary companies.  This is what makes companies last for 100+ years.

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