Building With Why

Borrowed

"Having a purpose simply means knowing why you're gathering and doing your participants the honor of being convened for a reason. And once you have that purpose in mind, you will suddenly find it easier to make all the decisions that a gathering requires."

From "The Art of Gathering" by Priya Parker [Book]

Learned

Dana and I are in the middle of putting an addition on to our house. Two rooms in the back that will become our offices and a guest space when needed. The plans took a couple of weeks to get right, but since then, it's gone fast. Just a couple of months in, and we're prepping for drywall. On paper, the project is straightforward. A contractor could look at the prints and know exactly what to build.

What I didn't expect was how much of the work depends on the project’s overall purpose. I've quickly learned it's our job to keep surfacing it and running through use cases in my head. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to Mike, our contractor, and learned he wasn't planning for any insulation on the interior walls framing the hallway between the two rooms. Technically, it's not needed, but when Dana and I are both on calls all day, often at the same time, it's a non-negotiable. The same conversation has played out around outlet size and placement (once we talked through where the desks would actually sit), the height of the windows above those desks, and baseboard hallway lighting on a sensor, because Dana's parents will be staying over and need to find their way at night. These are just a few select examples.

None of that lives in the plans. It lives in the why, and the why only gets into the project if I keep stepping in to articulate it. People work from the information they have, and if all they have is the spec, that's what they'll build to.

This has been on my mind as we've been changing how we onboard new clients at Barrel. The intake call and sales process already cover a lot, so on paper, another conversation can feel redundant. We have recorded sales calls, an in-depth scope, and the team knows what we're building. But every time we run these sessions, we learn something new relevant to what we're about to embark on. Sometimes it's because we have access to a new stakeholder. Other times, it's because we asked a question that delved deeper into an idea we only touched on in sales.

On one call, a CEO we hadn't spoken to yet made a comment about the project that made it clear they didn't fully understand what we'd been hired to build. Easy to clear up in the moment, but had it stayed buried, it's scary to think how long it might have taken to surface, and who knows how it might have derailed things by then. On another, a client we'd been in touch with for three years (yes, years) before signing a scope mentioned that they were rolling out a new app and a series of post-purchase features over the coming months, none of which were finalized yet. The website requirements wouldn't change, but the templates we'd built now had to flex around features that didn't exist yet.

Recognizing this pattern is energizing because of how it shifts our mindset. Every project comes with a layer of context that no brief can fully capture, because sometimes the client doesn't even know what parts of what they're doing are important to our work, like expanding into retail or considering a loyalty program. But when these points come to life, every decision feels more locked into the purpose and aligned; not to mention, it gives us a chance to add more value.

I saw the strongest version of this play out last week on a call where our long-time client brought together their teams and every agency they work with to walk through their three-year strategic plan. They shared their consumer research, their multi-year expanded marketing budget, and the bets they’re making. It was the kind of context that often stays brand-side, if not with just a few internal stakeholders. It was rare and refreshing to see a client be that intentional about pulling everyone into the why up front.

Unfortunately, that isn't always the case, and I recognize it's our job to see the gap and help fill it, knowing there's always something there.

I notice the same thing at home. Dana and I make decisions all the time, about the kids, about weekends, about how we're spending our energy, and the ones that go best are the ones where we've taken the time to talk through why, not just what. What is easy to feel aligned on. Why is where you find out whether you're building toward the same future.

& Thought

Where am I building to spec without understanding why?