Make Purpose Your Bouncer

In my home workspace, I'm surrounded by books. Obviously, their primary purpose is to impress people during online calls. Look at me being smart. But I actually read them, too.

I've got a special shelf for books I still have to read. And one book sat there for a long time. I picked it up many times, only to put it back and choose something else instead. Somehow, it looked toooo detailed, and I kept finding myself drawn to books that seemed easier to digest.

I'm referring to: "The Art of Gathering" by Priya Parker.

But last month, I finally pushed myself to read it. And I wasn't disappointed. Yes, it's very detailed. But that turned out to be one of its strengths. The many practical, real-life examples keep the ideas from becoming too abstract and show what they actually look like in practice. I could share many ideas from the book that stuck with me.

But one line stood out in particular:

"Make purpose your bouncer."

I love that metaphor. ♥️

A good bouncer decides who gets in and who doesn't. Purpose can do the same for a workshop, meeting, or gathering. Once you're clear on why you're bringing people together, you can use that purpose to decide everything else.

Does this activity help us achieve the purpose? Does this presentation contribute? Do we really need these people in the room? If so, perfect! But if something doesn't serve the purpose, no matter how interesting, fun, or familiar it might be, the bouncer should politely show it the door.

This sounds obvious, but I regularly see the opposite happen. We start with a familiar agenda, a favorite exercise, a list of topics that "need to be covered," or simply what we did last time. Purpose becomes something we write at the top of the agenda rather than something we actively use to shape the gathering.

A clear purpose helps you decide what belongs and what doesn't. If everything gets in, your bouncer isn't doing its job.

So, yeah: make purpose your bouncer! 😎