Have you asked the question - WHY?

Time and again I have questioned the purpose of the happenings around us or even my own actions. Many a times, I have been able to find a suitable answer and sometimes I have suited myself to the answer that came to me and moved on. My teachers in college and school always complained that I lost my focus quite easily ad went too deep looking for meanings when others kept moving higher. Probably, I never grew as fast as them because of my questioning why. But ask yourself the importance of the question "Why?"
The importance of the purpose in everything we do is critical. The purpose is what defines the path taken in the journey. A very famous quote of all times is that life is but a journey and we all need to travel it tirelessly till the last breath. Sure we do. But how? What path do we take, what companions we shall have, what company we shall keep, what shall we see and what we will choose to avoid – all of this depends upon what we want to experience during the journey. Even when the destination is known, the path taken or the mode of transport shall define the journey.
Have you seen the rangoli made by the south Indian women outside of their homes? It is a geometrical pattern of dots connected by lines – constrained by only two principles – cover as many dots possible and never take off your hand while drawing the lines. Sometimes, the number of dots is more and sometimes, the colors used. No two designs are ever the same. While the mission statement and the objective statements are both defined clearly for them, yet the outcome are very different. Ever wondered why? The design patterns, the colors used and their complex arrangements represent the thoughts churning in their mind. It's the journey they take from the dots to the rangoli depending upon the state of mind.
If only the life was simple as start to end, or there were only two colors – black or white, the management principles would have been great. But someone actually described multiple shades of grey! And went on to mix multiple other colors and played with hue, saturation and other factors to make it incomprehensible to a human eye.
A very basic fact of the management is anything that is measurable, can be managed. In order to manage, every measurable factor is considered and it optimized within acceptable limits. Any factor falling outside of the acceptable limits needs to be controlled. The question is – What is acceptable? Who determines the limits? It is the purpose of the act that will help us determine the acceptable outcome.
To make the matters worse, the purpose may seem different for everyone. It is the perspective that one takes with what they want to do. An interesting parallel from the Indian Scriptures is summed as follows (Thans to Dr Devdutt Pattnaik) –

Quality	I follow all the rules	I will break all the rules
What I think of myself	Rama	Krishna
What the superiors thinks of me	Duryodhana	Ravana
Why the difference	Duryodhana is the pretender – who follows all the rules but never accepts them. Typically a professional, who abides by the organization rules but may not agree to them.	Ravana is an epitome of a non-follower and a rulebreaker. While Krishna broke the rules that lost their meaning, Ravana chooses the blanket statement – All rules are meant for breaking.

 
Without the "Y-" axis of the purpose, all of the characters look the same. It is the purpose and the philosophy behind the act that differentiates them.
Please do ask yourself the purpose, or try answer the question "WHY"