Aaron Hurst is a globally recognized entrepreneur who works to create communities that are empowered to realize their potential. He is the CEO of Imperative, a technology platform that enables people to discover, connect and act on what gives them purpose in their work. He is also the founder and an active adviser to the Taproot Foundation, where he was catalyst and lead architect of the $15 billion pro bono service market.
What is the change you’re trying to make in the world?
To enable everyone to work, and live, with purpose.
Are you disrupting a market through innovative products or new ways of doing business?
I am working to connect people to purpose, and each other—to peers and mentors and colleagues—on a massive scale. My company, Imperative, is leveraging tech and social media to start the conversation about the future of work.
How has the publication of your book, The Purpose Economy, changed your world?
For the previous 12 years, I was working on catalyzing the pro bono service market, which allowed me to work with people across sectors and around the world. The Purpose Economy has radically increased those networks and opened me up to an even greater diversity of fields and individuals.
Quick hit—what IS the purpose economy?
The purpose economy is the next phase of our economic evolution. It is building upon the innovation and technology that came out of the Information Economy over the past 20 years—driven and organized around the creation of purpose for people, not just information, goods, and services. Some of the pioneers of this new economy range from people like John Mackey at Whole Foods Market, who is creating a market for healthy and sustainable food, to organizations like One Medical that are making medicine personal again, and to Jonathan Rapping at Gideon’s Promise, who is redesigning the role of the public defender in the legal system to be empathetic.
My goal is to help expedite the transition by getting more people and companies on board and well versed in purpose as a driver of this economic evolution.
How do you see the purpose economy affecting the evolution of corporate social responsibility?
CSR emerged out of a critical examination of corporate practices and impact. We finally realized that corporate philanthropy was not enough if the core of the business was not geared towards making a positive impact on the world.
The purpose economy is more comprehensive broad-reach of this shift in thinking. That is, what CSR did for companies at the corporate level, the purpose economy is implementing at every level—from individuals, to communities, to society at large.
Can you share one example of a big business that’s truly integrated purpose into its DNA—and one example of a small business doing the same?
In doing research for the book, my team compiled lists of the Purpose Economy 100 across the US, Europe, and Asia. These lists represent the 100 most purpose-driven companies in each region. The full lists and company bios can be found here.
What’s the biggest change you’ve made in your professional life?
Since the advent of blogging and proliferation of events like TED and Meet-ups, I’ve been able to interact and engage with new crowds and audiences on relevant topics everyday. Being able to constantly adapt and keep up with the pace of this social-media sphere has been as challenging as it’s been rewarding.
Personal life?
Becoming a dad—no contest. My daughter Lola and son Max have been the greatest source of change and joy in my life. My grandfather always advised to keep exhilaration in front of exhaustion. My kids help push me to live that advice everyday.
Change is hard—do you have any tricks you’d like to share for making it easier?
The key to change is realizing that nothing matters as much as you think it does. When you put things in the context of history, the universe, or just the fact that there are nine billion other people on this planet—it’s hard to take yourself too seriously. Once you realize nothing matters, you can then make the conscious choice to decide what matters for you.
How do you get people around you to embrace change?
My top two personal values are: personal freedom and humor. I try to work with people to show that they are free to change or not to change, and the implications and consequences of that. I also find that change is a lot easier if you don’t take it too seriously.
If you could change one thing in the world right now, what would it be?
The last few years I’ve been really inspired by the research on people’s work orientations. People either view work as a job (a means of income), a career (a path to prestige), or a calling (an inherently meaningful aspect of their identity). Those in this latter group have higher overall work and life satisfaction, and tend to be more loyal and engaged employees. Today, researchers estimate that about 30% of people see their work as calling. I would increase that number 100%.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Nothing...and everything. I think it would be fun to be able to be someone else once in awhile to experience the world from a different point of view.
You’re an author and a professional speaker—which do you prefer?
When I was writing The Purpose Economy, friends asked me why I bothered to write a book, because nobody reads anymore. Sadly, that’s kind of true. Something like 85% of business books that get purchased never actually get read. The nice thing about speaking to audiences is that they tend to stay in the room. For better or for worse, the price of admission to become a professional speaker these days is to write a book.
Blogging offers a happy middle ground—it allows me to express ideas and insights to a broad audience while also getting direct and immediate feedback and interaction with my readership.
You started the Taproot Foundation to drive social change by mobilizing pro-bono services from professionals. What’s your own pro-bono involvement these days?
As an entrepreneur, it’s not clear where the line is between pro bono and not. I am constantly working on projects and experiments that never yield a financial outcome. I tend to do the work I love in the world and hope that enough of it pays to cover the bills.
That said, currently I am really enjoying doing work with my alma mater, the University of Michigan, exploring the question: What does higher education need to look like in order to enable students to have careers rich in purpose?
What are you reading right now?
Tintin, with my son Max. It was one of my favorites as a kid. It’s great to be able to share with him something that I also loved as his age.
Listening to?
Most of the time I’m listening to Top 40 with my kids. I have to admit, I get a guilty pleasure hearing them sing along to lyrics they don’t understand. The rare time that I have time to listen to music on my own, it tends to be throwbacks I listened to growing up: a healthy mix of classical and 1990s hip-hop.
Watching?
In truth, I have become a Netflix junky over the last year. Right now, I’m hooked on Sons of Anarchy. The scary thing is that after watching four episodes of a show late at night, I come into work the next day still half in the mindset of the characters. In our leadership team meetings I find myself suggesting that we take out the competition and go rogue, until my team brings me back down to earth.
Who inspires you?
My wife. And she’s not even going to read this, so that’s an honest answer.
Broadly, I’m really inspired by anyone who truly cares about what they’re doing. It doesn’t really matter what it is or what level of success they've had. If you love what you’re doing despite it all, that’s an inspiring way to live.
Favorite color?
I’ve never had a favorite color. Every color has its place—I’ve especially learned that while designing websites, and my house.
Rock, paper, or scissors?
Rocks are the most interesting because they come in the most diverse shapes, sizes and colors.
Who are you following online?
I love research. So many studies of workplace psychology have come out over the last five years. I constantly come across amazing, insightful articles from scholars and professionals like Adam Grant, Sheryl Sandberg, Dan Pink, and Amy Wrzesniewski...the list goes on.
Who is the most progressive nonprofit or business leader you know?
My daughter tends to pull in $30-$40/hr on her lemonade stands, while still managing to give half the lemonades away for free. I honestly don’t know how she does it—she’s brilliant.
I’m more inspired by courageous than progressive leaders. Even if they fail, I like seeing when people try stuff that they shouldn’t do. Example—in every city, you see these incredibly ugly buildings that stick out like a sore thumb. When I see those, I have to be glad that they at least tried to do something different. They stand as monuments to courage and risk taking. After all, people thought the Eiffel Tower was an eyesore more than an innovation. Now, it stands as a powerful and inspiring symbol of the city.
What’s one question you’d like to ask yourself—and answer?
Who is on my team today, and why are they awesome?