A FILM currently streaming on Netflix is coming to our rescue. The movie is called THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT.

While many know what we’re talking about—at least in theory—explaining in simple words what a “Mission” actually is and why it is so crucial to define remains very difficult, even for them.

The 6888th is the identification code of a U.S. Army Battalion composed entirely of women who, during World War II, served their country by managing the flow of mail for soldiers and their families to and from Europe. The film narrates the feat of the women in that battalion, who found themselves not only tackling a grueling organizational and logistical challenge but also facing the gender and racial prejudices of the era, which limited and devalued the contribution Black women could make to the U.S. military effort.

Now, let’s see how this film helps us understand the true sense and importance of a MISSION.

There is a scene in the movie, between minute 61 and 64, where Major Charity Adams delivers her inaugural speech—what we would call the “project go-live” today. She has to explain to hundreds of women—who were rushed from the U.S. to Europe after a grueling journey by ship—why they are there and what they are “called to do.”

The service order was to find a way to clear an enormous backlog of undelivered mail sitting in dozens of hangars waiting to reach its recipients.

But the MISSION is something else entirely, and Charity Adams knows it and communicates it well: the Mission is to help sustain the morale of the people back home and the soldiers in the field by ensuring postal communication that is as reliable and timely as possible.

This is where we grasp the true sense of the Mission—the WHY—that the members of that group must keep in mind from that moment on: every morning when they wake up and every night when they finish the day; in moments of success, but especially in moments of discouragement.

The MISSION acts as a compass to be used in moments of loss. It is precisely in those moments that remembering the BIG WHY helps members of an organization find or maintain the “right path” and their motivation, even in the direst of situations.

Beyond this specific scene, the film is excellent and well worth watching. Moreover, it is a true story that gives us a female LEADER who, despite her rock-solid exterior, is not ashamed to show emotion.

Enjoy the movie and enjoy your business!

#MISSION #STRATEGY