Recently spent a week in Chicago. One of the ‘can’t miss’ attractions we visited was the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower. When it was built by Sears in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world. Being there made me wonder about Sears Roebuck, their glory days and how they came to their current situation.

I won’t detail their decline, just share a story. Someone I know went to Sears on July 4 (3 weeks ago) and bought a Stearns and Foster mattress for around $2000. I tell you how much they spent so you know this was not a chump-change transaction. What’s crazy though, is the person still does not have the mattress! After a series of problems, many phone calls and basically a comedy of errors, it is supposed to be delivered this Friday. I have my doubts.

In 50 words or less, I think what happened is that Sears was a juggernaut of American retail, so great that they built the tallest building in the world, moved into the building, and then lost sight of their customers. Hard to see the man on the street from the 101st floor!

At some point Sears forgot that providing shoppers with good value and service was their raison d’être (a French expression meaning reason for existence). Ultimately, they sold and moved out of their magnificent building and eventually lost the naming rights. The building is now called the Willis Tower for the London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings, Ltd. that occupies office space in the tower.

Maybe I read too much into the message physical structures communicate but it’s interesting. I worked at the United Parcel Services corporate headquarters in Atlanta and was told that the company was determined to keep the buildings level with the tree line. Many people don’t even realize the HQ of a Fortune 100 company are located in their midst. Another example is Walmart’s corporate office in Bentonville, Arkansas. The building was the original Walmart general office warehouse before it was converted in the 1980s and based on what I saw of it in CNBC’s The Age of Walmart documentary, was not designed to impress.

I have concerns about a university in my community that recently built a new complex for their college of business. The administration is in a building separate from where the majority of faculty offices and classrooms are located. They look to be connected by walkways but the buildings are separate. Further, the administration building is taller than the other two in the complex and from the outside seems a bit fancier. Time will tell.

I believe that when you lose sight of your raison d’être, things can fall apart.

What is your reason for existence? Does it guide your actions and your work? Are you smack dab in the middle of your reason to be or have you somehow found a way to separate yourself from it, to live away from it, to look down on it from above? The more you align your day to day activities and your behavior with your raison d’être, the more success and satisfaction you will have.

Not sure of your raison d’être? I can help you with that.

 

What do you think?