How Do Purpose, MTP, and Moonshots Differ in Shaping the Future?

And why it matters.

When we talk about innovation and transformation, words like purpose, MTP, and moonshot often circulate in the same conversations.

They sound related, and in fact, they are, even if each one points to a very specific lever for guiding organizations.

Understanding the difference is not an academic exercise: it is the way to avoid confusion and to know which lever to pull in a given moment.

Purpose

Colin Mayer, professor of management at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, defines purpose as:

The principle that explains why a company exists, beyond financial gain. Profit is an outcome, not the reason. Purpose is the anchor of identity.

Ranjay Gulati, professor at Harvard, defines purpose as:

A unifying statement of the commercial and social problems a business intends to profitably solve for its stakeholders.

Purpose is the cultural compass that orients decisions, strategy, and innovation, so that the organization moves forward.

It answers the question “Why are we here?” and keeps everyone aligned when conditions are uncertain.

👉 In short: purpose is the anchor of identity and the cultural compass that guides the organization.

Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP)

Salim Ismail took the idea of purpose and adapted it to the Exponential Organizations framework. In their view, a company that wants to grow 10x and create a massive, transformative impact needs a purpose that is short and bold.

The MTP is a public declaration of change. It says what the company does, and the kind of transformation it brings to the world.

• “Massive” points to scale;

• “Transformative” points to radical change;

• “Purpose” points to meaning and motivation.

For ExO, the MTP is the connective tissue between identity and exponential growth. It attracts talent, communities, and ecosystems around a big problem worth solving.

It focuses energy on solutions that can be scaled by 10x.

👉 In short: the MTP is purpose-designed for exponential action—concise, ambitious, transformative, oriented to 10x scale, and able to mobilize global ecosystems.

Moonshot

Peter Diamandis popularized the term “moonshot” to describe projects that sound almost impossible, but that have the power to change the world.

The name recalls the 1960s Apollo program, which mobilized resources and expertise to put humans on the Moon.

A moonshot is not the reason for being; it is a concrete project that embodies ambition. It is high-risk, visionary, and often multidisciplinary.

Moonshots are the way to apply the logic of 10x innovation to specific problems: not just incremental improvements, but radical leaps.

👉 In short: a moonshot is an almost impossible goal that forces 10x innovation and generates global impact.

Why the distinction matters

Many organizations still confuse these three concepts, using them interchangeably. But their power lies in their difference.

• Purpose is stable, the identity anchor.

• The MTP is dynamic, the rallying cry for exponential growth and transformation.

• Moonshots are the projects that put this ambition into practice.

Together, they form a coherent system:

• Purpose → why we exist

• MTP → what transformation we aim for at scale

• Moonshot → the audacious goals we pursue to make it real

For leaders and entrepreneurs, clarity about these three levels is essential. Without it, strategies risk being vague, diluted, or unrealistic. With it, organizations can be anchored, ambitious, and innovative at the same time.