Budget Week reminder: Vision first, spending second

This week, all eyes are on the numbers in New Zealand.

As the Government prepares to announce the national budget, it’s a timely reminder for business leaders — both large and small — that the discipline of budgeting only makes sense if you first know what you’re trying to achieve. A budget is not a vision. And it’s certainly not a strategy.

It’s a tool.

The challenge governments face is the same one facing many businesses: Every line item has a lobbying constituency. Defence or education? Infrastructure or mental health? Climate adaptation or economic productivity? The answer, unfortunately, is always “yes.” But “yes” without alignment is how we end up with ballooning costs and underwhelming results.

Everything costs. So what counts?

In business — as in government — trying to make everyone happy leads to incoherence. You end up managing money instead of managing progress. That’s why purpose, when used properly, is a vital financial management tool.
As Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, reminded shareholders: “Purpose is not the sole pursuit of profits but the animating force for achieving them.” When purpose is clearly articulated and embedded, it helps leaders make tough calls — not based on popularity or proximity, but on alignment.

This is where governance comes in. Businesses need a system — not a slogan — that enables purpose to live at the heart of decision-making. One that links purpose with operations, brand and investment priorities. When leaders adopt such a unifying framework, it becomes much easier to make confident financial choices. Not because everything is easy — but because everything is intentional.

If it’s not aligned, why fund it?

In my work with clients around the world, I’ve often found that 15–25% of internal expenditure — marketing budgets, ESG reporting, even product innovation — is misaligned with the business’s real direction of travel. Not maliciously. Just habitually. Without a Single Organizing Idea (SOI) to challenge assumptions, budgets become backwards-looking. They reward inertia, not intention.

That’s why investment in strategy isn’t a one-off exercise. It’s a system. Like the public purse, your business needs an active feedback loop between ambition, allocation and accountability.

And that requires more than values on the wall. It requires a governance mindset—one that ensures your vision isn’t just visible, but viable. A shared understanding that helps boards and leadership teams ask: Does this decision move us forward? If not, why are we investing in it?

Purpose is not a luxury — it’s the lens

Some might argue that in tight times, purpose must take a backseat. But as McKinsey has repeatedly shown, companies that integrate purpose into their core operations see stronger financial resilience and long-term returns. In fact, their recent global survey found that “companies with a strong sense of purpose outperform the market by 5–7% annually.”
In uncertain times, the best investment any business can make is in clarity. Clarity of vision. Clarity of governance. Clarity of spend.

Governments might struggle to balance the books — because everything and everyone needs something. But your business doesn’t have to. You get to choose. And with a coherent governance model that aligns strategy with purpose, you won’t just get through budget week — you’ll be positioned to thrive long after it.

So here’s the question: What’s guiding your decisions? And is your budget aligned with it?