---
id: wiki-2026-0508-purpose
title: Purpose
category: 10_Wiki/Topics
status: verified
canonical_id: self
aliases: [Telos, Mission, Intent, Goal-Setting, Why]
duplicate_of: none
source_trust_level: A
confidence_score: 0.85
verification_status: applied
tags: [philosophy, psychology, leadership, design]
raw_sources: []
last_reinforced: 2026-05-10
github_commit: pending
tech_stack:
  language: theory
  framework: teleological-design
---

# Purpose

## 매 한 줄
> **"매 know your why before you optimize your how."**. 매 Aristotle 의 *telos* 부터 매 Sinek 의 *Start with Why*, 매 Frankl 의 *meaning therapy* 까지 — 매 purpose = 매 why an entity (person, system, product) exists. 매 2026 software/AI 에서 매 purpose 명시는 매 alignment, scope creep 회피, 매 LLM agent goal-setting 의 foundation.

## 매 핵심

### 매 4 levels of purpose
- **Existential (인간)**: 매 Frankl — 매 meaning vs pleasure vs power.
- **Organizational**: 매 mission statement — 매 "why does this company exist?".
- **Product**: 매 user job-to-be-done (Christensen) — 매 "what hire is this product made for?".
- **System/Code**: 매 module purpose — 매 "what 1 thing does this module own?".

### 매 purpose articulation patterns
- **Sinek's Golden Circle**: WHY → HOW → WHAT.
- **JTBD**: "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]".
- **OKR**: Objective (qualitative why) + Key Results (measurable).
- **Module docstring**: 1-line purpose + invariants.

### 매 응용
1. Code: 매 module 의 1-sentence purpose 가 unclear 면 — split or rename.
2. LLM agent: 매 system prompt 의 첫 줄은 purpose — 매 alignment anchor.
3. Career: 매 ikigai (것 + 잘 + need + paid).
4. Product: 매 JTBD interview → feature prioritization.

## 💻 패턴

### Pattern 1: Module-level purpose docstring
```python
"""
auth/jwt.py

PURPOSE: 매 issue and verify JWT tokens for our API authentication.
INVARIANTS:
  - Tokens always include `iss` claim.
  - Verification rejects tokens with `alg=none`.
NON-GOALS:
  - Session storage (see auth/session.py).
  - Refresh-token rotation (see auth/refresh.py).
"""
```

### Pattern 2: LLM agent system prompt
```python
SYSTEM = """You are a code-review assistant.

PURPOSE: 매 surface non-obvious bugs, security issues, and style violations
in the user's pull request, prioritized by severity.

NON-GOALS:
  - Generating new code (the user does that).
  - Auto-fixing without confirmation.

CONSTRAINTS:
  - Always cite file:line for every claim.
  - Refuse to comment on out-of-scope files.
"""
```

### Pattern 3: JTBD interview template
```yaml
job_to_be_done:
  situation: "When I'm onboarding a new team member"
  motivation: "I want a single doc with their day-1 setup"
  outcome: "so they can ship a real PR by end of week 1"
  current_alternatives: [README, Notion page, ad-hoc Slack DMs]
  hire_criteria: [single-source, executable, verified]
```

### Pattern 4: OKR framing
```yaml
objective: "매 Make AI Act compliance trivial for EU SMBs"
key_results:
  - "Onboard 100 SMBs by Q3"
  - "Reduce time-to-compliance from 30d → 5d"
  - "NPS ≥ 50"
```

### Pattern 5: Purpose-test for scope creep
```python
def is_in_scope(feature, module_purpose) -> bool:
    """매 ask: 'does this feature serve the module's stated purpose?'"""
    # 매 if no, push to a different module or reject
    return feature.advances(module_purpose)
```

### Pattern 6: 5-Whys to surface purpose
```text
Q: Why are we building this dashboard?
A: To show metrics.
Q: Why?
A: So managers can see team health.
Q: Why?
A: So they can intervene early.
Q: Why?
A: To prevent burnout & attrition.
Q: Why?
A: Because attrition costs $200K/engineer.
→ 매 PURPOSE: "매 reduce attrition cost via early-burnout intervention".
```

## 매 결정 기준
| 상황 | Tool |
|---|---|
| 매 module/file design | 1-sentence purpose docstring |
| 매 LLM agent design | Purpose + non-goals + constraints in system prompt |
| 매 product feature triage | JTBD + Purpose-test |
| 매 organization strategy | Mission statement + OKRs |
| 매 personal direction | Ikigai / 5-Whys |

**기본값**: 매 1-sentence purpose 가 없으면 — 매 don't ship.

## 🔗 Graph
- 부모: [[Philosophy]] · [[Design Thinking]]
- 변형: [[Mission]] · [[Vision]] · [[Telos]] · [[Ikigai]]
- 응용: [[OKR]]
- Adjacent: [[Single Responsibility Principle (SRP)|Single Responsibility Principle]]

## 🤖 LLM 활용
**언제**: 매 system prompt 첫 줄, 매 module docstring, 매 product brief, 매 strategy doc.
**언제 X**: 매 throwaway prototypes — 매 over-formalization slows iteration.

## ❌ 안티패턴
- **No purpose**: 매 module 이 "everything" 하면 — 매 god class.
- **Purpose drift**: 매 purpose 명시했지만 features 가 매 drift — 매 update or refactor.
- **Aspirational nonsense**: 매 "make the world better" — 매 unactionable.
- **Purpose ≠ method**: 매 "use React" 는 method, not purpose.

## 🧪 검증 / 중복
- Verified (Aristotle *Nicomachean Ethics*; Frankl *Man's Search for Meaning*; Sinek *Start with Why*; Christensen JTBD).
- 신뢰도 A (foundational philosophical + management canon).

## 🕓 Changelog
| 날짜 | 변경 |
|---|---|
| 2026-05-08 | Phase 1 |
| 2026-05-10 | Manual cleanup — 4 levels, JTBD/OKR/Golden Circle 패턴 |
