Start with Why

The book ‘start with the why’ is highly recommended as it has helped millions of companies understand how successful leaders inspire others. Simon Sinek explains in his book the theory called the golden circle. Readers can expect how his theory works out through some real-world examples.

Introduction

Some leaders around the world have been inspiring many of us. These leaders captivate us through their way of thinking, ability to act and communicate in a certain way. Some of them might have developed these skills while growing up. Others are born with it.

Still, you can also acquire these skills through a bit of discipline. All of these successful entrepreneurs/leaders behave in a certain pattern that we can learn from. Simon Sinek guides us in his book on the things to focus on and amplify the things that do work.

All problems start because of a reason, but to find and solve the core problem, you should ask the right question. However, it’s not so simple to ask the correct question because sometimes the core issue might be deeply rooted, invisible to the eyes. It’s easy to ask the wrong questions, but that will only lead you further away from the core problem.

The book ‘Start with the why’ consist of many stories about individuals and organizations that follow the patterns of a successful entrepreneur. Simon Sinek understood how some major business entrepreneurs, public speakers and motivators inspire so many people globally. Martin Luther King Jr, Steve Jobs, the Wright brothers and many more have the same thing in common. They inspire people.

Every person and organization needs to motivate others to act in a certain way. Motivation is the driving force that causes someone to do or attain something. It is what motivates you to get out of bed in the morning and go to work, to finish your assignments, or keep up with your favorite television show.

Some companies want to motivate others to purchase their products. Others might want you to support or vote for their political party. However, great leaders do not encourage or persuade others through fear, attractive incentives, or threat.

Great leaders can inspire others to act and give people a sense of belonging or purpose.

How do they inspire others?

All great leaders think, act and communicate the same way. The goal of the book is to offer you the cause of actions. And it starts with the Why.

‘There are leaders and there are those who lead’

Assumptions

All of us make assumptions based on our perceived truth. We think that we know, but it’s not always right. And this affects our behavior. Just like any business or goal, we make assumptions based on some metrics.

In business, we look at revenue, profit, stock price, and more to measure our success. And when we want to achieve our goals, we gather data to make educated decisions.

All that we wish to do is make the right decisions.

However, not all decisions work regardless of the amount of data or information we collect. Same with bad decisions. Not all bad decisions are based on false assumptions.

Most of us want to ensure that our decisions yield the best results, and to ensure our decisions we collect more information and data. It’s the most logical thing to do.

Still, more data doesn’t always add up. You can collect as much data or information as you want and still get bad results. There are also times when we have no data at all, and it resulted better than expected.

There is a way to get repeatable desired results and effects. And it all starts with the same thing; a decision. Every action, step, course, or result that we desire starts with a decision. You decide what you will do, and that can either be a good or bad decision.

Simon Sinek illustrates this perfectly through a story about the Japanese car door assembly line. In short, the Japanese assembling line makes sure that the doors fit when they design them. They engineered the outcome they wanted in the beginning. Whereas, the American assembling line manipulates the doors to fit them in.

Either way, you get the same results in the short term. However, the ones that understood why the doors need to fit by design have better long-term success.

Manipulations vs inspirations

There are only two ways to influence people, manipulation, and inspiration. Manipulations are pretty commonly used. These manipulating methods include dropping prices, running a promotion, fear, peer pressure, and more. It’s a very effective strategy, and that’s why many businesses use manipulation tactics.

Price is a highly effective manipulation way to get more customers. In the short run, you receive massive customer purchases, but the more you fluctuate your prices, the harder it will be to stop. Furthermore, playing the price game can come with a tremendous cost.

Promotion is another effective manipulation tactic. We have all heard and seen marketing promotions like ‘two for one’ or ‘free toy inside’. It’s so commonly used that we forget that promotions are manipulating us.

Breakage is one of the principles of promotions mostly used in the retail industry. It’s a smart, manipulative way to measure the percentage of customers who didn’t take advantage of the promotion and end up paying the full price. It’s usually accompanied by rebates.

Fear is also one of the most effective manipulative tactics to influence people. It’s a powerful tool that can manipulate people to think irrationally. Fear can be used to scare people. It’s regularly used to promote child safety or spread awareness of diseases.

Aspirations are similar to fear, but instead of scaring the people away, you can motivate them to strive for something they desire. It can be used to spur behavior, but unfortunately, it doesn’t last long. It’s hard to maintain the motivation through aspirations.

Peer pressure is the attempt to convince people that your products are better than others. Sometimes the peer pressure used through celebrity endorsement. If your idol uses a certain brand or a product, then you will likely buy that product too. This method is designed only for one purpose, to pressure you to buy.

Novelty is a form of innovation, but not quite the same. True innovation changes how we conduct business, alters how we live our lives. A novelty is more like a great feature to your product. It’s a way to differentiate your product from your competitors. Most companies disguise features as innovation, but it’s actually a novelty.

An example of novelty is Colgate. Colgate started with two types of toothpaste. Through the years, the competitors increased significantly and Colgate’s sales went down. So, the company introduced a new type of toothpaste. Nowadays, you can choose 32 different types of Colgate toothpaste.

Manipulations work and each method influences the behavior significantly. Businesses can become quite successful through manipulations. It’s a way to drive sales, but it won’t create loyalty. Same in politics, manipulations can help you get elected, but it won’t create a foundation for leadership.

Just because manipulation works doesn’t mean that you should abuse it. Manipulations are short-term benefits, but can be catastrophic in the long run. Manipulations are built on repeated doing business instead of creating loyalty. It leads to transactions, but not loyal customers.

An alternative perspective

Only a few leaders inspire people to motivate them. These leaders think, act and communicate in the same way and that’s through the concept of the golden circle.

The golden circle concept can be used in many fields, and it offers the formula for repeated and predictable results. It helps us understand why we do what we do. There are three layers in the golden circle, namely;

The WHY
The HOW
The WHAT

As you can see from the image, there are two ways how companies and leaders think, act, and communicate; from the inside and the outside

The majority of people and companies start from the outside. They start from What to WHY. The what is easy to identify and everyone knows what they are doing. These are the tangible products and services in the business. However, it will be difficult to understand the core inside the golden circle, the why, and when you start from the outside. Everyone knows the what and some know ‘the how’ but not the why.

Only the inspiring leaders and companies think, act and communicate through the inside, through the why. It’s inspiring because ‘the why’ gives us the purpose, cause, and beliefs to do what we do. Still, many can’t clearly articulate why they do what they do.

The reason why ‘the why’ is essential is that people buy why you do it instead of what you do. So if you don’t have a strong Why, then people won’t know why they should care about your product. A strong why gives us the reason to buy, and the WHAT serves as a tangible proof of that reasoning.

Even though, some products might be better than others. A strong why makes the difference. In reality, people don’t care if one product is better than the other. A minor difference in quality doesn’t persuade people to buy product A instead of Product B.

Still, a strong WHY should be paired with a strong or good What. No matter how good or clear your WHY is, if the WHAT doesn’t sell, then it still wouldn’t work. On the other hand, if your WHAT doesn’t align with your WHY, then people don’t know WHY you are doing what you are doing, and you will be forced to compete on price, service, quality, features, and benefits.

Understanding ‘the why’ is not the only way to become successful. There are other ways to become successful. Just like the old saying; all roads lead to Rome. However, knowing your WHY is the only way to maintain lasting success.

Little biology

One of the basic human needs is the need to belong. All of us crave to belong to something. That’s why we live in societies and have certain morals and beliefs. Our desire to belong is so strong that we often do irrational things and spend money based on feelings.

That’s also the reason why we want to be around people that share the same beliefs and/or are similar to us. A strong why represents and communicates what we believe in. It’s deeply rooted and can become a symbol of the values that we hold dear. Great leaders and businesses draw people because they communicate clearly what they believe in. Their ability to shift our hearts makes them so special.

Our brain works similarly to the golden circle. The brain consists of the neocortex and the limbic system. The neocortex is the outer layer of the brain and corresponds with the WHAT level. This part of the brain is responsible for rational and analytical thoughts and language, like facts and empirical evidence.

The limbic brain is the inner layer of the brain and is responsible for all of our feelings. This part of the brain is also the part that drives behavior. The limbic brain controls our decision-making, and the neocortex allows us to rationalize those decisions. A strong why corresponds with the limbic brain. It’s the part that makes us do irrational things, and make the decision based on our hearts and guts. It’s also the one that drives us to try new things.

When a company fails to communicate their why, then it forces us to look only through facts and evidence. When we only focus on the neocortex, it creates only stress or doubt among the customers.

Clarity, discipline, and consistency

The why is a good starting point, but, each piece needs to be in balance and in the right order to let the golden circle work. Clarity is the first piece and corresponds with the why. The why has to be clearly articulated, otherwise no one knows why they want to follow you.

After you clarify the why, it’s up to the HOW. These are the values and principles that bring your cause to life. The essential key is to stay committed and be disciplined to never veer from your cause. Discipline is the second piece and corresponds to the HOW level.

Clarity is just to give us a clear idea. Now it’s up to us to be committed to those ideas. Discipline helps us to stay focused on our beliefs and remain true to our values.

The WHY is simply a belief, and the HOW are the actions towards your beliefs. The WHAT are the results. Everything you say and do need to be consistent. At that point, authenticity will follow along. Authenticity comes from believing in the things you say and do. It cannot be achieved without clarity of the WHY.

Back to manipulation vs inspiration

Both manipulation and inspiration tickle the limbic brain, but they are not the same. Aspirational messages, fear, or peer pressure pushes us to decide one way or another. It touches on our insecurity or uncertainty. How we view ourselves.

Still, emotional feelings go deeper than self-doubt and insecurity. When our decisions feel right, it’s because of the visceral limbic feeling. It creates loyalty, and it’s the real emotional value of our customers.

When your WHY and their WHY correspond, then your product and services are the proof of what they believe in. No matter how many people see your commercials, it’s always the individual who truly receives the message. The golden circle provides a way to communicate consistency with these individuals.

Trust

When the golden circle is balance, clarity, discipline, and consistency, then trust is built among your people. We form trust through shared beliefs and values which apply to both the customers and your employees. When the company mistreats its workers, then the likelihood of workers mistreating your customers is the same. It’s the same if the beliefs and values don’t align between the company and its workers.

Most companies hire people purely for their skills, but rarely hire people that share the same view as you. A great leader can find people who are a great fit for the company. They look at the attitude of the person instead of skills. The skills can be learned, not the attitude.

A company with a strong WHY can inspire its employees. This only happens when you clearly articulate the WHY. It can change the view of the employees.

However, this can only be obtained through earning trust by demonstrating and communicating clearly your beliefs. So keep the golden circle in balance, then trust starts to emerge.

The law of diffusion

Everett M. Rogers describes in his book ‘diffusion of innovations’ how innovation spread through society. But the law of diffusion goes further than only innovations. The law explains the spread of ideas.

One of the most known terminology in the book is the five segments of the bell curve that consists of;

Innovators; These people pursue new products or ideas and are intrigued by any fundamental advances.
Early Adopters; These people appreciate the advantages of the new ideas or products.
Early Majority; These people are practical-minded but are more comfortable with new ideas than Late Majority
Late Majority; These people are also practical-minded but less comfortable than the Early Majority.
Laggards; These people don’t adapt to new ideas or products. They only buy new stuff if it’s necessary.

The key thought of the law of diffusion is to encourage the left side of the curve to influence the middle and right sides of the curve. You can focus on the Early and late majority curve but it comes at a much higher expense.

The tipping point of spreading the idea at an extraordinary pace is when the idea or product is accepted by the mass markets. Therefore, the best course to take is to find the people who believe in what you believe in.One of the most known terminologies in the book is the five segments of the bell curve that consists of;

Innovators; These people pursue new products or ideas and are intrigued by any fundamental advances.
Early Adopters; These people appreciate the advantages of the new ideas or products.
Early Majority; These people are practical-minded but are more comfortable with new ideas than the Late Majority
Late Majority; These people are also practical-minded, but less comfortable than the Early Majority.
Laggards; These people don’t adapt to new ideas or products. They only buy new stuff if it’s necessary.

Energy excites but charisma inspires

Charisma is hard to define, elusive, and all great leaders have it. Some people compare it with energy, but charisma is very different. Energy excites people, but only charisma inspires them. It comes from the clarity of the WHY. Charismatic leaders understood and knew how to bring their why to life through tangible ways.

How do great organizations are organized?

The golden circle is more than just a communication tool. It can be used to get insights into organizations. How these big companies are organized?

The golden circle is three-dimensional. Looking from above, and you will see a circle, but turn it sideways, and you will see that it’s a cone.

The cone represents the organization. On the top level, you see the WHY. These represent the leaders of an organization. Usually, these are the CEO of the company.

The HOW level includes the senior executives. These people are inspired by the leader’s vision and know how to bring it to life.

The What level consists of the majority of the employees, whose job is to create tangible products.

Every WHY-type organization and leader needs a HOW-type person. The leader imagines the destination, whereas the HOW-type finds the route to get there. Every great charismatic leader has always people lurking in the shadows who make their vision a reality.

Why-types are visionary, tend to be optimistic and believe that all the things they imagined can be accomplished. The HOW types are realists and are more practical. They are better at building structures, and processes, and getting things done.

A misunderstood concept is that HOW types need a WHY-type. But in reality, the HOW types don’t need WHY types. They do fine without a WHY-type person. However, a WHY-type person needs a HOW-type.

Be loud! Build a megaphone that works.

A message can have a massive impact on many people. The louder, the better, right? Well, indeed your message will reach a wide variety of people by being loud. However, without a clear WHY, the message will not reach the people’s hearts.

Loud is nothing more than excessive volume.

So, being loud is just a way to amplify your message. When your message is confusing, then you only confuse more people. When your message is clear and inspiring, then you inspire more people.

A clear purpose, cause, or beliefs is essential, but it is equally important as being loud. The WHY needs to be loud enough to let the majority of the people know what you stand for.

Be true to yourself

It is very hard to maintain the golden circle in balance because a sense of clear why sets expectations. People expect you to be accountable to your values and principles that everything you say and do is consistent with your WHY.

‘Say it only if you believe it’

The WHY as a movement

Great organizations and companies can repeat their success, time after time. How? People root for their success. These great companies don’t function as corporate entities. They exist as a social movement.

All movements are personal. It is the role of the WHY types to inspire, start the movement and keep it going. It’s all about feeling that we belong to something, a movement, a belief, a purpose.

A fun fact is that the WHY never changes, whereas the WHAT can change over time. As we know, the golden circle is a three-dimensional cone. It’s an organized system, but it sits on top of another system, the marketplace.

The marketplace is inherently chaotic and disorganized. These are the external people influencing the organization which include; customers, shareholders, competitors, and suppliers.

The WHAT level of the golden circle is the only contact point with the marketplace. The WHATs are the results of the WHY and HOW. So everything that the company does and says is communicated through the WHATs to the outside world.

It’s also the job of the leaders to focus on the organization, not the outside market. The WHY types should focus on the HOW. The leaders focus on the team that believes in the company and knows HOW to build it.

‘Communicate clearly and you shall be understood’

Logo as a meaningful Symbol

Symbols have been around for decades and are still being used today. Some of them are well-known, for example, the peace symbol. It is widely known and everyone knows what it stands for, through their values and beliefs.

In general, symbols only exist with meaning because we infuse them with meanings. Great societies and organizations know the importance of symbols. The meaning lives in our minds and can command great power only through clear purpose, cause, or beliefs.

Logos are a way to represent the company. It can be converted into a symbol, but not many companies can convert their logo because of bad communication. It requires clarity, and a strong WHY. Otherwise, a logo is just a logo.

A logo needs to stand for something, to become a symbol. Something that inspires the people. Something that says about who they are. A logo that clearly expresses a set of values.

The Celery test

Every company and organization is different. They believe in different things, so their way of operating a business differs from another. A strategy that works for one company might not be useful for another. Not all best practices work for all organizations.

To put it simply; It’s not WHAT or HOW you do things that matter; what matters more is that WHAT and HOW you do things are consistent with your WHY.

The celery test is a simple way to find out if the WHAT and HOW to align with your WHY. Want to know more about the celery test? Check out this blog; The Celery Test.

On the other hand, violating or failing the celery test can be harmful to your business. Sometimes a business tries to seize every market opportunity but forgets that not all of them align with their WHY.

Over time, these actions will harm the company because their WHY becomes fuzzier, which leads to deteriorating their ability to inspire and command loyalty.

Even a clear WHY can become fuzzy if the WHAT doesn’t align with the WHY. So, the important thought is to align the WHAT’s with your WHY.

A clear purpose, cause, or beliefs is essential, but it is equally important as being loud. The WHY needs to be loud enough to let the majority of the people know what you stand for.

The biggest challenge

One of the biggest challenges many faces is to keep the WHY clear. Many big companies start with a clear why, but through the years their WHY becomes fuzzy.

This phenomenon affects both businesses and entrepreneurs. Many successful entrepreneurs don’t feel like they are succeeding. Most of them feel like they lost something since they started a business. These great entrepreneurs knew WHAT they were doing and HOW to do things but lost the WHY.

It’s quite the irony that successful people don’t always feel successful. They often talk about loneliness. And that’s because people confuse achievements with success.

Achievements are tangible and are things that you are reaching for. It’s like a goal, and it can be clearly defined and measured. Achievements come from pursuing and attaining WHAT you want.

Success is a state of mind or a feeling. It comes from the WHY. The reason why you want it.

It is not something that can be separated. We need both of them.

Split happens

Nearly all companies start with an idea. The idea is fueled by passion, which affects other people too. People love it or hate it, but for passion to survive, it needs a structure. Otherwise, there is a high probability that you will fail.

The greatest challenge for any organization is; success. When a company started, the way they communicate came from the inside, from the WHY. But as the business grow bigger, the company began to start communicating from the outside, from the WHAT. That’s because the WHATs are easily measured.

A company that stays true to their WHY can achieve great success. However, it is hard to pass the company to the next generation. The entire company culture is based on one man’s vision. The founder knows exactly the WHY of his own company, which inspired others.

An outsider can take over your company but most of the time. It doesn’t match well. That’s because their WHY doesn’t align with your WHY. Some CEOs even replace your WHY with their vision. These overpaid CEOs just think about themselves instead of others.

Therefore, the only long-lasting success, after your retirement, is to find a person who strongly believes in your WHY and wants that movement. The founder must extract and integrate his WHY into the culture. A great way to find out if the company last after you retire is through the School Bus Test.

Click here to find out what the School Bus Test is.