Why?” is the Question. What’s Your Answer?
“People don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it,” says the British-born Simon Sinek, who first laid out his theory his 2009 book “Start With Why.”
It sounds like psychology, but Sinek deems it biological, stating the human brain is wired in a way that most of us don’t recognize or understand. He contends that inspired organizations and leaders -- regardless of size or industry -- all think, act and communicate the same way. Implying then that there is in fact, a method to their madness and a science to their success.
At the heart of his concept is the “Golden Circle.” He believes those who clearly grasp it can become far more effective leaders and inspire change.
The premise of the Golden Circle is that “what” businesses do and “how” they do it – the two outermost rings of the circle – often overshadow the central question – “why” they are in business to begin with.
“What’s your purpose, your calling? Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning and why should anyone care?” Sinek asks.
The answer, he says, is not simply to make a profit. That’s a result, but not the reason for being.
Sinek uses Apple’s success to illustrate his point.
Apple, of course, started as a computer company. But many other quality organizations also create the hardware and software that allow users to do what they want. What, then, has allowed Apple to become the world’s most valuable company? Sinek believes the answer lies in how Apple consistently has answered the question, “Why?”
A typical company might say: “We make great computers. They are beautifully designed, simple to use. Do you want to buy one?”
Straightforward, but not necessarily inspiring.
Apple’s answer, he suggests, speaks directly to the passion people want to feel about products, careers and experiences. “In everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo and thinking differently. We do this by making our products beautifully engineered and simple to use. We just happen to make great computers. Do you want to buy one?”
“The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have,” Sinek emphasizes. “The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”
In Apple’s case, its well-earned reputation as the maker of products people can’t wait to get their hands on is reflective of how Sinek divides the consumer population:
- 2.5% -- Innovators
- 13.5% -- Early adopters
- 34% -- Early majority
- 34% -- Late majority
- 16% -- Laggards
“You can trip over 10% of your customers. We all have 10% who just get it. The problem is finding others,” explains Sinek, saying that the tipping point for most businesses in 15 to 18% percent market penetration. “The early majority won’t try something until someone else has tried it first.”
The key lesson for other businesses, he believes, is to recognize the people are intensely loyal to Apple products not simply because they’re well made, but for how they make the users feel about themselves. To own the latest iPhone or the first iPad gains respect among those they most want to be respected by. Business leaders whose companies connect with their customers and employees in that way have a distinct advantage. In this sense Apple becomes a partner, not just a product.
Sinek elaborates on the significance of surrounding yourself with the right partners, most notably in relation to adequate staffing.
“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears,” he says.
Sinek drives his point home by spotlighting Martin Luther King’s inspirational ability as something today’s leaders must understand and emulate. In August 1963, decades before the Internet and social media made instant communication possible, the civil rights leader drew more than a quarter-million people to Washington, D.C. Such attraction went beyond mere advertising. It was King’s ability to share, idenify, and communicate a smilar belief system, the “why ” behind the civil rights cause, that motivated like-minded people to travel thousands of miles at will to hear him speak. It was “how” he made people feel about themselves that empowered them to act on “what” they aspired to change.
“He told people, ‘I believe, I believe, I believe,’ ” Sinek says. “He gave the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, not the ‘I Have a Plan’ speech.”
Start With Why
Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty?
In studying the leaders who've had the greatest influence in the world, Simon Sinek discovered that they all think, act, and communicate in the exact same way-and it's the complete opposite of what everyone else does.How Great Leaders Inspire Action - Simon Sinek, Ted Talks
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