{ Start with Why
Start with Why
By: & Simon Sinek
Finished: October 13, 2020
status: #notesInProgress
bib: Sinek, S. (2011). Start with why. Penguin Books.
page 13
“You have to be careful what you think you know. Assumptions, you see, even when based on sound research, can lead us astray.”
Carrots and Ticks
Manipulation vs. Inspiration
page 17
“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”
Price
page 17
“For the seller, selling based on price is like heroin. The short-term gain is fantastic, but the more you do it, the harder it becomes to kick the habit. Once buyers get used to paying a lower-than-average price for a product or service, it is very hard to get them to pay more.”
Promotions
page 20
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“The manipulative nature of promotions is so well established in retail that the industry even named one of the principles. They call it breakage. Breakage measures the percentage of customers who fail to take advantage of a promotion and end up paying full price for a product instead.”
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“The rebate industry also has a name for the number of customers who just don’t bother to apply for the rebate, or who never cash the rebate check they receive. That’s called slippage.”
Fear
Aspirations
Peer Pressure
page 25
- “But what if 70 percent of your competitors are idiots? Or what if that 70 percent were given so much value added or offered such a low price that they couldn’t resist the opportunity?”
Novelty (innovation)
- “Real innovation changes the course of industries or even society. The light bulb, the microwave oven, the fax machine, iTunes. These are true innovations that changed how we conduct business, altered how we live our lives, and, in the case of iTunes, challenged an industry to completely reevaluate its business model. ”
- With this revised definition in mind, even Motorola’s own description of its new product becomes just a list of a few great features: a metal case, hidden antenna, flat keypad and a thin phone. Hardly “revolutionary innovation.”
“If a company adds too many novel ideas too often, it can have a similar impact on the product or category as the price game
The price you pay for the money you make
page 29
“Loyalty is when people are willing to turn down a better product or a better price to continue doing business with yo{ Start with Why#^267105]]table, manufacturers rely on the breakage and slippage numbers staying above a certain threshold. Just like our trusty drug addict, whose behavior is reinforced by how good the short-term high feels, the temptation to make the qualifications of the rebate more obscure or cumbersome so as to reduce the number of qualified applicants can be overwhelming for some.”
- { Start with Why#^32e76b
page 31
“Manipulations are a perfectly valid strategy for driving a transaction, or for any behavior that is only required once or on rare occasions.”
“Does a politician want your vote, for example, or does he or she want a lifetime of support and loyalty from you? (Judging by how elections are run these days, it seems all they want is to win elections”
page 32
“Though loyal customers are less tempted by other offers and incentives, in good times the free flow of business makes it hard to recognize their value. It’s in the tough times that loyal customers matter most”
“Manipulations”
“Knowing you have a loyal customer and employee base not only reduces costs, it provides massive peace of mind.”
“It is the feeling of “we’re in this together,” shared between customer and company, voter and candidate, boss and employee, that defines great leaders.”
202108110949 - The Golden Circle: What, How, and Why
“WHAT: Every single company and organization on the planet knows WHAT they do.”
“HOW: Some companies and people know HOW they do WHAT they do.”
“WHY: Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do.”
“By WHY I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?”
page 40
“This pattern is also alive and well in politics—“Here’s the candidate, here are her views on taxes and immigration. See how’s she’s different? Vote for her.”
page 41
“It’s worth repeating: people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.”
page 42
“WHY is offered as the reason to buy and the WHATs serve as the tangible proof of that belief.”
page 43
“It is that clear correlation between WHAT they do and WHY they do it that makes Apple stand out.”
page 45
“Unless Dell, like so many others, can rediscover their founding purpose, cause or belief and start with WHY in all they say and do, all they will ever do is sell computers. They will be stuck in their “core business.”
page 47
“Knowing WHY is essential for lasting success and the ability to avoid being lumped in with others”
“Any company faced with the challenge of how to differentiate themselves in their market is basically a commodity, regardless of WHAT they do or HOW they do it”
page 50
“Knowing your WHY is not the only way to be successful, but it is the only way to maintain a lasting success and have a greater blend of innovation and flexibility”
“And all those big railroad companies eventually went out of business. What if they had defined themselves as being in the mass transportation business? Perhaps their behavior would have been different. Perhaps they would have seen opportunities that they otherwise missed. Perhaps they would own all the airlines today.”
page 51
“WHY did we start doing WHAT we’re doing in the first place, and WHAT can we do to bring our cause to life considering all the technologies and market opportunities available today?”
page 55
“We are drawn to leaders and organizations that are good at communicating what they believe”
“Those whom we consider great leaders all have an ability to draw us close and to command our loyalty.”
page 56
“But when we communicate from the inside out, we’re talking directly to the part of the brain that controls decision-making, and our language part of the brain allows us to rationalize those decisions.”
page 57
“Richard Restak, a well-known neuroscientist, talks about this in his book The Naked Brain. When you force people to make decisions with only the rational part of their brain, they almost invariably end up “overthinking.”
page 58
“People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it. A failure to communicate WHY creates nothing but stress or doubt. In contrast, many people who are drawn to buy Macintosh computers or Harley-Davidson motorcycles, for example, don’t need to talk to anyone about which brand to choose. They feel the utmost confidence in their decision and the only question they ask is which Mac or which Harley.”
page 59
“Perhaps it is a subtle clue our language-impaired limbic brain is sending us to help us see that the art of leading is about following your heart. Perhaps our brains are trying to tell us that WHY must come first.”
page 60
“Great leaders are those who trust their gut. They are those who understand the art before the science. They win hearts before minds. They are the ones who start with WHY.”
page 63
“In reality, their purchase decision and their loyalty are deeply personal. They don’t really care about Apple; it’s all about them.”
page 66
“But nouns are not actionable. They are things. You can’t build systems or develop incentives around those things. It’s nearly impossible to hold people accountable to nouns.”
page 67
“A WHY is just a belief. That’s all it is. HOWs are the actions you take to realize that belief. And WHATs are the results of those actions—everything you say and do: your products, services, marketing, PR, culture and whom you hire.”
page 69
“Authenticity is when you say and do the things you actually believe”
page 73
“There are many ways to motivate people to do things, but loyalty comes from the ability to inspire people. Only when the WHY is clear and when people believe what you believe can a true loyal relationship develop.”
“Manipulation and inspiration both tickle the limbic brain. Aspirational messages, fear or peer pressure all push us to decide one way or another by appealing to our irrational desires or playing on our fears. But it’s when that emotional feeling goes deeper than insecurity or uncertainty or dreams that the emotional reaction aligns with how we view ourselves. It is at that point that behavior moves from being motivated to inspired. When we are inspired, the decisions we make have more to do with who we are and less to do with the companies or the products we’re buying.”
page 74
“When WHY, HOW, and WHAT are in balance, authenticity is achieved and the buyer feels fulfilled”
page 79
“When you know your WHY, the highest level of confidence you can offer is, “I know it’s right.” When you know the decision is right, not only does it feel right, but you can also rationalize it and easily put it into words. The decision is fully balanced.”
page 80
“The goal of business should not be to do business with anyone who simply wants what you have. It should be to focus on the people who believe what you believe. When we are selective about doing business only with those who believe in our WHY, trust emerges.”
page 84
“Value, by definition, is the transference of trust.”
page 85
“Again, a WHY is just a belief, HOWs are the actions we take to realize that belief, and WHATs are the results of those actions. When all three are in balance, trust is built and value is perceived”
page 86
“The drive to win is not, per se, a bad thing. Problems arise, however, when the metric becomes the only measure of success, when what you achieve is no longer tied to WHY you set out to achieve it in the first place.”
page 88
“We measured things the employees could truly control,” Bethune said. “We made the stakes something the employees would win or lose on together, not separately.”
page 93
“The best engineer at Apple, for example, would likely be miserable if he worked at Microsoft. Likewise, the best engineer at Microsoft would probably not thrive at Apple. Both are highly experienced and work hard. Both may come highly recommended. However, each engineer does not fit the culture of the other’s company.”
“The goal is to hire those who are passionate for your WHY, your purpose, cause or belief, and who have the attitude that fits your culture.”
page 99
“He cared so much about what others thought of him, he was so preoccupied with becoming famous.”
“He wasn’t first, so he simply quit.”
“The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen.”
page 100
“Companies that study their competitors in hopes of adding the features and benefits that will make their products “better” are only working to entrench the company in WHAT it does.”
page 101
“Southwest’s remarkable ability to solve problems, Apple’s remarkable knack for innovation and the Wright brothers’ ability to develop a technology with the team they had were all possible for the same reason: they believed they could and they trusted their people to do it.”
page 103
“This is caveman stuff. If the people aren’t looking out for the community, then the benefits of a community erode.”
page 104
“If there were no trust, then no one would take risks. No risks would mean no exploration, no experimentation and no advancement of the society as a whole. That’s a remarkable concept: only when individuals can trust the culture or organization will they take personal risks in order to advance that culture or organization as a whole.”
page 105
“There is a big difference between jumping out of a plane with a parachute on and jumping without one. Both produce extraordinary experiences, but only one increases the likelihood of being able to try again another time.”
page 109
“The time to think of yourself is done, it is not about you, it is about the lieutenants behind you,” she’d remind her students when she was an instructor at the Fighter Weapons School. “If enough of us do this,” she goes on, referring to WHY she does what she does, “then we leave this military and this country in better shape than we found it. And isn’t that the point?” And it is that sense of purpose, a clear idea of WHY she comes to work, that has been the cornerstone of General Robinson’s success.”
“Great leadership is not about flexing and intimidation; great leaders, as General Robinson proves, lead with WHY. They embody a sense of purpose that inspires those around them.”
page 110
“She’s a great leader because she understands that earning the trust of an organization doesn’t come from setting out to impress everyone, it comes from setting out to serve those who serve her.”
“If companies do not actively work to keep their Golden Circle in balance—clarity, discipline and consistency—then trust starts to break down.”
page 111
“Well, that’s easy,” he said, “employees come first and if employees are treated right, they treat the outside world right, the outside world uses the company’s product again, and that makes the shareholders happy. That really is the way that it works and it’s not a conundrum at all.”
page 116
“It’s the difference between a fad and an idea that changes an industry or society forever.”
page 120
“According to the Law of Diffusion, mass-market success can only be achieved after you penetrate between 15 percent and 18 percent of the market”
“The point at which an idea becomes a movement. When that happens, the growth is not only exponential, it is automatic. It just goes”
“The goal of business then should not be to simply sell to anyone who wants what you have—the majority—but rather to find people who believe what you believe, the left side of the bell curve”
page 121
“Get enough of the people on the left side of the curve on your side and they encourage the rest to follow”
“If you have the discipline to focus on the early adopters, the majority will come along eventually. But it must start with WHY”
page 126
“Your role in the process is to be crystal clear about what purpose, cause or belief you exist to champion, and to show how your products and services help advance that cause.”
page 128
“There are two types of laws,” he shared, “those that are just and those that are unjust. A just law,” Dr. King expounded, “is a man-made code that squares with the moral law. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. . . . Any law that uplifts the human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality.”
page 129
“It wasn’t the details of his plans that earned him the right to lead. It was what he believed and his ability to communicate it clearly that people followed.”
page 130
“Everyone at the Mall that day shared a set of values and beliefs. And everyone there that day, regardless of skin color or race or sex, trusted each other. It was that trust, that common bond, that shared belief that fueled a movement that would change a nation.”
page 134
“Energy can excite. But only charisma can inspire. Charisma commands loyalty. Energy does not.”
page 135
“We don’t want to come to work to build a wall, we want to come to work to build a cathedral”
page 136
“If our Golden Circle is in balance, WHAT we do is simply the tangible way we find to breathe life into that cause.”
“Putting a man on the moon was one goal John F. Kennedy used to rally people to bring to life his belief that service to the nation—and not being serviced by the nation—would lead America to advance and prosper.”
page 139
“A destination without a route leads to meandering and inefficiency, something a great many WHY-types will experience without the help of others to ground them.”
“A route without a destination, however, may be efficient, but to what end? It’s all fine and good to know how to drive, but it’s more fulfilling when you have a place to go.”
page 141
“But WHY-guys, for all their vision and imagination, often get the short end of the stick. Without someone inspired by their vision and the knowledge to make it a reality, most WHY-types end up as starving visionaries, people with all the answers but never accomplishing much themselves.”
page 143
“Even the ability to create a tipping point is possible without creating lasting change. It’s called a fad.”
page 146
“For a stunt to appeal to the left side of the curve of the Law of Diffusion, WHY the stunt is being performed, beyond the desire to generate press, must be clear”
“Though there may be short-term benefits without clarity, loud is nothing more than excessive volume”
page 146
“A leader with a cause, whether it be an individual or an organization, must have a megaphone through which to deliver his message.”
“For a WHY to have the power to move people it must not only be clear, it must be amplified to reach enough people to tip the scale.”
page 148
“In the business world, they say Apple is a lifestyle brand. They underestimate Apple’s power. Gucci is a lifestyle brand—Apple changes the course of industries. By any definition these few companies don’t function like corporate entities. They exist as social movements.”
page 151
“Bruder doesn’t run companies, he leads movements.”
page 157
“Just as the cone demonstrates, the CEO’s job, the leader’s responsibility, is not to focus on the outside market—it’s to focus on the layer directly beneath: HOW”
page 159
“If done properly, that’s what marketing, branding and products and services become; a way for organizations to communicate to the outside world. Communicate clearly and you shall be understood.”
page 160
“COMMUNICATION IS NOT ABOUT SPEAKING, IT’S ABOUT LISTENING”
“That meaning lives in our minds, not in the item itself. Only when the purpose, cause or belief is clear can a symbol command great power.”
page 161
“Most companies have logos, but few have been able to convert those logos into meaningful symbols”
“Without clarity of WHY, a logo is just a logo.”
page 162
“For companies to be perceived as a great leaders and not dictators, all their symbols, including their logos, need to stand for something in which we can all believe”
“That takes clarity, discipline and consistency”
page 163
“It is not a company or organization that decides what its symbols mean, it is the group outside the megaphone, in the chaotic marketplace, who decide.”
page 164
“When we say that something like that “speaks to me,” what we’re really saying is, through all this clutter and noise, I can hear that. I can hear it and I will listen. ”
page 165
“We call it “lifestyle marketing” because people have integrated commercial products into the style of their lives.”
page 166
“It is not just WHAT or HOW you do things that matters; what matters more is that WHAT and HOW you do things is consistent with your WHY.”
page 167
“Filtering your decisions through your WHY, you spend less time at the supermarket and you spend less money, so there’s an efficiency advantage also.”
page 168
“You have successfully communicated your WHY based on WHAT you do.”
“But here’s the best part. As soon as I told you the WHY, you knew that we were going to buy only celery and rice milk even before you read it. As soon as I gave you the filter, as soon as I said the WHY, you knew exactly what decisions to make before I said so.
That’s called scale.”
page 176
“There are 27.7 million registered businesses in the United States today and only a thousand of them get to be FORTUNE 1000 companies, which these days requires about $1.5 billion in annual revenues. That means that less than .004 percent of all companies make it to the illustrious list. To have such an impact, to build a company to a size where it can drive markets, requires something more.”
page 181
“As their tangible success grew, something more elusive started to dissipate. Every single one of these successful business owners knew WHAT they did. They knew HOW they did it. But for many, they no longer knew WHY.”
“That’s because success and achievement are not the same thing, yet too often we mistake one for the other.”
“In my vernacular, achievement comes when you pursue and attain WHAT you want. Success comes when you are clear in pursuit of WHY you want it.”
page 184
“For passion to survive, it needs structure. A WHY without the HOWs, passion without structure, has a very high probability of failure.”
page 186
“When organizations are small, WHAT they do and WHY they do it are in close parallel.”
page 187
“The challenge isn’t to cling to the leader, it’s to find effective ways to keep the founding vision alive forever.”
page 202
“Test whether WHAT they are doing effectively proves WHY they were founded”
page 214
“What gives an arrow the ability to take on experience, training, numbers and armor is momentum”
“It comes from looking in the completely opposite direction from where you are now. Finding WHY is a process of discovery, not invention”
page 220
“My WHY is to inspire people to do the things that inspire them, and if I am to be authentic to that cause there was only one decision to make—to give it away, to talk about it, to share it.”
page 224
“Well, why should I do business with you then?” we answer with confidence, “Because the work we’re doing now is better than the work we were doing six months ago. And the work we’ll be doing six months from now will be better than the work we’re doing today. Because we wake up every day with a sense of WHY we come to work. We come to work to inspire people to do the things that inspire them. Are we better than our competition? If you believe what we believe and you believe that the things we do can help you, then we’re better. If you don’t believe what we believe and you don’t believe the things we can do will help you, then we’re not better. Our goal is to find customers who believe what we believe and work together so that we can all succeed. We’re looking for people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in pursuit of the same goal. We’re not interested in sitting across a table from each other in pursuit of a sweeter deal. And here are the things we’re doing to advance our cause . . .”