Summary of the book, "Start with Why"


Ask the question WHY first, inplace of WHAT,  if you want to have a lasting impact. This is the main theme of the book, "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek. WHAT is important, but needs to be driven by WHY. Refer the picture with WHY, HOW and WHAT concentric circles. WHY is the inner circle and WHAT is the outer circle. Our default approach is outside-in thinking (WHAT -> HOW -> WHY). Simon suggest to have an inside-out approach thinking (WHY->HOW-> WHAT).


- Apple introduced their iPod by offerings us "1000 songs in your pocket". Unlike other players, Apple advertising didn't offer descriptions of product details. It wasn't about them, it was about us . And we understood WHY we wanted it. Creative advertised their product as 5 GB MP3 player. Creative told us WHAT  their product was and Apple told us WHY we need it. Companies try to sell us WHAT they do, but we buy WHY they do it .
 
- Inspired leaders communicate from inside out, WHY -> HOW -> WHAT. When communicating from inside out , WHY is offered as the reason to buy and WHAT serves as the tangible proof of that belief. No matter how clear your WHY is, if  WHAT you sell doesn't work, the whole thing falls out.

- WHY, HOW and WHAT  are in balance,authenticity is achieved and the buyer feels fulfilled.When all three are in balance, trust is built and value is perceived. When they are out of balance, stress or uncertainity exists.

- Trust does not emerge simply because a seller makes a rational case. Trust is not a checklist. Trust emerges when we sense that another person or organization is driven by things other than self gain. You have to earn trust by communicating and demonstrating that you share the same values and beliefs. You have to talk about WHY and prove it with WHAT you do. WHY is just a belief, HOW are the actions we take to realize the belief. WHAT  are the results of the actions.

- Here is the link to "Presentation Zen" blog describing how we can use WHY driven approach when delivering Presentation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What I Learnt from Marathon Training ?

When I started marathon training I was not able to run for 15 minutes. I trained for 5 months and completed running Silicon Valley full marathon.  Following are some of the lessons that I learnt. Try before saying no : Our immediate response when we have a new challenge is to say no. We think that if  we have not done it before we would fail. This is not always right. When we give up before trying we close ourselves to number of opportunities.  Before saying no, say  "I'll try". Try for few days and learn from it. Now you will be able to make an informed and a better decision. It's not about you, it's about your discipline : When we have  new challenges, our immediate question is whether we can do it ?   A better question would be, " Do I have the discipline  to achieve what I want ?".  Marathon training needs immense discipline for few months. Most of the goals can be achieved with discipline and perseverance. We have what is required to ach...
Read more

Summary of the book, "The wisdom of crowds"

"The wisdom of crowds" book by James Surowiecki underlines the importance of the wisdom of the the crowd in making better decisions. This is contrary to the general belief that experts always have the right answers and they can make better decisions.  The book describes number of instances where the crowd or a group made a close call. This doesn't mean that well informed analysts are of no use in making good decisions. However the advice of experts need to be pooled with other people to make better decisions. Group decision will be better than most of the people in the group. It's unlikely that one person will be better than the group.  Not all the groups can make good decisions. When a group has people who think alike in worldview and mindset, then they easily fall prey into groupthink. These type of groups would not make the best decisions. Smartest group are made of people with different perspectives who are able to stay independent of each other.  Homogeneou...
Read more

Book Summary - "Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard"

Image
This book provides good insights on making changes. It can be a change at a personal level or a Leader who wants to make a change in his organization. An analogy of a Rider and an Elephant is used in this book. Rider is the logical part and our thinking which drives us. Elephant is our emotion. To make a change, you need to appeal to both the Rider and the Elephant. If you appeal only to Rider, your team will have understanding without motivation. If you appeal to Elephant you will have passion without direction. It is easy to turn an easy change problem into a hard change problem. If you want somebody to eat less, serve them in a smaller plate instead of worrying about convincing or educating them. What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. When you shape the path you make change more likely. To change behavior, direct the Rider, motivate the Elephant and shape the path. If you are trying to change things, there will be bright spots. Understanding the br...
Read more