Reading about meaning and purpose: Simon Sinek – Start with Why

Projects. Change. Tasks. Affliction. Difficulties. Problems. Job.

How often do we raffle ourselves in doing, traveling, losing the desire? How often are our ideas and suggestions not heard?

Simon Sinek has a central council: Always start with why

Simon Sinek deals with the question  why we follow some ideas and leaders but we don’t follow others. Why do some inspire us, and others don’t.

„People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.“ .” – Simon Sinek

Manipulation versus inspiration

Manipulation in the context of products and services or work relationships means concessions such as characteristics, promises, price, comparison. Inspiration, on the other hand, deals with the question of why someone is or should be a customer, employee, colleague, or contractor.Wherever we can no longer see why something is special and worth supporting, it becomes a “commodity”, and thus a gamble of falling prices.Price driven sales increase is a form of manipulation. It works, but of course it also ensures that profits fall or the product even becomes unprofitable. You can do it, but you do not have to.Simon Sinek’s answer is to become more self-evident, why people want to sell something, why someone should buy something, and then to incorporate this into their own organization and communication. For me, I have experienced this type of selling pretty much everywhere. Is it a phone, a pair of jeans or even a snack bar. What i realized in sales, for example at supermarkets, Manipluation is a big thing. It starts with the placing of the products. They have found out for example, that its better to sell higher priced products on the middle and upper shelves. As thats on the same height as the buyers eyes. On the lower shelves, the ”home products” are being placed, so the cheaper ones. This is a form of Manipulation. Or ”sales”. They tell us the original price of 4,99Eur which is now on sale for 2,99Eur. Sometimes, this isnt even true. The original price was set higher, so we as a customer believe, we made a really good deal and buy it until its gone!

The Golden Circle

Sinek points out that communication first discusses too often the what, then the how and, most recently, the why. In his concept Golden Circle are Why, How and What arranged in concentric circles. The why is our core, closest to our personality. Here it is decided whether we consider something valuable or not. Whether we see a meaning in it. It is the emotional world, only marginally influenced by rational considerations.Instead of communicating from outside to inside, Simon Sinek advises to build a message from the inside out.Start with the feeling. After all, the questions about how and what are to be solved by the awareness, which takes on this task more if the feeling fits.

Start with the right question and return to it

In organizations, in teams, and also I can easily forget the ‘’why’’,when handling a bigger task. In day-to-day business, and upheavals and changes that collapse from the outside, we forget the why, or we cannot see it anymore. In those situations, one’s own mindfulness needs to notice the situation and go back to the search for the why. I have expereinced this issue in many parts of my life. At work, at school, with my friends. People tend to forget to look for the real reason, when it is a confusing or overwhelming topic or task. If we arent aware of why we do something, the what and how will never work to reach the actual goal.

While writing this last sentence, I realized something for myself. I knew it before, but being aware of it can change so much.