Simon Sinek wrote and released a great book called “Start With Why” in late October, 2009.
I had dropped my son off at hockey practice; at that point I was deep into a hockey parent’s journey and any delusions of either son making the NHL had faded. It was no longer imperative that I watch every moment he was on the ice, and I had 90 minutes to kill. I had recently started reading “Start With Why” and this was a perfect time to continue with the book.
In the parking lot at Earl Armstrong Arena, I settled into the driver’s seat and after a few minutes reached the section of the book where Sinek describes the “Golden Circles”. I read the passage and paused. I read the passage again. I pulled out my phone and made notes on how the concept of the Golden Circles could/would/should apply to the software platform our start-up was developing and marketing. The next morning I got to the office and drew out the Golden Circles on my whiteboard. Later that day I pulled-in any leadership team member that happened to wander by my office and walked them through the concept of the Golden Circles, and articulated why this was the way we should be thinking about our product/platform.
It was brilliant. It was simple. It was obvious. Why weren’t all products conceived and commercialized this way!?!?!?
In describing the Golden Circles, Sinek uses examples of how successful product ideas are conceived and brought to market. Especially products that are game changers and market makers. A great example Sinek uses in “Start With Why” is with personal music devices.
The personal music player, or MP3 player, was introduced to the market in the late 90s. Shortly afterwards several competing products came on the scene. One such example that had some success was the “Zen” by Creative Labs. I had one. It wasn’t until late 2001 that Apple introduced the first iPod music player. The first version of iPods were jointly branded and marketed with Hewlett Packard (HP); it seems someone wasn’t sure if the product category had any legs to stand on over time. Apple would soon shed the venture with HP and go it alone. Those later versions were much better products.
Fast forward and Apple now dominates the personal music listening device market, both as a stand-alone product as well as a feature on a standard smartphone. Many people may never have heard of the Zen or Creative Labs. Why did this happen? The Golden Circles explains why.
Often product thoughts follow the path of What-How-Why. The Zen MP3 player was like this. The story Creative Labs told would-be purchasers was first about what the Zen was...an MP3 player. The product story then told you how it worked...it had spin disk storage that held several MB of music, you synched it up with your desktop. Then the story got into why you should buy it...it allowed you to take some of your music with you.
Apple, with the iPod, followed this path: Why-How-What. Apple started their story by telling you *why* you should have an iPod.
Why...? Because it’ll put a thousand songs in your pocket. Boom! Holy crap...get me one now.
How did it work? It used solid state memory and battery technology that allowed Apple to shrink the size of the device. What was it? A portable music player.
Apple started with Why.
The conversations for product ideas should always start with Why:
Why should someone use our product
Why would someone pay for our solution
Why would someone say good things about our product and brand
If a product has a great why it’ll usually have a good degree of success and generate solid revenue for the company.
The concept at the core of the Golden Circles, why, has many other useful applications.
Taking time to understand why things are happening, could happen or didn’t happen will often get to the heart and truth of the matter. This approach can be successfully applied to a lot of things.
When trying to understand people’s behaviours or reactions, start by asking yourself why they did what they did. People rarely act in a totally random manner. There is usually a reason why the behaviour we say manifests itself.
Why did that company accept or reject our proposal, especially when we have the better solution at a palatable price? The prospective client’s decision will become clear after you reach an understanding of why they made their decision. That learning will better prepare you for the future.
Why didn’t we see that roadblock before. Why didn’t we see the storm clouds coming before it started raining trouble? When your organization hits a rough patch, taking time to understand the company is in this situation will help formulate a path out of trouble and it will help you see those storm clouds coming much sooner as you’ll know what warning signs to watch for. A business leader, it is your job to see the storm clouds *before* it starts pouring. Understanding why will help you steer a path avoids troubling times or minimizes any potential damage.
Always ask and understand why. It will serve you well.
Thank you for investing time in reading this post. Questions and comments are always welcome.
Shail Paliwal
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