Start With Why talks about why we do what we do and how we do it. People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it so always start with why.
Why do you need to Start With Why?
Ever Wondered What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs, Leaders, and Organizations stand out from the rest? They always had a clear sense of why.
Inspired Leaders, organizations, and Entrepreneurs think from the inside out. They have a core purpose, A Cause, and a Belief they live by. They are thinking of much more than themselves.
The Golden Circle
Many people are tired of hearing what we do. They aren’t that interested in hearing about all the features and benefits. That is not why they buy instead they care about why we do what we do and how it’ll make them feel because of it.
Apple, Harley Davidson, Microsoft, and Southwest Airlines, to name a few, are doing something totally different from their competitors. They all have a clear sense of why.
They all challenged the status quo and when you own their products, you have a feeling of trust and loyalty because of the core beliefs that they share.
Leaders hold the position of authority or power, but those who lead inspire us. We follow those who lead not because we have to but because we want to.
Be the Leader you wish you had always Start With Why.
Law of Diffusion of Innovation
Notice this bell curve. Earlier the Marketing was done only for the middle which was also known as Mass Marketing that phenomenon is now dead. We know only cater to the edges.
Here are two examples of why you need to start with why. One’s a failure and the other’s a success.
In 1997 TiVo was racing to the market with a new remarkable device. They had a great PR team and no doubt the device was one of a kind for its time.
They had a technology that could reinvent the way we watch television, but they failed. Because they marketed to the middle of the Bell Curve and explained what they did instead of why they did it.
They Basically said
We’ve got a new product.
It pauses live TV.
Skips commercials.
Rewinds live TV.
Memorizes your viewing habits and records shows on your
behalf without your needing to set it.
This was aggressive and turned people off. People didn’t know why they would need this. If they used a different approach by Starting with Why, the outcome would have been different.
Consider this approach.
If you’re the kind of person who likes to have total control of every aspect of your life, boy do we have a product for you.
It pauses live TV.
Skips commercials.
Rewinds live TV
Memorizes your viewing habits and records shows on your behalf without you needing to set it. This would have convinced people to try TiVo more than they did.
On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people turned up to watch Martin Luther King deliver his famous “I have a dream” speech. A quarter of a million people turned up in the 1960s when there was no internet in the right place at the right time.
There was a lot of political unrest and racial divide at the time. How did Dr. King manage this? The people didn’t turn up to watch Dr. King alone they showed up for themselves.
They wanted to be led, and Dr. Martin Luther King was the perfect leader who championed their beliefs for a better America.
It was that trust, that bond, that shared belief that fueled a movement that would change a nation.
Why you need to Start With Why
When you don’t Start with Why you don’t have a clear sense of purpose. You are not doing whatever it is that you’re doing for the right reasons.
Samuel Pierpont Langley during the end of the 19th century was attempting to build the first heavier than air flying machine.
He was extremely well connected, had the dream team and the recipe for success, but still failed. It was because he lacked a clear sense of why. He was in it to become rich and famous.
In Dayton, Ohio, Orville and Wilbur were also trying to build a flying machine. Unlike Langley, The Wright Brothers did not have the recipe for success. There was no funding and no high-level connections. The proceeds came from their Bicycle Shop.
The Wright Brothers did have something special. They had a dream. They believed if they could build this machine, it would change the world for the better. They had a clear sense of why something above themselves. They didn’t clamor for money or fame.
They dealt with repeated failures but never gave up. Every time The Wright Brothers would go for a test flight they would take 5 sets of parts with them because that’s how many times they were likely to fail.
Then it happened. On December 17, 1903, on a field in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers took to the sky. A 59-second flight at an altitude of 120 feet.
The achievement went largely unnoticed. Both Langley and the Wright Brothers were trying to build the same thing. One was motivated by fame and the other Started With Why.
Share your values and beliefs with the world and remember to always Start With Why.
