Start With Why – Simon Sinek
No why Leaders power & influence followers because we HAVE to
vs.
Why Those who lead those who inspire we follow them (= a follower) because we WANT to
Introduction
The three main examples mentioned of companies or people who started with Why:
The Wright brothers
The first ones to fly a team: Langley (have money, a degree,..)
vs. Wright brothers (don’t have money or a degree, but share the same idea)
The Wright brothers succeeded:
the only thing that they did differently is starting with WHY
Apple / Steve Jobs / Steve Wozniak
Apple is not JUST a computer company, but an electronics company changed their name
Apple is based on a mindset which can be found in a lot of electronic devices
Steve Wozniak wants to create a personal computer
Steve Jobs was his partner and wanted to use Apple as a tool to ignite revolution
Apple has been able to repeat the pattern over and over, that is what makes them special.
Apple challenged different industries because Apple inspires and starts with WHY
Martin Luther King Jr.
‘I have a dream’
Inspired and united the country, wanted everyone to have the same rights
had people who had the same beliefs, these people spread the idea all over the country and walked with
them in civil rights marches
Inspired a country to change, not just the minority but everyone in the entire United States because he started
with WHY
“There are leaders and there are those who lead.”
Those who lead are able to inspire will create a following of people, who act for the good of the whole not because
they have to, but because they want to
Those who are inspired are willing to pay a premium or endure inconvenience, even personal suffering
If you demand someone to behave in a certain way, you can’t inspire
But the personal motivation to act inspires others
! The goal of this book is to offer you the cause of action
PART 1: A World That Doesn’t Start With Why
Deutsche Bank = banking industry
IBM = computers
General Motors = cars
These companies all represent a world that doesn’t start with WHY but with WHAT
,1. Assume you know
We ALWAYS make assumptions
We make assumptions about the world around us based on sometimes incomplete or false information.
We make decisions based on what we think we know.
“(T)his dance between gut and rational decision-making”?
Decisions are not solely based on information and hard data.
e.g.: opening story: same info, different outcome (Hitler or Kennedy?)
We often rely on instinct, intuition,… our gut feeling.
The “rubber mallet” metaphor
= “short-term tactics” (maybe effective, but not efficient) = United States
><
making decisions based on “the original intention” = Japan
In Japan the different parts of the car have to fit by default (standard norm) better results
In the United States they made it fit (not efficient) extra employee
2. Carrots and sticks
“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”
Manipulate = What Inspire = Why
The types of “manipulation” discussed in the chapter are:
1. Price
2. Promotions
3. Fear
4. Aspirations
5. Pear pressure
6. Innovations
Manipulations only work in the short run. They do not create loyalty they only create transactions.
Carrots = rewards <> sticks = punishments
Price and promotion
Once you start dropping the price, you create a downward spiral of price addiction,
the challenge is to stay profitable (example: Walmart)
BUT the stores who focus at dropping prices are not considered up-level
GM motors worked with cashback initiatives
= You pay full price at first, you have to get through a difficult procedure to get a bit of your money back
GM started to make losses because of this initiative and dropped the cashback initiatives, the customers
stopped buying at GM GM was heading for bankruptcy
2007: Financial crisis
! Obama helped during the financial crisis
The pitfalls of manipulation through price and promotion?
• High costs
• Customers “cash-back junkies”
Breakage measures the percentage of customers who fail to take advantage of a promotion and end up
paying full price for a product instead
, Slippage is the number of customers who just don’t bother to apply for the rebate, or who never cash the
rebate check they receive
Explain the following manipulators in your own words:
Fear
= Leaders use fear to manipulate customers, emotion cannot be quickly wiped away by facts and figures.
When people are insecure they go in survival mode, they buy the product in order to survive.
Aspirations
= Aspirational messages are most effective with those who lack discipline or have a nagging fear or
insecurity that they don’t have the ability to achieve their dreams on their own
Peer pressure
= Experts tell you to do something or are positive about a certain product, celebrity endorsements are
sometimes used to add peer pressure to sales. Peer pressure is all about going with the majority
Novelty
= Real innovations changes the course of industries or even society (light bulb, microwave, fax machine,
iTunes). These are true innovations that changed how we conduct business, altered how we live our lives
or like iTunes, challenged an industry to completely reevaluate its business model
Companies design the latest shiny products, but these features are more a novelty than an innovation.
They are added in attempt to differentiate, but not reinvent.
Short term succes <-> long-term success
The price you pay for the money you make
= refers to the sacrifices you make
There is a big difference between repeat business and loyalty
Repeat business = customers doing business with you multiple times
Loyalty = customers doing business with you regardless of better offers elsewhere (quality, price)
Manipulations lead to transactions, not loyalty
What are manipulations good for?
driving transactions
behavior required once or on rare occasions
What does the Soutwest Airline example teach us about manipulations and the importance of loyalty?
9/11: people hijacked planes and attacked the Twin Towers
Southwest: the $1,000 check from a customer
Loyal customers stay with your company when it really matters: during hard times.
Loyalty creates peace of mind >< relying on manipulation creates stress for buyer and seller alike.
Just because it works doesn’t make it right
“The danger of manipulations is that they work.”
Because manipulations work, they have become the norm > creates a systemic peer pressure > flawed
assumptions carry on E.g.: economic crisis of 2008
We, the manipulators, get manipulated by the system
Once we expect to get the lowest price, the idea backfires on us
PART 2: An Alternative Perspective
3. The golden circle
No why Leaders power & influence followers because we HAVE to
vs.
Why Those who lead those who inspire we follow them (= a follower) because we WANT to
Introduction
The three main examples mentioned of companies or people who started with Why:
The Wright brothers
The first ones to fly a team: Langley (have money, a degree,..)
vs. Wright brothers (don’t have money or a degree, but share the same idea)
The Wright brothers succeeded:
the only thing that they did differently is starting with WHY
Apple / Steve Jobs / Steve Wozniak
Apple is not JUST a computer company, but an electronics company changed their name
Apple is based on a mindset which can be found in a lot of electronic devices
Steve Wozniak wants to create a personal computer
Steve Jobs was his partner and wanted to use Apple as a tool to ignite revolution
Apple has been able to repeat the pattern over and over, that is what makes them special.
Apple challenged different industries because Apple inspires and starts with WHY
Martin Luther King Jr.
‘I have a dream’
Inspired and united the country, wanted everyone to have the same rights
had people who had the same beliefs, these people spread the idea all over the country and walked with
them in civil rights marches
Inspired a country to change, not just the minority but everyone in the entire United States because he started
with WHY
“There are leaders and there are those who lead.”
Those who lead are able to inspire will create a following of people, who act for the good of the whole not because
they have to, but because they want to
Those who are inspired are willing to pay a premium or endure inconvenience, even personal suffering
If you demand someone to behave in a certain way, you can’t inspire
But the personal motivation to act inspires others
! The goal of this book is to offer you the cause of action
PART 1: A World That Doesn’t Start With Why
Deutsche Bank = banking industry
IBM = computers
General Motors = cars
These companies all represent a world that doesn’t start with WHY but with WHAT
,1. Assume you know
We ALWAYS make assumptions
We make assumptions about the world around us based on sometimes incomplete or false information.
We make decisions based on what we think we know.
“(T)his dance between gut and rational decision-making”?
Decisions are not solely based on information and hard data.
e.g.: opening story: same info, different outcome (Hitler or Kennedy?)
We often rely on instinct, intuition,… our gut feeling.
The “rubber mallet” metaphor
= “short-term tactics” (maybe effective, but not efficient) = United States
><
making decisions based on “the original intention” = Japan
In Japan the different parts of the car have to fit by default (standard norm) better results
In the United States they made it fit (not efficient) extra employee
2. Carrots and sticks
“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.”
Manipulate = What Inspire = Why
The types of “manipulation” discussed in the chapter are:
1. Price
2. Promotions
3. Fear
4. Aspirations
5. Pear pressure
6. Innovations
Manipulations only work in the short run. They do not create loyalty they only create transactions.
Carrots = rewards <> sticks = punishments
Price and promotion
Once you start dropping the price, you create a downward spiral of price addiction,
the challenge is to stay profitable (example: Walmart)
BUT the stores who focus at dropping prices are not considered up-level
GM motors worked with cashback initiatives
= You pay full price at first, you have to get through a difficult procedure to get a bit of your money back
GM started to make losses because of this initiative and dropped the cashback initiatives, the customers
stopped buying at GM GM was heading for bankruptcy
2007: Financial crisis
! Obama helped during the financial crisis
The pitfalls of manipulation through price and promotion?
• High costs
• Customers “cash-back junkies”
Breakage measures the percentage of customers who fail to take advantage of a promotion and end up
paying full price for a product instead
, Slippage is the number of customers who just don’t bother to apply for the rebate, or who never cash the
rebate check they receive
Explain the following manipulators in your own words:
Fear
= Leaders use fear to manipulate customers, emotion cannot be quickly wiped away by facts and figures.
When people are insecure they go in survival mode, they buy the product in order to survive.
Aspirations
= Aspirational messages are most effective with those who lack discipline or have a nagging fear or
insecurity that they don’t have the ability to achieve their dreams on their own
Peer pressure
= Experts tell you to do something or are positive about a certain product, celebrity endorsements are
sometimes used to add peer pressure to sales. Peer pressure is all about going with the majority
Novelty
= Real innovations changes the course of industries or even society (light bulb, microwave, fax machine,
iTunes). These are true innovations that changed how we conduct business, altered how we live our lives
or like iTunes, challenged an industry to completely reevaluate its business model
Companies design the latest shiny products, but these features are more a novelty than an innovation.
They are added in attempt to differentiate, but not reinvent.
Short term succes <-> long-term success
The price you pay for the money you make
= refers to the sacrifices you make
There is a big difference between repeat business and loyalty
Repeat business = customers doing business with you multiple times
Loyalty = customers doing business with you regardless of better offers elsewhere (quality, price)
Manipulations lead to transactions, not loyalty
What are manipulations good for?
driving transactions
behavior required once or on rare occasions
What does the Soutwest Airline example teach us about manipulations and the importance of loyalty?
9/11: people hijacked planes and attacked the Twin Towers
Southwest: the $1,000 check from a customer
Loyal customers stay with your company when it really matters: during hard times.
Loyalty creates peace of mind >< relying on manipulation creates stress for buyer and seller alike.
Just because it works doesn’t make it right
“The danger of manipulations is that they work.”
Because manipulations work, they have become the norm > creates a systemic peer pressure > flawed
assumptions carry on E.g.: economic crisis of 2008
We, the manipulators, get manipulated by the system
Once we expect to get the lowest price, the idea backfires on us
PART 2: An Alternative Perspective
3. The golden circle
