Start With WHY /// Book Review

“Start With Why” is a 6 part book that explains the importance of starting with the question, WHY?. WHY inspires people to act “as with a WHY you can bear anyhow". 

“In a World That Doesn't Start with WHY”, the highlighted chapter of part 1 is “Assume You Know.” Assumptions make an ass out of you and me as assumptions are based on sometimes false and incomplete statements. Assumptions are making decisions on what “we think we know” as we make decisions based on OUR perception of the world that may not be completely true and accurate for the majority of the world. In order to not assume, it is recommended that information and data are key to understanding WHY something went right or WHY it went incredibly wrong. 

In part 2, An Alternative Perspective, “The Golden Circle” is the most important highlighted section in the book. There are three stages of the Golden Circle that HAVE to be asked in this order as they include, WHY, HOW, and WHAT. The Golden Circle finds order and predictability in human behavior as the Golden Circle shows how leaders are able to inspire action to produce repeatable and presentable results by starting from the inside out. The WHY is about your passion and WHY you do what you do. The HOW is about explaining how your product is different or better, while the WHAT is about what the company does and sells. By beginning with WHY you offer customers a reason to buy the products and use the WHAT to serve as proof of that belief. WHY the product exists must first be considered and why someone wants it must match. “WHY is just a belief, HOW’s are the actions taken to realize the belief, and WHATs are the results of those actions. To reiterate, The Golden Circle must be asked in this order; WHY, HOW and WHAT. 

Part 3, “Leaders Need a Following”, “The Emergence of Trust” is the highlighted chapter. Trusts emerge when other people or organizations are driven by things other than their own self-gain. With trust comes loyalty and value to a customer. When The Golden Circle of WHY, HOW and WHAT are in balance, trust is built and value is perceived. Trust is established from the WHY as when it is clearly understood it attracts people who believe the same thing. When motivated by WHY companies are able to inspire their employees and customers to form a camaraderie and trust which brings success. Trust within the organizations creates happy customers. 

In part 4, “How to Rally Those Who Believe”, the chapters, “Start With WHY” and “Communication...is About Listening” is having the understanding of importance from both concepts. Energy Motivates. Charisma Inspires. Great leaders have charisma because all great leaders have a clarity of WHY. Charisma comes from the clarity of the WHY. WHY gets you out of bed in the morning. In “Communication… is About Listening”, when the purpose, cause, and belief of an organization is together, they can command great power. You can only find the true purpose, cause, and belief by listening. 

In part 5 “The Biggest Challenge is Success,” the chapter “Spilt Happens” mentions how ideas are fueled by passion which is an emotion that causes people to do irrational things. For passion to survive it needs structure. A WHY without a HOW has a high probability of failure. Companies experience splits because they start overlooking the WHY. If the message is not clear within the organization then it will never be clear to its customers. Splits happen when you start overlooking the WHY in how you do things and instead start focusing on greediness whether with money, selfishness or leadership.  

Lastly, in part 6, “Discover WHY” and the chapter “The Origin of a WHY” is something you find from looking back in the past as you find momentum by stacking up little wins and learning from your failures. When you start with WHY, everything else just falls into place. WHY gives people the ability to feel inspired and do something that is greater than themselves. Those who start with WHY have the ability to never lose sight of WHY they do things as well as to inspire, motivate and entertain their employees.