Why do we do what we do in retail?

A few weeks back I saw a presentation by Simón Sinek. It was called “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” signalling the importance of the questions Why? What? and How?

The presentation explains how some organisations and leaders inspire while others do not. Each and every person and organisation on the planet know what they are doing. Some know how they do it, call it a proposal of values, a hereditary process or a exclusive selling proposal, but very few people and organisations know why they do what they do.

By asking “why” we are asking “What is the purpose? What is the cause? What is the belief? Why does the company exist? Why do we get out of bed each morning?

Our pattern of thought, our way of communicating and our way of being is from the outside, in. That’s a fact. We go from defined to difused, and the strange thing is that inspirational leaders and organisations think and communicate from the inside, out. 

We let people know what we do, we determine how better and how different we are and we expect a cerain behaviour: A sale, a vote, etc. But this form of communication from the outside, in, does not inspire.

Simón explains that people don’t buy the product alone, they buy the ‘reason’ the ‘why’ and the process behind the product.

Take apple for example:

Apple’s communication strategy is as follows “ We believe in a change of status quo. We believe in a different way of thinking. Our way of challenging the status quo is to create well designed simple products which are easy to use”.

Their message is simple “We make great computers, do you want to buy one?”

The objective is not just to sell a product to those who need one, the objective is to sell to those who believe in the process.

Curiosity has an underlining importance in the reasoning behind the question why. It’s more than a mere adjective, more even that an attitude to life. Curiosity is the reading between the lines.

Being curious is the greatest way to prove that you’re still alive and I don’t say this in the simply biological sense. It’s a means to ask the why to everything. A way to listen and respond to yourself, to find out where you are and why you’re there. A way to do things with a profound self belief.

I personally believe that curiosity allows us to ask ourselves why we do this or that, why something does or doesn’t work, why do my competitors sell more than I do, why am I happy or why not…

The important thing however, is not just asking the questions, the key is finding the answers. Answers are what propel us forward, convinced and coherent.

We use our curiosity as a fountain of ideas to help develop the why, what and how to reinvent our business each day. 

The curious believe that if you trip up you move forward quicker, they reinvent themselves,

they’re brave enough to swim against the tide in life and in business and to use their interior strength to reach new shores where and with whom they choose.

So stay curious above all else, and you’ll stay young for life.