I was recently reminded of the 1st Simon Sinek book I read a while ago, entitled “Start with Why”. The discussion was about how to revitalise an organisation and give it a new sense of direction. This all led me down memory land and the strength of the perspective presented by Simon Sinek, that I thought it would be useful to all to revisit it.

Human behaviour is influenced by either manipulation or inspiration. Manipulation is not as bad as it sounds. All of us have used manipulation to influence others’ actions. Manipulations are effective-in increasing short term transactions, but never help build loyalty. Some important manipulation tactics include:

• Price: Price manipulations are extremely effective but can soon get into a self-destruction spiral. Customers who are used to price discounts will often delay their purchase decisions and wait for discounts, which forces the company to offer further discounts leading to slimmer margins.
• Promotions: “two for one”, “free gift inside” are the kind of promotions that are so benign that we often don’t even realise that we are being manipulated.
• Fear: Because fear is wired into our survival instinct from the days of the caveman, it is the most powerful manipulation. The entire insurance industry does business selling the fear of “before it’s too late.”
• Aspiration: Aspiration is a popular marketing manipulation ranging from “get rich in six weeks” to “lose weight in 7 days.” Aspiration rides on our inner weakness of trying to get a desired outcome with the least possible effort.
• Peer pressure: Peer pressure manipulates us by making us believe that the majority (or the influential few) know better than we do. Celebrity endorsement is a marketing manipulation tool that leverages on both aspiration and peer pressure.
• Novelty (not Innovation): Novelty is adding features to a product to differentiate it from others. In 1970s, Colgate had two types of toothpaste. Today Colgate has 32 variants.

However all manipulations have the following features in common:

• They are transaction oriented & cost money
• They are effective
• They deliver only in the short term

On the other hand, Inspiration is the alternative to manipulation. There are various examples of inspiration. Leaders like Dr Martin Luther King Jr were able to inspire action instead of manipulating people (to act). And it all begins with WHY. Inspiration is built on three concentric circles:

• The outermost and largest circle is WHAT: Every individual or organisation is easily able to explain what their product or job is.
• The middle circle is HOW: HOW is not as obvious an answer as WHAT. But when organisations know HOW they do WHAT they do, they have clarity in their product or service’s differentiating factor. This is also known as Unique Selling Proposition or “differentiating value proposition.”
• The innermost and smallest circle is WHY: It is very difficult for organisations or people to explain WHY they do WHAT they do. The WHY needs to be answered in terms of purpose, cause or belief.

If manipulating people to buy products via price, promotions or fear is a short term tool, what is the “inspiration” equivalent of getting people to buy? The answer is in this statement “People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.”

The 3 concentric circles of WHAT-HOW-WHY correspond with the top view of the cross section of the human brain. Corresponding to the outer WHAT circle is the neocortex of our brain. The neocortex is responsible for rational and analytical thought and language. The zone corresponding to the HOW & WHY circles is the limbic brain area. The limbic brain is responsible for our feelings & decision making (therefore behaviour). But it has no capability of language, unlike the neocortex. Ever wonder why it is so difficult to put our feelings into words? It is so because the limbic brain controlling feelings and behaviour does not process language. Similarly, “gut decisions” that always feel right are difficult to explain because the explaining is done by the neocortex while the decision making has been done by the limbic brain. Neuroscientists explain that gut decisions are faster and higher quality decisions while rational decisions typically lead to overthinking, take longer time and can often be of relatively lower quality.

So, brands or services that do not have a clear WHY make purchase decisions more difficult for consumers as the consumers are forced to rely only on the WHAT (rational facts). Organisations need to win hearts (WHY) before they win minds (WHAT). When the order is followed and the following three principles adhered to and so the concentric circle are in balance, this will mean that

• Clarity of WHY will inspire people and move you beyond plain manipulation
• Discipline of HOW is about identifying and sticking to what values and principles will you use as guardrails to bring the WHY to life
• Consistency of WHAT is the consistency of results from the actions defined in HOW.

This shows the importance of the WHY, which unfortunately, does not get answered by market research or consumer surveys. Finding the WHY is a process of discovery rather than invention. When a group of people driven by this common “something beyond self- gain” get together, the seeds of culture are sown. Sharing common values and beliefs leads to trust. Building a culture requires hiring people (or being friends with) people who believe in the same belief or value, rather than same skillset. Starting with WHY during hiring ensures that the team is built with people who share the same values and culture, therefore, resonating with the above mentioned three circles. This conical representation of the three Circle is any business organisation. At the top is the CEO with his clarity on WHY, at the middle is the senior management with their HOW and at the base is the WHAT being done by the majority of the employees. The HOW is the connector for the WHY (CEO) and the WHAT (rest of the organisation). The leader needs to focus on his immediate layer-the HOW layer and ensure his HOW team believes in the WHY. The HOW team needs to understand the WHY and bring in systems and teams that bring the WHY to life. A clear sense of WHY changes the perspective completely. When the WHY is clear to the organisation, any employee can make a decision that will be as accurate as what the founder would have himself made. As organisations grow bigger, the megaphone also grows and the risk of dilution of WHY communication increases. This means that the more the organisation grows, the more it needs invest time and money to make sure all are aligned with the WHY.

Ultimately, the end result is simple. For any business, sales is the reason for existence. However, the business should not sell to anyone and instead find potential consumers who believe in your WHY. Selling to this set of consumers creates the tipping point which then helps the majority buy into the product or services, thereby creating mass acceptance.

So whether you are a person or a business organisation. What is your ‘WHY’?