"People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it", repeated twice by Simon Sinek in his infamous TED talk. This idea is so powerful that it applies everywhere. A product, a concept, a piece of technology, a campaign and so on.
I first watched this TED talk classic three years ago. It was the biggest thing that happened to me that year and it changed how I view the world ever since.
As Simon mentioned in his eye-opening talk, there is a pattern in how great leaders like Apple, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Wright brothers inspire actions in their customers, followers and team members. They started with why, then how, then what - the exact opposite as everyone else.
"If Apple is like everyone else, a marketing message from them might sound like this: We make great computers. They are beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly. Want to buy one?" He started with a common sales pitch flow.
He then contrasted that with Apple actual sales approach. "Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo, we believe in doing things differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our product beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly. We just happened to make great computers. Want to buy one?"
The former lays out the end-results and then the processes to get there. The latter starts with a core belief, then the following actions, and the outcomes of taking those actions.
The former is the way most people act and communicate day in, day out. Here I challenge you to try to think why first before anything else.
It will be hard at the beginning but I promise that you will get there, because it is in all of us. Remember the time in your childhood when you asked too many why questions and the adults could not keep up? Our purest souls are deeply attracted to why things happen the way they do and it affects our actions everyday whether we are aware of it or not.
Asking why first forces me to find out why in the world I am willing to spend my life in doing what I do. It helps me gain control over my own version of reality and stop myself from being pushed around in life. And this is why I keep asking why.
Check out the video!
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A good friend of mine introduced me to this TED talk and it has really changed my life. I believe that everyone deserves to learn about this talk. Please help me inspire more people by sharing this blog post and video!
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