Start with Why

"People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it."

— Simon Sinek

Sinek studied cultural anthropology at Brandeis University, worked in advertising in New York for Euro RSCG and Ogilvy & Mather, and then founded his own agency. In 2009 he published this book and gave at a TEDx event the talk "How Great Leaders Inspire Action," which became one of the most-watched in TED's history.

The belief it changes is the order in which you communicate. Almost all companies speak from the outside in: what they sell, how they do it better than others and, sometimes, why they exist. The leaders and organizations that inspire do the opposite. Sinek draws it as the Golden Circle, three concentric circles. At the center is the why: the purpose, cause or belief that gives the company its reason to exist. In the middle is the how: the principles and processes by which that purpose is fulfilled. Outside is the what: the products and services, which are the tangible proof of what you believe.

His central example is Apple. Its what is computers and phones, like many others'. What it communicates first is its belief in challenging the status quo and thinking differently, and that's why people buy from it with confidence even in categories Apple didn't invent.

Sinek argues the model has a biological basis. The what speaks to the neocortex, the rational, analytical part of the brain. The why and the how speak to the limbic system, which handles trust, loyalty and decisions, but has no language. That's why so many purchase decisions "feel right" even when the person can't explain them.

Three key ideas:

• Manipulate or inspire. Discounts, promotions, fear, aspirations, peer pressure and novelty work for selling, but they cost a lot of money and don't create loyalty. Inspiring from a shared belief does.
• Clarity, discipline and consistency. Clarity in the why, discipline in the how and consistency in the what. When what you do contradicts what you say you believe, trust is lost.
• The law of diffusion of innovation. Mass-market success comes only after conquering between 15 and 18 percent of the market: the innovators and early adopters. The early majority doesn't try something new until someone else has done it first, which is why you have to look for those who believe what you believe.

The case that best illustrates it is the race for the first powered flight. Samuel Pierpont Langley was a mathematics professor, had worked at Harvard, received $50,000 from the War Department for his project and the press followed him everywhere. The Wright brothers had no funding and no fame, and worked out of a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. On December 17, 1903, they were the ones who flew. Sinek explains the difference by the why: Langley sought recognition, and the Wrights pursued a cause that infected their small team, which kept trying after every failure.

The concrete practice he proposes is the celery test. If you ask many people for advice, some will tell you to buy cookies, others celery and others rice milk, and you'll end up with a cart full of things that don't define you. If you're clear about your why, for example offering healthy options, you buy only what fulfills it, and whoever sees your cart understands what you believe. The why works as a filter for hiring, choosing partners and launching products.

A simple place to begin: write in a single sentence why your company exists, without mentioning your product. Then take your pitch or your home page and reorder it from the inside out: first the why, then the how and finally the what. Run the three decisions you have pending this week through the celery test.

As a founder it will help you attract customers, employees and investors who believe what you believe, and to have a clear decision filter when the company grows and you're no longer in every conversation.