Why some people inspire and others merely inform
Not recorded yet Host Jan Sindre Heltne
Why do some people and companies manage to inspire, while others merely inform? A walk through the ideas in Simon Sinek's Start With Why – the golden circle, manipulation versus inspiration – and an honest look at the reasoning behind it.
Simon Sinek gave a TED talk in 2009 that has become one of the most watched ever, and Start With Why is the long version. At its core is an observation about order.
The golden circle
Three rings. On the outside, what you do – the thing everyone can answer. In the middle, how you do it – what sets you apart. At the centre, why you do it – the purpose, the belief, the reason the organisation exists beyond making money.
The golden circle
Sinek’s claim is that almost everyone communicates from the outside in: here is the product, here are the features, buy it. The few who inspire do the opposite. They begin at the centre.
His example is Apple. The ordinary version: “We make great computers. Beautifully designed, easy to use. Want to buy one?” The inverted one: “We believe in challenging the status quo. The way we do it is by making products that are beautifully designed and simple to use. We happen to make computers too.” Same information, entirely different effect.
The line that sums it up: people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
The same information, two orders
Outside in
The usual way
- We make great computers
- Beautifully designed, simple to use
- Want to buy one?
Inside out
The one that sticks
- We believe in challenging the status quo
- That is why we make products that are beautifully designed and simple to use
- We happen to make computers too
Manipulation or inspiration
Sinek draws a sharp line. Manipulation is discounts, promotions, fear, peer pressure, novelty. It works – but only this time, and it has to be repeated and usually increased next time. Inspiration is when people act because they share your belief, and then they do not need persuading again.
The distinction is practical: if sales stop the moment you stop promoting, you never had loyalty.
The early adopters
Sinek borrows the diffusion curve from Everett Rogers: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards. His point is that you do not win the majority directly. You win the 15–18 per cent on the left – those who act on belief rather than evidence – and they pull the rest along. The mass market buys because others went first.
The celery test
The most usable device in the book. Imagine many people advise you on what to do: buy Oreos, buy rice, buy celery, buy M&M’s. Buy everything, and nobody can see what you stand for. Know why you are there – you eat healthily – and you buy the celery and the rice, and it is visible from the pavement what you are up to.
The point is that a clear why is first of all a filter for what to say no to.
What is questionable
This has to be included. Sinek grounds the golden circle biologically: that what addresses the neocortex, which handles language and rational analysis, while why addresses the limbic system, which governs feeling and decision-making – and that the limbic system has no language, which is why good choices feel right without our being able to explain them.
That is a heavy simplification. The brain does not divide labour that way, and the split into an “emotional brain” and a “thinking brain” is a model specialists have abandoned. The argument gives the book a scientific wrapping it has no warrant for.
The examples are also chosen after the fact. Apple, Southwest and Harley-Davidson succeeded, and the purpose is then read into the explanation – while companies with an equally clear why that went under are not mentioned. Several of the businesses Sinek held up have had hard years since 2009.
And most of the content is in the eighteen-minute TED talk. The book is largely the same thought, repeated.
What holds up
The advice itself. That people join a reason, not a feature list. That knowing why you do something makes it easier to say no. And that a message which has to be bought with a discount every time is not a message. You can take that away regardless of what happens in the limbic system.
The walk-through includes the criticism the book has met.
Main topics
- The golden circle – why, how, what
- Communicating from the inside out
- Why people do not buy what you do, but why you do it
- Manipulation versus inspiration
- The diffusion curve and the early adopters
- The celery test – using your why as a filter
- What is questionable in the reasoning
Questions this episode answers
- What is the golden circle?
- What does starting with why mean?
- Why do some leaders inspire while others do not?
- What is the difference between manipulation and inspiration?
- Does the brain argument in Start With Why hold up?
- How do you find your own why?
Key points
- Most people say what they do. Few manage to say why they do it.
- Order decides: begin at the centre, with why, and let what come last.
- Discounts and fear work, but build no loyalty. They have to be repeated every time.
- A clear why works as a filter for what to say no to.
- The brain explanation in the book is a heavy simplification. The advice may still be useful.
Sources and references
- Simon Sinek – Start With Why (2009)
This is an independent commentary on, and explanation of, selected ideas from Start With Why. It does not replace the original work. Rights to the book belong to the respective rights holders. Editorial principles .
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