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Find Your Why: A Practical Guide to Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team
Start With Why has led millions of readers to rethink everything they do – in their personal lives, their careers and their organizations.
Now Find Your Why picks up where Start With Why left off. It shows you how to apply Simon Sinek’s powerful insights so that you can find more inspiration at work -- and in turn inspire those around you.
I believe fulfillment is a right and not a privilege. We are all entitled to wake up in the morning inspired to go to work, feel safe when we’re there and return home fulfilled at the end of the day. Achieving that fulfillment starts with understanding exactly WHY we do what we do.
As Start With Why has spread around the world, countless readers have asked me the same question: How can I apply Start With Why to my career, team, company or nonprofit? Along with two of my colleagues, Peter Docker and David Mead, I created this hands-on, step-by-step guide to help you find your WHY.
With detailed exercises, illustrations, and action steps for every stage of the process, Find Your Why can help you address many important concerns, including:
* What if my WHY sounds just like my competitor’s?
* Can I have more than one WHY?
* If my work doesn’t match my WHY, what should I do?
* What if my team can’t agree on our WHY?
Whether you've just started your first job, are leading a team, or are CEO of your own company, the exercises in this book will help guide you on a path to long-term success and fulfillment, for both you and your colleagues.
Thank you for joining us as we work together to build a world in which more people start with WHY.
Inspire on!
-- Simon
Now Find Your Why picks up where Start With Why left off. It shows you how to apply Simon Sinek’s powerful insights so that you can find more inspiration at work -- and in turn inspire those around you.
I believe fulfillment is a right and not a privilege. We are all entitled to wake up in the morning inspired to go to work, feel safe when we’re there and return home fulfilled at the end of the day. Achieving that fulfillment starts with understanding exactly WHY we do what we do.
As Start With Why has spread around the world, countless readers have asked me the same question: How can I apply Start With Why to my career, team, company or nonprofit? Along with two of my colleagues, Peter Docker and David Mead, I created this hands-on, step-by-step guide to help you find your WHY.
With detailed exercises, illustrations, and action steps for every stage of the process, Find Your Why can help you address many important concerns, including:
* What if my WHY sounds just like my competitor’s?
* Can I have more than one WHY?
* If my work doesn’t match my WHY, what should I do?
* What if my team can’t agree on our WHY?
Whether you've just started your first job, are leading a team, or are CEO of your own company, the exercises in this book will help guide you on a path to long-term success and fulfillment, for both you and your colleagues.
Thank you for joining us as we work together to build a world in which more people start with WHY.
Inspire on!
-- Simon
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2017
About the author
Simon Sinek
92 books10.4k followersSimon Sinek is an optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.
Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. With a bold goal to help build a world in which the vast majority of people go home everyday feeling fulfilled by their work, Sinek is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them.
Sinek’s unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention and have earned him invitations to meet with an array of leaders and organizations, including: Microsoft, MARS, SAP, Intel, 3M, the United States Military, members of the United States Congress, multiple government agencies and entrepreneurs. Sinek has also had the honor of presenting his ideas to the Ambassadors of Bahrain and Iraq, at the United Nations and to the senior leadership of the United States Air Force.
Sinek is an adjunct staff member of the RAND Corporation, one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the world. He is also active in the arts and not-for-profit world, working with Education for Employment Foundation to help create opportunities for young men and women in the Middle East region. When not in hotels, he lives in New York, where he teaches graduate level strategic communications at Columbia University.
Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. With a bold goal to help build a world in which the vast majority of people go home everyday feeling fulfilled by their work, Sinek is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them.
Sinek’s unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention and have earned him invitations to meet with an array of leaders and organizations, including: Microsoft, MARS, SAP, Intel, 3M, the United States Military, members of the United States Congress, multiple government agencies and entrepreneurs. Sinek has also had the honor of presenting his ideas to the Ambassadors of Bahrain and Iraq, at the United Nations and to the senior leadership of the United States Air Force.
Sinek is an adjunct staff member of the RAND Corporation, one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the world. He is also active in the arts and not-for-profit world, working with Education for Employment Foundation to help create opportunities for young men and women in the Middle East region. When not in hotels, he lives in New York, where he teaches graduate level strategic communications at Columbia University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 753 reviews
November 26, 2017
This book could be 10 pages, since 90% of it is "See chapter XX in Start with Why for more on this topic.". I remember Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and Leaders Eat Last as nice books, but I have to admit that after watching an interview about the "Millennials" with Simon Sinek, I became a bit skeptical about his theories, he is too self assured that everything falls into his theories, that every single behavior has an explanation (that he specifically holds), and I find it a bit too simplistic, not enough taking responsibility. I liked him more before watching this, and I will never be able to look at his stuff in the same way again.
This book is unnecessary, it is repetitive, it does not bring anything new to the table, and since it has no real content it gives straight forward tips like have a place large enough that participants can break into small groups, get snacks, and make sure it is quiet (e.g., not the room where the Xerox machine is located), in addition to "set up in advance so that tables are pushed back against the walls and chairs are arranged in a horseshoe". All of this is said at least twice throughout the book.
I am a big believer in "why"s. I am a huge believer in focus, and goals, and great team environment. I just don't think that this book would give you any of this. 2 very generous stars. It is a manifesto for reading other Sinek's books and hiring is company to help your company to find a why (or a nested why, or a recursion why or something). Self promotion not at its best.
This book is unnecessary, it is repetitive, it does not bring anything new to the table, and since it has no real content it gives straight forward tips like have a place large enough that participants can break into small groups, get snacks, and make sure it is quiet (e.g., not the room where the Xerox machine is located), in addition to "set up in advance so that tables are pushed back against the walls and chairs are arranged in a horseshoe". All of this is said at least twice throughout the book.
I am a big believer in "why"s. I am a huge believer in focus, and goals, and great team environment. I just don't think that this book would give you any of this. 2 very generous stars. It is a manifesto for reading other Sinek's books and hiring is company to help your company to find a why (or a nested why, or a recursion why or something). Self promotion not at its best.
October 7, 2017
The book is written as a workshop guide on how to discover your WHY, HOW and WHAT which was established in the Start with Why book by Simon Sinek. I don't think the publication of this book was necessary since even though I have read this book I still can't validate the theories proposed in it. To do that, I would need to attend a workshop or do the assessment with someone. Any takers from those who read it?
Some of my takeaways:
At its core, the WHY is an origin story. Who we are is the sum total of all the experiences we’ve had growing up—the lessons we learned, the teachers we had and the things we did.
Happiness comes from what we do. Fulfillment comes from why we do it. The happiness in serving ourselves is real but often fleeting; the fulfillment in serving others is more lasting.
Moving towards something is always better than moving away from something.
Some of my takeaways:
At its core, the WHY is an origin story. Who we are is the sum total of all the experiences we’ve had growing up—the lessons we learned, the teachers we had and the things we did.
Happiness comes from what we do. Fulfillment comes from why we do it. The happiness in serving ourselves is real but often fleeting; the fulfillment in serving others is more lasting.
Moving towards something is always better than moving away from something.
January 6, 2020
This is just so bad + it could have been much shorter but instead we go on and on in circles so they can just sell more unnecessary pages. The only reason I finished this book was: once I got to the first half I felt sorry that I wasted 2 hours of my life for nothing so I thought I might as well finish the damn thing in order to count it as a full book in my reading goal.
September 9, 2017
It was a great book. If Start with Why gives us hopes and feel motivated, this book is the instrument or the way to make it happen. It is just hard for me to understand the steps like the discussion of groups. For me, finding your why may be a journey and not a group discussion. Still, the stories of this book gives are great. Cheer up!
P.S. While hanging washed clothes today, i am still thinking what i really wanted to be in the future. I cried...and it's amazing. I think if finally found my WHY. Thanks to this book. It really helped me a lot.
P.S. While hanging washed clothes today, i am still thinking what i really wanted to be in the future. I cried...and it's amazing. I think if finally found my WHY. Thanks to this book. It really helped me a lot.
June 5, 2020
“If we want to feel an undying passion for our work, if we want to feel we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves, we all need to know our WHY.”If this isn't a perfect example of beating a dead horse, I don't know what is. So boring, repetitive for such a short book. Also riddled with platitudes that are supposed to help you find you why. After all, a happy worker is a productive worker. You're wasting away on your feet, hustling hard so that corporate giant can make more money from your work, but you might as well do it with a smile on your face because your why discovery suddenly made you feel fulfilled.
November 15, 2020
I enjoyed the main idea of this book which is the importance of finding the reason behind your life, behind your job, behind basically every single thing that you do. Once your find YOUR WHY it will be much easier for you to wake up in morning, withstand long working hours or adapt to your stressful life style because to you it all has a goal and a reason.
I have to admit, every once and while I think I need to remind myself of my OWN WHY which really helps me go back on track!
All in all it was an okay book, I used the Wamda app which I think did a really bad job for this book in particular, the narrator's language was horrible (sorry!) but luckily I was still able to enjoy it.
Jan, 15, 2020.
I have to admit, every once and while I think I need to remind myself of my OWN WHY which really helps me go back on track!
All in all it was an okay book, I used the Wamda app which I think did a really bad job for this book in particular, the narrator's language was horrible (sorry!) but luckily I was still able to enjoy it.
Jan, 15, 2020.
September 27, 2017
"Find Your Why" is the companion book to Sinek's best seller "Start With Why." In this book the authors walk you through specific ways to identify your why, whether for an individual or team/organization.
From a personal standpoint, I really liked the team approach. I felt it was sound especially if your organization or team doesn't have a governing why. When it came to the individual why, I was less enthusiastic.
I understand the purpose of sharing your personal stories with another person, I'm just not comfortable relaying that kind of depth to another individual outside of my family. The authors specify that the people you relay the stories to should not be so close that they know the story or can add to it.
I had really hoped this book would provide away to introspectively discover your individual why, but it does not.
From a personal standpoint, I really liked the team approach. I felt it was sound especially if your organization or team doesn't have a governing why. When it came to the individual why, I was less enthusiastic.
I understand the purpose of sharing your personal stories with another person, I'm just not comfortable relaying that kind of depth to another individual outside of my family. The authors specify that the people you relay the stories to should not be so close that they know the story or can add to it.
I had really hoped this book would provide away to introspectively discover your individual why, but it does not.
September 22, 2017
After "Leaders Eat Last" I thought that Simon Sinek will be the next Dan Pink. But he isn't (at least for now). I didn't like his prior book ("Start with why"), I've found it too obvious & shallow (endless rambling about the very simple idea that doesn't require as much elaboration). I do realize that I am clearly not the perfect target for the book (I never had problems with intrinsic motivations), but my idea was to use it to help others, not myself.
What about Simon's most recent book then? "Find Your Why" is supposed to be a set of practical guidelines, games, techniques that could be helping in "finding your why". But in fact ... it's extremely "American" (all clarifications & explanations make an impression like they are made up in a way that will make a jar of nails understand them ...) & it feels like the cheapest category of motivational books ... Techniques are ... well ... not really impressive, I'd rather say - banal & non-inspiring. Frankly, maybe it's just me, but I see no value in this book, I have a feeling that I can (& do!) manage this far better w/o them.
Disappointment.
What about Simon's most recent book then? "Find Your Why" is supposed to be a set of practical guidelines, games, techniques that could be helping in "finding your why". But in fact ... it's extremely "American" (all clarifications & explanations make an impression like they are made up in a way that will make a jar of nails understand them ...) & it feels like the cheapest category of motivational books ... Techniques are ... well ... not really impressive, I'd rather say - banal & non-inspiring. Frankly, maybe it's just me, but I see no value in this book, I have a feeling that I can (& do!) manage this far better w/o them.
Disappointment.
January 26, 2018
"A 4 Star Listen with a 5+ Star Read"
Be prepared to sit down and take notes and pause this book several times if you want to get the full value of this book. This is why I rated it less than a five. This is also why you should read the book to get the valuable priceless knowledge. The knowledge you will gain and the insight you will grasp is worth more than 5 stars. Now you get the reason for my title. I won't spoil the details because any thing I say beyond this is like having a friend tell you the outcome of the movie. You would be mad and it wouldn't be the same. Read the book. Worth every penny spent and then some.
Be prepared to sit down and take notes and pause this book several times if you want to get the full value of this book. This is why I rated it less than a five. This is also why you should read the book to get the valuable priceless knowledge. The knowledge you will gain and the insight you will grasp is worth more than 5 stars. Now you get the reason for my title. I won't spoil the details because any thing I say beyond this is like having a friend tell you the outcome of the movie. You would be mad and it wouldn't be the same. Read the book. Worth every penny spent and then some.
February 29, 2020
Summary: I'm glad it was short. This is an attempt to create a commercial version of Sinek's book Start with Why. Weird b/c his seminars are already commercial. This workshop is just too corporate and misses everything I liked about the first book.
Sinek partners with a few people to write this book and it shows and it feels disjointed as a result. This might work if you are a structured person who needs to meet with others to better understand who you are and why you are doing things. He's trying to figure out how to sell this concept to a corporation that needs to have leaders agree on why. That might be good for lowercase why. It's great for managing down. But kind of mediocre for managing up.
But I think if you're a real leader, you're going to do this with a few people when you need to brainstorm and otherwise be in a room by yourself thinking about this sans whiteboard. Your job is to lead. It is not to make consensus happen. The stuff he's talking about is great if you are truly confused and you truly need to see where others stand in their motivation, which, btw, as a real leader, you ought to already have a sense for. But if you want to figure out the driving why your role is to figure it out, sell it, and figure out if it can't be sold to who you need to sell it to. That is a totally different looking thing. this ain't it.
p. 30 - "The Tribe approach is also the method you should use if you want to discover the WHY of the entire organization and the founder is no longer actively involved." Ouch. Leading by consensus seems like the worst possible way to make an organization work. You'll ended up with a very blended compromise set of goals and direction. That's the opposite of Apple. After all Jobs talks very clearly about the idea that he sets the why. He even talks in his biography about the idea that most people don't know the right why, b/c you are doing something new. OUCH OUCH OUCH.
p. 35/36 He has this statement you're supposed to fill in the blanks for
To ____ so that ____
The first one is supposed to represent "the contribution you make to the lives of others. The second blank represents the impact of your contributions."
The pendulum has really swung too far into this realm that person A is trying to help the world be better. I mean it is such drivel and egoism to think that you have the ability or right to do that for anyone. Assuming even care or believe what you're doing is good for them. We are so much more honest when we realize we live our own personal existence. Our why is our why. A company's why is their why. If you want to join, awesome. But as soon as we pretend like what we're doing is something that in and of itself is for others, we're a bit full of shit. People have to follow b/c they want to, because they believe in it, not because you've convinced them to believe in it. That's fleeting.
p. 196 - He says to come up with a group why and that not everyone will agree that this is the company why. You know, that's still crazy for me. There is a single leader at your company called the CEO. That person chooses people that align with their why. In fact, in order to get that job, you got to convince the board that your why is the right why. It is hers or his job to set the why.
If you're not that person, you can then influence that person's refinement of the why. In fact, that's part of your job. You can also decide it doesn't align with your why and make your decisions accordingly. That makes it easier for you to determine the boundaries surrounding how you're treated. But you will never get anything real done if you're doing this haphazard compromise version ascribed in this book about why (at that's even true for individual why).
Even if the CEO has not established why there is a why in their head, a why that has been tacitly communicated. If they don't have one, then that's when I company fails. You will never be able to tell if the company is in the right direction without Why. The idea that it would be set by a committee is crazy sauce.
If you make individual life choices by committee, you will also always be compromising. You'll never get to the why that matters, your why. Most unhappy people live this way. They are living their parent's why society's why their university's why. Why is the expectations that you have for yourself. It's like circular, b/c I feel like he's writing about it, but he's missed it in the execution of what to do.
p. 217, As a result of missing it he has this point he makes about the difference between happiness and fulfillment. "Happiness comes from the things we do for ourselves... Ironically, people whose why is in the service to others, rather than for themselves, are the ones who ultimately best serve themselves, because in the end, they experience the deepest fulfillment."
This is downright dangerous for young people to think. I mean, if you are weak, and you try to live other people's burdens at the same time that you're trying to strength train, you will hurt yourself. Then there is serving others to the extent you are not appreciated. This is all weird. This hasn't been thought through enough. The original book is about my why it is cool. Do you agree with my why? Awesome let's work on the why together and see if others also like the why. You're doing your thing b/c it's awesome, not b/c other people need to be served. If others are helped that's great and that comes from you just being awesome, not because you were trying to impose your awesome.
Anyway, not a fan. Too corporate.
Sinek partners with a few people to write this book and it shows and it feels disjointed as a result. This might work if you are a structured person who needs to meet with others to better understand who you are and why you are doing things. He's trying to figure out how to sell this concept to a corporation that needs to have leaders agree on why. That might be good for lowercase why. It's great for managing down. But kind of mediocre for managing up.
But I think if you're a real leader, you're going to do this with a few people when you need to brainstorm and otherwise be in a room by yourself thinking about this sans whiteboard. Your job is to lead. It is not to make consensus happen. The stuff he's talking about is great if you are truly confused and you truly need to see where others stand in their motivation, which, btw, as a real leader, you ought to already have a sense for. But if you want to figure out the driving why your role is to figure it out, sell it, and figure out if it can't be sold to who you need to sell it to. That is a totally different looking thing. this ain't it.
p. 30 - "The Tribe approach is also the method you should use if you want to discover the WHY of the entire organization and the founder is no longer actively involved." Ouch. Leading by consensus seems like the worst possible way to make an organization work. You'll ended up with a very blended compromise set of goals and direction. That's the opposite of Apple. After all Jobs talks very clearly about the idea that he sets the why. He even talks in his biography about the idea that most people don't know the right why, b/c you are doing something new. OUCH OUCH OUCH.
p. 35/36 He has this statement you're supposed to fill in the blanks for
To ____ so that ____
The first one is supposed to represent "the contribution you make to the lives of others. The second blank represents the impact of your contributions."
The pendulum has really swung too far into this realm that person A is trying to help the world be better. I mean it is such drivel and egoism to think that you have the ability or right to do that for anyone. Assuming even care or believe what you're doing is good for them. We are so much more honest when we realize we live our own personal existence. Our why is our why. A company's why is their why. If you want to join, awesome. But as soon as we pretend like what we're doing is something that in and of itself is for others, we're a bit full of shit. People have to follow b/c they want to, because they believe in it, not because you've convinced them to believe in it. That's fleeting.
p. 196 - He says to come up with a group why and that not everyone will agree that this is the company why. You know, that's still crazy for me. There is a single leader at your company called the CEO. That person chooses people that align with their why. In fact, in order to get that job, you got to convince the board that your why is the right why. It is hers or his job to set the why.
If you're not that person, you can then influence that person's refinement of the why. In fact, that's part of your job. You can also decide it doesn't align with your why and make your decisions accordingly. That makes it easier for you to determine the boundaries surrounding how you're treated. But you will never get anything real done if you're doing this haphazard compromise version ascribed in this book about why (at that's even true for individual why).
Even if the CEO has not established why there is a why in their head, a why that has been tacitly communicated. If they don't have one, then that's when I company fails. You will never be able to tell if the company is in the right direction without Why. The idea that it would be set by a committee is crazy sauce.
If you make individual life choices by committee, you will also always be compromising. You'll never get to the why that matters, your why. Most unhappy people live this way. They are living their parent's why society's why their university's why. Why is the expectations that you have for yourself. It's like circular, b/c I feel like he's writing about it, but he's missed it in the execution of what to do.
p. 217, As a result of missing it he has this point he makes about the difference between happiness and fulfillment. "Happiness comes from the things we do for ourselves... Ironically, people whose why is in the service to others, rather than for themselves, are the ones who ultimately best serve themselves, because in the end, they experience the deepest fulfillment."
This is downright dangerous for young people to think. I mean, if you are weak, and you try to live other people's burdens at the same time that you're trying to strength train, you will hurt yourself. Then there is serving others to the extent you are not appreciated. This is all weird. This hasn't been thought through enough. The original book is about my why it is cool. Do you agree with my why? Awesome let's work on the why together and see if others also like the why. You're doing your thing b/c it's awesome, not b/c other people need to be served. If others are helped that's great and that comes from you just being awesome, not because you were trying to impose your awesome.
Anyway, not a fan. Too corporate.
October 15, 2017
Great listen on a short road trip today.
Greater still for those running a team or larger organization.
For the solo-preneur there are still several actionable items. But not a lot of meat on the bone for the one-person shop.
Greater still for those running a team or larger organization.
For the solo-preneur there are still several actionable items. But not a lot of meat on the bone for the one-person shop.
December 1, 2017
The book is good, and the core idea of WHY discovery is nice.
But IMHO the content could be reduced in half without losing anything important.
But IMHO the content could be reduced in half without losing anything important.
September 27, 2017
I'm a big fan of "Start With Why" which is why I picked this one one. It's structured as a guide to finde your why and the why of groups in general, such as entire companies and/or individual departments.
I'm giving it 3 stars because though I have finished the book, I haven't yet been able to validate the method. Once I do, I'll review the rating.
I'm giving it 3 stars because though I have finished the book, I haven't yet been able to validate the method. Once I do, I'll review the rating.
January 1, 2018
Often do I enjoy listening to the wisdom of Simon Sinek, but this book isn't worth the time.
April 16, 2018
If you love 'Start with Why' written by Simon Sinek, you will love this book. This book tells you how to apply 'Start with Why' concept to your life or your organization. Strongly recommended.
December 14, 2017
“Our struggles are the short-term steps we must take on our way to long-term success.”
Have you ever found yourself thinking about what your purpose in life is?
That is probably the number one important question you should be asking yourself now. It might not be a question you think about every day, but it is an essential one for you to figure out.
Whether you think you have figured out your purpose in life or not, the book I’m going to analyze today will no doubt help you to narrow down and put into comprehensive words what your ‘Why’ is in life. It did for me.
FULL REVIEW ALSO AT http://bookmattic.com
As you read on, take note that if you have already read ‘Start With Why’ then most of these examples and exercises from ‘Find Your Why’ will make complete sense. If you own ‘Find Your Why’ but haven’t read ‘Start With Why’, the exercises in ‘Find Your Why’ will be less effective in the 'Why Discovery' process. It’ll be much better for you to read ‘Start With Why’ first since ‘Find Your Why’ is the companion workbook to ‘Start With Why’.
SIDE NOTE: You might be wondering why these two books didn't come out together. Simon Sinek didn't release these books together because of all the trial and error work they had to do with the 'Why Discovery' process. Actually, Simon has made plenty of impacts on many companies and people when he first came out with his TED Talk then later his book, but he felt like he didn't have a big enough reach. That's when he brought on David Mead and Peter Docker to his team. They were the HOW to his WHY, and started making bigger impacts on people between the release of the books. 'Start With Why' was released in 2009 and 'Find Your Why' in 2017. That's quite a long time to wait for a companion book. I highly recommend that you read both of these within a short time of each other.
Start With Why Primer
“When we allign emotionally with out customers and clients, our connection is much stronger and more meaningful than any affiliation based on features and benefits.”
It’s a good thing ‘Find Your Why’ starts out with a very short overview of the first book. Although, I don’t think it’s enough to really get you familiar with the concept of putting why first in everything you do. As I mentioned before, make sure to read the first book first.
The concept of Why is all based off of the simple concept of the Golden Circle (shown below) where individuals and companies alike should put their reason for exsistence above everything else, even your product.
There's also a biological connection to the Golden Circle which Simon explains about. The part of the brain that is responsible for language is the part that controls WHAT we do. The other parts of the brain control our feelings such as trust and loyalty. It's also where we get the saying, 'gut feeling' from. This part of the brain, however, has no ability to express language. It's where our WHY and HOW come from.
This explains why sometimes we have such a hard time explaining 'why' we love our segnificent other. It just 'feels' right.
As this book explains, knowing your 'WHY' is an essential part of your progression in life. It's like a puzzle piece. If you know exactly what the shape of your piece looks like then you can more easily find business partners, companies, even friends where your piece fits.
Powerful Lesson #1: Knowing the concept of 'WHY' is the first step in seeing where you fit in this world and how you can apply your talents in the right places. From now on be aware of the people you spend the most time with and see if they match with your 'WHY'. Before applying for a new job or creating your own company or blog, check your 'WHY' first.
If you don't know your WHY then go buy a copy of 'Start With Why' and 'Find Your Why' now.
WHY Discovery For Individuals
“Leaders are the ones who have courage to go first and open a path for others to follow.”
Now for the meat of the book. You bought this book to 'find your why' and this is where you will find it.
Some of the steps that Simon, David, and Peter ask you to go through can be very personal. It's almost like a therapy session, but not. I've heard mixed reviews about these steps, but if you follow them to the dot, I am 100% sure you'll be able to find what your 'WHY' is.
There are six steps in this process. I'll explain each of them below.
Step 1: Find a Suitable Partner
It's best to choose a partner that you are familiar with but not too familiar. A bad example would be your spouse, brother or sister, or best friend. A good example might be a coworker or someone from your local religious facility.
Whoever you feel comfortable with and feel like the person has the mental capabilities or background in business. It should be a person that you trust, of course, since you will be sharing stories that might end up very personal. But also a person that can push you to think below the surface and dig deep.
But really, the only role of the partner is to take notes, listen, ask valid questions to help you tell your stories, and interpreting the stories to help you find the golden threads and reoccuring themes throughout your stories.
Having that second set of eyes, ears, and perspective in the 'WHY Discovery' process is essential in finding your own WHY.
Step 2: Gather Stories and Share Them
This is where you get to share your stories and the partner you had hand picked gets to ask questions to help you dig deeper into your stories and possibly think of others you had totally forgot about. It's very important to pick the best time and place to do this exercise.
Time: Make sure to have several hours available for both of you and your partner. It's best to do this in one sitting.
Place: Make sure to be in a place that doesn't have any distractions, noise, or other people around. After all, you will be sharing deep and personal stories. You wouldn't want to be crying in front of a total stranger in public, would you?
Before you and your partner meet, there are a few things you should prepare.
1. Take notes on the most specific impactful stories in your life from the time you were born all the way up to a second ago. Any story could have potential in discovering your WHY whether they're good or bad. Have your notes prepared so you can tell them during your 'WHY Discovery' sharing session. More stories will emerge as you tell the ones you've already taken notes for.
Useful note taking method to show importance of stories. (photo)
2. It's not just about the experiences, it's also about the people in your life who have helped shape who you are today, so make sure to include a few stories about the impactful (positive or negative) people in your life.
3. Let your partner read the 'Partner Section' of the book a few days beforehand (pages 43-53).
Step 3: Identify Themes
After taking a few hours to share all your stories, it's now time for your partner to go through their notes to find the recurring ideas, words, phrases and feelings that all came from your stories.
You may ask, 'Why is the partner the only one looking at the notes? Why can't I?'. It's because the partner has more of an objective point of view. Your partner is most likely hearing these stories for the first time so their mind is free from personal history, insecurities or ego. Themes will be a lot more obvious to them.
After your partner sorts through all of the stories and circles the connecting themes, you must now pick the top two themes that inspire you the most. Pick the top two themes that jump off the page, the ones that you love the most and embody who you are.
Those two themes will be used to form your Why Statement. All the rest will become your HOWs.
Step 4: Draft and Refine a Why Statement
Some might consider this part to be the hardest part, not the most emotional, but hard because you want your WHY to be crystal clear so you and everyone else can understand it.
I wrote down my first WHY statement, looked at it, and thought, 'This is crap!' and rewrote it over and over again, refining it until it 'felt' right. And even then I still thought about it over and over to make sure the wording was clear and powerful enough to be understood and make an impact on other people's lives. It took me three weeks to feel comfortable enough with my own WHY statement. I actually feel comfortable enough to tatoo my WHY on my body! Now that's commitement.
For you, it might be instant, or for others it might take longer, but according to Simon that's okay. You should take as long as you need in refining your WHY statement as many times as you want. You've already internalized your WHY, it's just tricky putting it into the right words.
The format of the WHY statement should look like this, but of course you may change the arrangement to however you'd like in the future as long as it stays true to your WHY.
(WHY STATEMENT EXAMPLE)
One way to check to see if other people think your WHY fits with who you are is to talk about your WHY with other people, specially your best friends. Don't go right in and start by telling the person your WHY. Instead ask them why they became friends. Dig deep by asking what about yourself makes a good friend. Most likely your friend's answer will be similar to your WHY statement. Do this several times with several different people.
Step 5: State Your HOWs
HOWs are the actions we take when we are at our natural best to bring our WHY to life. Your HOW is what makes you completely unique.
Now is where the remaining themes your partner circled during the 'WHY Discovery' process are used. Take those remaining themes and choose four or five of the top ones that 'feel' right. The book goes on to explain how to actually choose the four or five themes and structure them in sentences so that they will be able to help you guide your WHY.
In my opinion, this part was not nearly as hard as articulating the WHY statement. Again it all has to do with your 'gut feeling'. Your final list of HOWs should nearly complete your whole circle, binding it, and twining it all together. Your WHY is what represents who you are.
After writing down your HOWs you should feel a sense of strength and satisfaction, and at this time you should be able to get out there and 'Live Your Why'.
Step 6: State Your WHATs
Of course having your WHAT is a must. For me, my WHAT is public speaking, and this blog you're reading now.
Your WHAT is the service or product you sell. Simple as that.
Powerful Lesson #2: Anyone can have the same WHY but each why is unique to each person from HOW they implement and spread their WHY. So it doesn’t matter whether you have the same Why as someone else since each and every one of us is unique.
Why Discovery for Groups
“A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other.”
This is very similar to the individual 'WHY Discovery' process but just with a large amount of people and at an office. People still share stories but this time it's about the company they work at. The stories should still be personal experiences. The stories are all compiled and themes sorted through and picked. Just like the individual process, it's just different since there are many people instead of just one.
I can't say too much about this part personally because I didn't experience it. I can imagine it working out very well in many companies though. So if you want to look into it more, please buy the book.
Powerful Lesson #3: Even huge groups of people can come together and decide on one true purpose for their company. The power of purpose can revererate down through all the employees when a company has strong values.
Other Thoughts
A lot of time and thought went into making this book which I dearly appreciate. There are minute flaws which most can be looked over because overall the book is effecient with its goal in mind. I truly helped me find my why.
There are three other sections of the book which I want to quickly write about before I give you your call to action. I found these sections to have useful information for the partner of the individual 'WHY Discovery' process, and facilitator of the group 'WHY Discovery process, as well as the appendix sections.
Partner Section
The tips given in this section are very clear and help the partner to ask the right questions and shut their own mouth when he/she needs to. It is the partner's job to detect when there is more to be told through the emotions that are seen in not just the language but also the physical emotions that are expressed.
Facilitator Section
This is similar to the partner section, but involves more direction since the facilitator has to deal with more people. His/Her job is to keep the session going in the right direction and staying within the budgeted time limit. I highly recommend the facilitator to follow these steps closely.
Appendixes
FAQ: Here, the book goes through several example questions about what a WHY should be. The real examples are taken from Simon, Peter, and David's personal clients' 'WHY Discovery' processes over the past few years. Some of the questions I had never thought about before but are valid questions to think about.
Partner and Facilitator Tips
These are extra tips for you to be the best partner in the individual 'WHY Discovery' process or the facilitator in the group 'WHY Discovery' process. There are very useful example questions you can adapt to the person or people you are helping discover their purpose.
Final Thoughts
There's no doubt in my mind that 'Find Your Why' has helped me to find my why and most likely will for you too. It's a well written and easy to read book and has applicable strategies to help you find your why.
However, if I could improve just one thing about this book, it would be to add more visual examples of how to go through the 'WHY Discovery' process. There are a few sketches, but I felt like it wasn't enough. I'd also like to see more than just a few stories of people who have actually experienced the 'WHY Discovery' process.
To me, adding these few things would bring more life to the book rather than just saying, 'Here are the steps, now get out there.' There needs to be more ways we can get involved in spreading Simon Sinek's vision. I'm sure we could always contact him at http://startwithwhy.com but there must be more than that.
He does encourage us to 'Live Our Why' and 'Share Our Why' at the end of the book and that's all in good, but I ask myself, 'Why don't we all try and get other people to discover their WHY too?'. We can't force anyone to do something they don't want to, but if we can help other people to realize there's more in life than just their day-to-day job, actually show them, then I think we should all help Simon Sinek out with his mission little by little. I know I will.
Call To Action
First of all, if you find value in my analysis of 'Find Your Why' then please comment and share this post on your favorite social media.
Second. Everyone has a WHY and if you have not figured yours out yet then I encourage you to buy both 'Start With Why' and 'Find Your Why' to help you figure it out.
Lastly, always remember to share the knowledge you've learned with the people you care most about.
Have you ever found yourself thinking about what your purpose in life is?
That is probably the number one important question you should be asking yourself now. It might not be a question you think about every day, but it is an essential one for you to figure out.
Whether you think you have figured out your purpose in life or not, the book I’m going to analyze today will no doubt help you to narrow down and put into comprehensive words what your ‘Why’ is in life. It did for me.
FULL REVIEW ALSO AT http://bookmattic.com
As you read on, take note that if you have already read ‘Start With Why’ then most of these examples and exercises from ‘Find Your Why’ will make complete sense. If you own ‘Find Your Why’ but haven’t read ‘Start With Why’, the exercises in ‘Find Your Why’ will be less effective in the 'Why Discovery' process. It’ll be much better for you to read ‘Start With Why’ first since ‘Find Your Why’ is the companion workbook to ‘Start With Why’.
SIDE NOTE: You might be wondering why these two books didn't come out together. Simon Sinek didn't release these books together because of all the trial and error work they had to do with the 'Why Discovery' process. Actually, Simon has made plenty of impacts on many companies and people when he first came out with his TED Talk then later his book, but he felt like he didn't have a big enough reach. That's when he brought on David Mead and Peter Docker to his team. They were the HOW to his WHY, and started making bigger impacts on people between the release of the books. 'Start With Why' was released in 2009 and 'Find Your Why' in 2017. That's quite a long time to wait for a companion book. I highly recommend that you read both of these within a short time of each other.
Start With Why Primer
“When we allign emotionally with out customers and clients, our connection is much stronger and more meaningful than any affiliation based on features and benefits.”
It’s a good thing ‘Find Your Why’ starts out with a very short overview of the first book. Although, I don’t think it’s enough to really get you familiar with the concept of putting why first in everything you do. As I mentioned before, make sure to read the first book first.
The concept of Why is all based off of the simple concept of the Golden Circle (shown below) where individuals and companies alike should put their reason for exsistence above everything else, even your product.
There's also a biological connection to the Golden Circle which Simon explains about. The part of the brain that is responsible for language is the part that controls WHAT we do. The other parts of the brain control our feelings such as trust and loyalty. It's also where we get the saying, 'gut feeling' from. This part of the brain, however, has no ability to express language. It's where our WHY and HOW come from.
This explains why sometimes we have such a hard time explaining 'why' we love our segnificent other. It just 'feels' right.
As this book explains, knowing your 'WHY' is an essential part of your progression in life. It's like a puzzle piece. If you know exactly what the shape of your piece looks like then you can more easily find business partners, companies, even friends where your piece fits.
Powerful Lesson #1: Knowing the concept of 'WHY' is the first step in seeing where you fit in this world and how you can apply your talents in the right places. From now on be aware of the people you spend the most time with and see if they match with your 'WHY'. Before applying for a new job or creating your own company or blog, check your 'WHY' first.
If you don't know your WHY then go buy a copy of 'Start With Why' and 'Find Your Why' now.
WHY Discovery For Individuals
“Leaders are the ones who have courage to go first and open a path for others to follow.”
Now for the meat of the book. You bought this book to 'find your why' and this is where you will find it.
Some of the steps that Simon, David, and Peter ask you to go through can be very personal. It's almost like a therapy session, but not. I've heard mixed reviews about these steps, but if you follow them to the dot, I am 100% sure you'll be able to find what your 'WHY' is.
There are six steps in this process. I'll explain each of them below.
Step 1: Find a Suitable Partner
It's best to choose a partner that you are familiar with but not too familiar. A bad example would be your spouse, brother or sister, or best friend. A good example might be a coworker or someone from your local religious facility.
Whoever you feel comfortable with and feel like the person has the mental capabilities or background in business. It should be a person that you trust, of course, since you will be sharing stories that might end up very personal. But also a person that can push you to think below the surface and dig deep.
But really, the only role of the partner is to take notes, listen, ask valid questions to help you tell your stories, and interpreting the stories to help you find the golden threads and reoccuring themes throughout your stories.
Having that second set of eyes, ears, and perspective in the 'WHY Discovery' process is essential in finding your own WHY.
Step 2: Gather Stories and Share Them
This is where you get to share your stories and the partner you had hand picked gets to ask questions to help you dig deeper into your stories and possibly think of others you had totally forgot about. It's very important to pick the best time and place to do this exercise.
Time: Make sure to have several hours available for both of you and your partner. It's best to do this in one sitting.
Place: Make sure to be in a place that doesn't have any distractions, noise, or other people around. After all, you will be sharing deep and personal stories. You wouldn't want to be crying in front of a total stranger in public, would you?
Before you and your partner meet, there are a few things you should prepare.
1. Take notes on the most specific impactful stories in your life from the time you were born all the way up to a second ago. Any story could have potential in discovering your WHY whether they're good or bad. Have your notes prepared so you can tell them during your 'WHY Discovery' sharing session. More stories will emerge as you tell the ones you've already taken notes for.
Useful note taking method to show importance of stories. (photo)
2. It's not just about the experiences, it's also about the people in your life who have helped shape who you are today, so make sure to include a few stories about the impactful (positive or negative) people in your life.
3. Let your partner read the 'Partner Section' of the book a few days beforehand (pages 43-53).
Step 3: Identify Themes
After taking a few hours to share all your stories, it's now time for your partner to go through their notes to find the recurring ideas, words, phrases and feelings that all came from your stories.
You may ask, 'Why is the partner the only one looking at the notes? Why can't I?'. It's because the partner has more of an objective point of view. Your partner is most likely hearing these stories for the first time so their mind is free from personal history, insecurities or ego. Themes will be a lot more obvious to them.
After your partner sorts through all of the stories and circles the connecting themes, you must now pick the top two themes that inspire you the most. Pick the top two themes that jump off the page, the ones that you love the most and embody who you are.
Those two themes will be used to form your Why Statement. All the rest will become your HOWs.
Step 4: Draft and Refine a Why Statement
Some might consider this part to be the hardest part, not the most emotional, but hard because you want your WHY to be crystal clear so you and everyone else can understand it.
I wrote down my first WHY statement, looked at it, and thought, 'This is crap!' and rewrote it over and over again, refining it until it 'felt' right. And even then I still thought about it over and over to make sure the wording was clear and powerful enough to be understood and make an impact on other people's lives. It took me three weeks to feel comfortable enough with my own WHY statement. I actually feel comfortable enough to tatoo my WHY on my body! Now that's commitement.
For you, it might be instant, or for others it might take longer, but according to Simon that's okay. You should take as long as you need in refining your WHY statement as many times as you want. You've already internalized your WHY, it's just tricky putting it into the right words.
The format of the WHY statement should look like this, but of course you may change the arrangement to however you'd like in the future as long as it stays true to your WHY.
(WHY STATEMENT EXAMPLE)
One way to check to see if other people think your WHY fits with who you are is to talk about your WHY with other people, specially your best friends. Don't go right in and start by telling the person your WHY. Instead ask them why they became friends. Dig deep by asking what about yourself makes a good friend. Most likely your friend's answer will be similar to your WHY statement. Do this several times with several different people.
Step 5: State Your HOWs
HOWs are the actions we take when we are at our natural best to bring our WHY to life. Your HOW is what makes you completely unique.
Now is where the remaining themes your partner circled during the 'WHY Discovery' process are used. Take those remaining themes and choose four or five of the top ones that 'feel' right. The book goes on to explain how to actually choose the four or five themes and structure them in sentences so that they will be able to help you guide your WHY.
In my opinion, this part was not nearly as hard as articulating the WHY statement. Again it all has to do with your 'gut feeling'. Your final list of HOWs should nearly complete your whole circle, binding it, and twining it all together. Your WHY is what represents who you are.
After writing down your HOWs you should feel a sense of strength and satisfaction, and at this time you should be able to get out there and 'Live Your Why'.
Step 6: State Your WHATs
Of course having your WHAT is a must. For me, my WHAT is public speaking, and this blog you're reading now.
Your WHAT is the service or product you sell. Simple as that.
Powerful Lesson #2: Anyone can have the same WHY but each why is unique to each person from HOW they implement and spread their WHY. So it doesn’t matter whether you have the same Why as someone else since each and every one of us is unique.
Why Discovery for Groups
“A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other.”
This is very similar to the individual 'WHY Discovery' process but just with a large amount of people and at an office. People still share stories but this time it's about the company they work at. The stories should still be personal experiences. The stories are all compiled and themes sorted through and picked. Just like the individual process, it's just different since there are many people instead of just one.
I can't say too much about this part personally because I didn't experience it. I can imagine it working out very well in many companies though. So if you want to look into it more, please buy the book.
Powerful Lesson #3: Even huge groups of people can come together and decide on one true purpose for their company. The power of purpose can revererate down through all the employees when a company has strong values.
Other Thoughts
A lot of time and thought went into making this book which I dearly appreciate. There are minute flaws which most can be looked over because overall the book is effecient with its goal in mind. I truly helped me find my why.
There are three other sections of the book which I want to quickly write about before I give you your call to action. I found these sections to have useful information for the partner of the individual 'WHY Discovery' process, and facilitator of the group 'WHY Discovery process, as well as the appendix sections.
Partner Section
The tips given in this section are very clear and help the partner to ask the right questions and shut their own mouth when he/she needs to. It is the partner's job to detect when there is more to be told through the emotions that are seen in not just the language but also the physical emotions that are expressed.
Facilitator Section
This is similar to the partner section, but involves more direction since the facilitator has to deal with more people. His/Her job is to keep the session going in the right direction and staying within the budgeted time limit. I highly recommend the facilitator to follow these steps closely.
Appendixes
FAQ: Here, the book goes through several example questions about what a WHY should be. The real examples are taken from Simon, Peter, and David's personal clients' 'WHY Discovery' processes over the past few years. Some of the questions I had never thought about before but are valid questions to think about.
Partner and Facilitator Tips
These are extra tips for you to be the best partner in the individual 'WHY Discovery' process or the facilitator in the group 'WHY Discovery' process. There are very useful example questions you can adapt to the person or people you are helping discover their purpose.
Final Thoughts
There's no doubt in my mind that 'Find Your Why' has helped me to find my why and most likely will for you too. It's a well written and easy to read book and has applicable strategies to help you find your why.
However, if I could improve just one thing about this book, it would be to add more visual examples of how to go through the 'WHY Discovery' process. There are a few sketches, but I felt like it wasn't enough. I'd also like to see more than just a few stories of people who have actually experienced the 'WHY Discovery' process.
To me, adding these few things would bring more life to the book rather than just saying, 'Here are the steps, now get out there.' There needs to be more ways we can get involved in spreading Simon Sinek's vision. I'm sure we could always contact him at http://startwithwhy.com but there must be more than that.
He does encourage us to 'Live Our Why' and 'Share Our Why' at the end of the book and that's all in good, but I ask myself, 'Why don't we all try and get other people to discover their WHY too?'. We can't force anyone to do something they don't want to, but if we can help other people to realize there's more in life than just their day-to-day job, actually show them, then I think we should all help Simon Sinek out with his mission little by little. I know I will.
Call To Action
First of all, if you find value in my analysis of 'Find Your Why' then please comment and share this post on your favorite social media.
Second. Everyone has a WHY and if you have not figured yours out yet then I encourage you to buy both 'Start With Why' and 'Find Your Why' to help you figure it out.
Lastly, always remember to share the knowledge you've learned with the people you care most about.
November 27, 2023
Pretty bad. I think I’d be happier in life if I could be convinced by something like this, but I’m unfortunately too jaded to believe a book that is clearly trying to trick people into thinking they are doing something meaningful by working their meaningless job. Not saying jobs can’t be meaningful or you can’t enjoy and find purpose in your work, but it just seems like this book is reaching a bit. It seems like it’s pushing people into complacency at their jobs by convincing them that your deeply held personal value or belief can be mutated and then applied to your terrible corporate job to make it seem less terrible.
January 1, 2024
Es una guía práctica que aplica lo que se explica en “Empieza con el porqué”, por lo que no tiene mucho sentido leerlo si no se ha leído el otro antes.
Es interesante de forma general, pero la verdad es que me parece un libro flojito, que podría haber sido un capítulo añadido del otro libro (o dos capítulos, si me apuráis).
Es interesante de forma general, pero la verdad es que me parece un libro flojito, que podría haber sido un capítulo añadido del otro libro (o dos capítulos, si me apuráis).
March 16, 2021
Premalo Sineka, previše saradnika.
Možda sam pogrešila što sam krenula sa ovom, ali mi je delovalo nekako logično. U svakom slučaju mnogo više volim da slušam i *gledam* Sineka (yaas motivate me daddy).
Čini mi se da je najveća vrednost ovih knjiga što daju konkretne primere za koučing vežbe, ali u suštini vrte praznu slamu i sve može da se sumira na 20 strana.
Možda sam pogrešila što sam krenula sa ovom, ali mi je delovalo nekako logično. U svakom slučaju mnogo više volim da slušam i *gledam* Sineka (
Čini mi se da je najveća vrednost ovih knjiga što daju konkretne primere za koučing vežbe, ali u suštini vrte praznu slamu i sve može da se sumira na 20 strana.
April 22, 2018
Why write a book when you only have content to fill a 10 page folder?
May 14, 2021
Книгата определено е това, което обещава да бъде - практическо ръководство с доста интересни упражнения, които не вярвам да има някой, който да не иска да пробва. Кой не обича да говори за себе си и някой да трябва да го слуша без да го прекъсва или съди? :)
За съжаление, цялостното усещане за книгата беше като за отбиване на номера. Книгата е много кратка, но въпреки това, успяха в рамките на тези 6 часа да се повторят толкова много пъти, че много бързо мина от затвърждаване на информацията, до "няма какво повече да добавим, ама нали книга пишем..." и "вярваме, че читателите ни са идиоти и няма да забележат повторенията на всеки 15 минути". Естествено, това много дразни.
Също така, такъв тип книги трябва да те вдъхновяват да спреш буквално по средата на изречението, което слушаш/четеш и да предприемеш действие. Ами, тази книга не е такава. Напротив, много суха и без чувство ми дойде, независимо колко много пъти повториха колко са надъхани.
И накрая, книгата ми припомни всички ужасни team building-и и подобни събирания, на които съм присъствала през годините и които не са били нищо повече от отбиване на номера.
Най-добре тази книга да се чете едновременно или веднага след "Start with why" ако човек иска да вземе възможно най-много от нея. Вдъхновение от първата и практически насоки от тази. :)
За съжаление, цялостното усещане за книгата беше като за отбиване на номера. Книгата е много кратка, но въпреки това, успяха в рамките на тези 6 часа да се повторят толкова много пъти, че много бързо мина от затвърждаване на информацията, до "няма какво повече да добавим, ама нали книга пишем..." и "вярваме, че читателите ни са идиоти и няма да забележат повторенията на всеки 15 минути". Естествено, това много дразни.
Също така, такъв тип книги трябва да те вдъхновяват да спреш буквално по средата на изречението, което слушаш/четеш и да предприемеш действие. Ами, тази книга не е такава. Напротив, много суха и без чувство ми дойде, независимо колко много пъти повториха колко са надъхани.
И накрая, книгата ми припомни всички ужасни team building-и и подобни събирания, на които съм присъствала през годините и които не са били нищо повече от отбиване на номера.
Най-добре тази книга да се чете едновременно или веднага след "Start with why" ако човек иска да вземе възможно най-много от нея. Вдъхновение от първата и практически насоки от тази. :)
October 19, 2021
This book has an explanation of how to use Simon Sinek's Golden Circle to create your why statement. Why do you do what you do? I love the idea that "happiness comes from what we do; fulfillment comes from why we do it." He also states that leaders are responsible for creating an environment in which staff feel they are part of something bigger than them selves. The greatest contribution of a leader is to make other leaders. If every member of a team doesn't grow together, they will grow apart. (this is true with every type of relationship).
The why statement is set up like this: " To _____ so that ______" and the book takes readers through how to develop this statement. It is also a guide for leaders to have staff develop why statements.
The why statement is set up like this: " To _____ so that ______" and the book takes readers through how to develop this statement. It is also a guide for leaders to have staff develop why statements.
November 6, 2021
FYI It didn't take me 3 years to read this. Actually I didn't read it all.
I started in 2018 and somehow it didn't cause the impact on me that I was getting in the zeitgeist.
Simon Sinek is sufficiently well known for his inspiring quotes, and persuasive talks. He is good in synthesizing complex ideas and making them easy to consume and digest.
This book is another good example.
He has one good idea and he repeats it over and over in three different contexts: individual, tribes, organizations. (hence the 2 stars)
It's a good book to have on a shelf. It looks good also.
Once in a while you can take it out and remind yourself that everything you do has an intention even if you're not conscious of it. Increasing your level of conscience will bring you awareness and clarity. Important features to have around when you have to navigate this complex and intertwined world.
I started in 2018 and somehow it didn't cause the impact on me that I was getting in the zeitgeist.
Simon Sinek is sufficiently well known for his inspiring quotes, and persuasive talks. He is good in synthesizing complex ideas and making them easy to consume and digest.
This book is another good example.
He has one good idea and he repeats it over and over in three different contexts: individual, tribes, organizations. (hence the 2 stars)
It's a good book to have on a shelf. It looks good also.
Once in a while you can take it out and remind yourself that everything you do has an intention even if you're not conscious of it. Increasing your level of conscience will bring you awareness and clarity. Important features to have around when you have to navigate this complex and intertwined world.
September 6, 2017
I read Start with Why and Find Your Why back to back over just a few days. Sinek’s famous Ted Talk (Presented in 2009, it has over 33 million views.) was so powerful to me that I had to see where he was with it now.
The man has a theme. He calls it the Golden Circle: Why—How—What. Why is the reason. How is the means. What is the result. They all have to be in balance, driven by the why, and when they are, you will achieve authenticity and success.
The theme hasn’t changed. In terms of the Start with Why concept itself, you’ll find little new here. Find Your Why is a how-to. Sinek and his team, Peter Docker and David Mead, and Docker and Mead in particular, provide a detailed guide to defining and sharing the why, how, and what within an actual organization, using the process they have refined through extensive use to help companies apply the original Sinek concept. (There is a refresher for those who haven’t read Start with Why or viewed the Ted talk.)
As the authors state, “That’s the reason this book exists. If Start with Why makes the case for the WHY, Find Your Why provides the steps to show people how to actually do it.” And it does a good job at achieving that goal.
To those who have been in the organizational world for a while, a lot of this will sound a lot like past initiatives to define mission, values, strategy, and tactics, or some combination of those concepts, however you define them. The Start With Why Team, as they refer to themselves, openly discusses that later in the book.
The language is different. And so are the priorities and the focus. Values, as most organizations define them, and as the Why Team points out, are really just ideals. They aren’t actionable. And they’re right.
It would be a disservice, therefore, to characterize the Why program as more of the same, either more of the 2009 TED talk or more of the overlapping programs many other consultants have promoted over the years. This is more than just another of the 32 flavors of Colgate toothpaste that Sinek refers to in Start with Why. And that’s because he always goes back to why. And that’s the magic.
So, if you are responsible for developing engagement, strategy, or similar programs for your company, I would consider this a must read. If that’s not what you need, there is still plenty of value to the book. Sinek and his team are clearly impassioned. The writing is very fluid. And when it comes to WHY, you can’t get too much of a good thing.
The man has a theme. He calls it the Golden Circle: Why—How—What. Why is the reason. How is the means. What is the result. They all have to be in balance, driven by the why, and when they are, you will achieve authenticity and success.
The theme hasn’t changed. In terms of the Start with Why concept itself, you’ll find little new here. Find Your Why is a how-to. Sinek and his team, Peter Docker and David Mead, and Docker and Mead in particular, provide a detailed guide to defining and sharing the why, how, and what within an actual organization, using the process they have refined through extensive use to help companies apply the original Sinek concept. (There is a refresher for those who haven’t read Start with Why or viewed the Ted talk.)
As the authors state, “That’s the reason this book exists. If Start with Why makes the case for the WHY, Find Your Why provides the steps to show people how to actually do it.” And it does a good job at achieving that goal.
To those who have been in the organizational world for a while, a lot of this will sound a lot like past initiatives to define mission, values, strategy, and tactics, or some combination of those concepts, however you define them. The Start With Why Team, as they refer to themselves, openly discusses that later in the book.
The language is different. And so are the priorities and the focus. Values, as most organizations define them, and as the Why Team points out, are really just ideals. They aren’t actionable. And they’re right.
It would be a disservice, therefore, to characterize the Why program as more of the same, either more of the 2009 TED talk or more of the overlapping programs many other consultants have promoted over the years. This is more than just another of the 32 flavors of Colgate toothpaste that Sinek refers to in Start with Why. And that’s because he always goes back to why. And that’s the magic.
So, if you are responsible for developing engagement, strategy, or similar programs for your company, I would consider this a must read. If that’s not what you need, there is still plenty of value to the book. Sinek and his team are clearly impassioned. The writing is very fluid. And when it comes to WHY, you can’t get too much of a good thing.
August 21, 2018
This book is repetitive. The phrase "now more than ever" was used so many times, I almost started using tick marks to keep track. The appendix is essentially repeated information from the chapters. It's questionable how much Sinek was involved in this book, which is what frustrates me so much. It feels like the two other authors read Sinek's "Start with Why" and said, "Let's tap into this potential!" asked Sinek to put his name on it in order to sell more copies, wrote some repetitive, semi-unorganized directions, and sent it to market. I could distill this book to a couple pages on MS Word and sell it.
August 16, 2018
I like the books, that inspires me to the next action. And Find your WHY is exactly it! I really want to find my WHY and what I want even more is to facilitate finding WHY for the others.
I like previous books from Simon - what they are missing? The practical guide how to find your WHY.
The search and wondering is over - you will find the guide in this book. Thanks a lot. I am going to find my peers and the adventure of discovery of our WHYs is going to begin. If anyone want I will help them as well..:-)
I like previous books from Simon - what they are missing? The practical guide how to find your WHY.
The search and wondering is over - you will find the guide in this book. Thanks a lot. I am going to find my peers and the adventure of discovery of our WHYs is going to begin. If anyone want I will help them as well..:-)
January 3, 2019
I expected it to be on par with his works but after reading for while I understood that this book is merely an extension to his work "START WITH WHY" and does not add any new value to people who have absorbed the concept. This book explains to go on about preaching the concept to others, i.e. your friends, your team, your groups, your peers, your company and to the organization as a whole. I am not sure if everybody is interested in preaching this to others. This book isn't for the general reader, it is for people who give talks, or conduct productivity workshops across organizations.
March 8, 2019
The title said for itself. The book is not for someone looking for inspirational advice. However, if you are already clear about or know how it feels like when lacking of knowing the WHY, you can easily find a step-by-step and practical guidance, though a little bit boring and simple, to discover your answer. One good thing is that the book also included assignments for teams and entrepreneur, which makes more sense for one individual to refer to the book many times even after finishing it, if he wants to re-do the homework in different times in his life.
November 15, 2018
This was good, but is a much more detailed, step-by-step how-to guide for finding your personal why and facilitating a group session to find an organization's (or "tribe's") why. I would have enjoyed it more if I had realized that and been ready to put in the time and work to find my why while reading / listening to the book. Also, this book isn't really by Simon Sinek, but by David Mead and Pete Docker, who work for Simon's company, Start With Why.
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