When is About Business, the Logic Fails

Posted on January 20, 2013 by ThePMJournal

Simon Sinek, the author of the book Start with Why?, using the concept (“Golden Circle“=“Why? How? What?”) explains the reason why some people have success and others don’t. In order to succeed in business, but also in private life, you need always to start with the question “Why?”: “Why we do what we do? Why do we exist as business? Why some people managed to change the world and we did not?”

Simon’s theory search answers from inside to outside, from motivation to content and not vice versa. In TED presentation: “How great leaders inspire?“, Simon Sinek presents how leaders think and what is their motivation of their actions.

Our company, F-Startup, is on a financial way down and tries hard to find solutions for the major problem: The Sales. For almost half a year, we had not sign any contract with partners, we didn’t sold any product and we lost money continuously. Shareholders had became irritated and the sales and marketing teams hopeless.

Although the proper solution was to replace team of Sales and Marketing, CEO has preferred to keep existing Marketing and Sales Experts and has waited for a “miracle” to come from research and development department. The decisions of CEO in the past 6 months were irrational, justified only by: “Because I said so“, “Trust me, I am a Marketing Expert“, “I decided… make it so!” and, certainly, were not based on a rational analysis. At a time, CEO decided to change our business strategy, but keeping original business model and, as a result, the marketing strategy hasn’t sustained anymore our initial business model: The business model identified us as niche company with unique services and products dedicated to B2C (as a B2C we were unique on the market) while the new marketing strategy positioned us as a B2B service provider (as a B2B service provider we were just another company in a thousand of companies providing digital marketing). Because of this major change of strategy, our business model has become invalid.

We all felt our direction was wrong, but no one hadn’t the courage to say it openly. The fundamental questions remained: Why do we abandon our original plan? Why are we going in the wrong direction?

Despite the fact CEO knew what risks are involved in changing the marketing strategy, he liked to think we are in a good direction and the only pieces missing in our puzzle were just the answers at the questions: How can we differentiate? What can we improve?

Hopping to find a magical solution for our delicate situation, the CEO invite us in the meeting room to the watch a video presentation: How great leaders inspire? by Simon Sinek. The movie aroused excitement and emotion in all hearts. At the end, CEO said excited:

-This movie inspires me! I would like you to find out what change need to make in our way of thinking in order to achieve such a mindset? I would like each of you to allocate enough time to find answers at the following questions: How we make things better, starting from what we have? What should be changed?

Although we initially agreed to start with questions: “Why?”, at the end of the meeting, the discussions were:

–How can we increase the Sales? How many partners should we bring in loyalty scheme per week?

-And what exactly can we change?

Then I was asked: -Don’t you know what should be done? We are discussing this for about one hour…

-Sincerely, for me isn’t clear at all, I don’t know what and how to do, because I don’t believe the strategic objectives we have assumed are aligned with our initial business model.

-Well, everybody knows what should be done! Get it done! You lead! concluded CEO.

The questions “Why?” seems to raise many other uncomfortable questions, because it dig deep in the middle of things, in essence. If the essence is “questionable”, then people prefer to justify what and how they do things, without asking themselves: why we do what we do?

In business, although people seems to understand the logic behind “Golden Circle” concept and the importance of the question “Why?“, when are about to take decisions, simply, their mind “refuses” to act rationally. We could say: in business, the logic fails!

Read next: Brainstorming or the Story of a Stormy Brain.

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