PDF Summary:Start With Why, by Simon Sinek

Why do some companies thrive while their competitors fail? According to business and leadership expert Simon Sinek, the key difference is the company’s purpose (or lack thereof). In Start With Why, Sinek explains how to build an organization that puts its values at the center of its business. The core concept is simple and straightforward: Great companies know why they’re in business, and that mission guides everything they do.

We’ll start this guide by explaining why a core purpose or mission will make your company more successful than any product will. Then we’ll discuss how you can use that “why” to guide everything your company does and every decision you make. Finally, we’ll explore how you can stay focused on that mission as your company grows and evolves. Our commentary will compare Sinek’s ideas with those in other influential business books, such as Purple Cow and No Rules Rules, and provide actionable steps to help you start creating a why-focused company.

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Trust: Inspired people realize that everyone—from the CEO down to the most entry-level worker—needs each other to reach their common goal. This means people will strive to be both trusting and trustworthy. Employees are less focused on self-gain, but instead do what’s best for the mission and the organization as a whole. Inspired employees feel protected in their companies and by their leaders because they feel leadership makes decisions in service of a greater purpose rather than their own self-gain. That gives employees the confidence to take risks, explore, be creative, and push the company forward.

Sinek adds that building a trust-based organization starts with the hiring process. When you have a strong WHY, you can find employees who are also passionate about your mission. The trick here is to look beyond the résumé. Don’t just hire skilled people whom you then have to motivate. Instead, hire motivated people who believe in your WHY, and inspire them; skills can be taught, passion cannot.

Build Upon the Foundation of Trust

Sinek’s suggestions about building a trust-based organization closely mirror how former Netflix CEO Reed Hastings describes his approach to leadership. In No Rules Rules, Hastings writes that the best way to run a business is to hire the best people you can get, at any cost. In this case, that means people who believe in your company’s WHY—when you find someone who’s genuinely passionate about your mission, do whatever it takes to get them on the team and keep them there.

However, while Sinek says this kind of trust will naturally lead to a healthy and inspired organization, Hastings urges you to keep actively building that kind of culture through constant feedback at all levels of the company. Everyone from executives to entry-level workers should feel welcome to share their thoughts and offer suggestions. This will foster a culture of trust and respect in the workplace, as well as helping the company fulfill its mission more effectively (thereby building trust with customers as well).

Don’t Start With WHAT

Sinek says that, unfortunately, most companies don’t start with WHY; they start with WHAT. As the most superficial part of a business, WHAT is the easiest to identify and communicate to potential customers.

This is why so much messaging centers around things like product features, product popularity, and how successful the company is: The company is trying to convince potential customers that WHAT they’re selling is good. However, even if everything the company says is true, such statements aren’t inspirational, and this approach will ultimately fail.

(Shortform note: Sinek says your WHAT won’t inspire people to buy from you without a strong WHY, but other marketing experts disagree. In Purple Cow, Seth Godin argues that products can succeed on their own, but only if they’re remarkable enough to catch people’s attention. To be truly remarkable, a product must be both unique enough to stand out from the crowd and practical enough that people want to buy it. For example, the Volkswagen Beetle’s unique design got a lot of people talking about it (both positively and negatively). That talk served as free advertising which, combined with the car’s reliability, led directly to the Beetle’s success.)

WHAT Relies on Manipulation, Not Inspiration

When companies lack a WHY to inspire their customers, they must instead turn to what Sinek calls manipulations to sell their products. Manipulations are tactics that artificially influence customers to buy from your company or use its services. Some examples include pricing, promotions, fears, aspirations, peer pressure, and novelty.

Sinek adds that manipulations do work, but only in the short term—none of these methods will create loyal repeat customers. Therefore, WHAT-focused companies have to constantly manipulate people into buying their products just to stay in business. Furthermore, it’s inevitable that such a company will eventually use the wrong tactic or that customers will start to see through its phony messaging. When that happens, sales will dry up and the business will collapse.

(Shortform note: Sinek says manipulations aren’t effective, but some research suggests just the opposite: Manipulative marketing is so effective (and pervasive) that it’s affecting how people see the world. Such messaging often leverages fear, anger, and outrage to capture attention, which can increase individual stress levels and societal polarization over time. Manipulative marketing also often relies on exaggerated claims that lead to consumer disappointment. This can erode trust in the company, like Sinek says—alternatively, it can lead customers to think something is wrong with them rather than with the product, which contributes to issues ranging from anxiety to eating disorders.)

WHY Should Affect Everything You Do

To figure out your WHY, take a step back and examine your motivation behind what you do. It’s more than just making a profit (or at least, it should be). It’s the big, bold vision that motivates your company. Once you have your WHY, you can focus on sharing it effectively with the world.

The Golden Circle Megaphone

Sinek returns to the Golden Circle model and clarifies that it isn’t really flat like a bull’s-eye. Instead, it’s a three-dimensional cone.

• WHY is the top of the cone—the narrowest and shortest ring, home to the organization’s top leaders. They’re the ones responsible for creating and sharing the WHY.
• HOW is the middle ring of the cone. These are the upper-level leaders who figure out how to execute the WHY.
• WHAT is the lowest and largest ring of the cone. This level contains all the employees responsible for interacting with customers, selling products and services, and manufacturing goods.

(Shortform note: Sinek’s “megaphone” model relies on a traditional, hierarchical structure to spread your WHY throughout your company and beyond. In Reinventing Organizations, business consultant Frederic Laloux envisions a different kind of structure—what he calls a visionary organization—that he argues is more efficient and better for employees’ well-being. In a visionary organization, there is no rigid hierarchy. Instead, there’s a fluid network of relationships between individuals or small teams who are all committed to the same guiding purpose. Leloux argues that with a clear purpose (the company’s WHY) in mind, employees will freely cooperate with each other to reach decisions and distribute resources as needed.)

Sinek says that, in order to have a strong WHY, every ring of the company needs to be aligned with the organization’s guiding vision. Therefore, the leaders in the WHY ring need to communicate clearly with those in the HOW ring. The HOWs then pass the message on to people in the WHAT ring and make sure the WHATs are able to share the organization’s message with everyone else. This creates the Golden Circle Megaphone, which amplifies your message in a way that inspires everyone it touches.

(Shortform note: To keep everyone in your organization focused on the same goals and values, the authors of CEO Excellence advise you to choose a cultural anchor: a simple yet emotionally powerful idea that can serve as both a guide and a rallying cry. For example, if your company’s mission is to repair the environment, your cultural anchor might be “sustainability”—keeping that one word in mind could remind people to always choose the most environmentally responsible options, think about the long-term impacts of business decisions, and so on.)

The Celery Test

Sinek also says to use your WHY as a filter for making good decisions. That’s where The Celery Test comes in. Speaking broadly, the Celery Test is a way to help you whittle down all possible options into the few that support your WHY, no matter what that WHY is or how complicated it might be.

Let’s say you’re starting a health food store, and friends are giving you advice, telling you to offer products like Oreos, celery, and M&Ms. The advice-givers are successful, smart, trustworthy people, and they’re genuinely trying to help you succeed—people love junk food, so it’ll sell well! However, if you stock your store with everything those people tell you to, you’ll waste money and offer products that ultimately harm your company. After all, nobody would trust a health food store that tries to sell them cookies and candy.

(Shortform note: It will be especially tempting to pursue options that don’t align with your WHY when your company is struggling or has faced a major setback—such as selling junk food in hopes of quickly boosting your profits. However, difficult times are when it’s most important to stick to your principles. In You Win in the Locker Room First, Jon Gordon and Mike Smith explain that consistency is the basis of trust: Your team (and, in this case, your customers) need to know they can trust you to stick to your WHY in the face of adversity. Conversely, if you abandon your principles, it barely matters whether you manage to overcome your current challenges; you’ll have lost people’s trust and probably doomed your company in the process.)

Conversely, when you have a strong WHY, you can make decisions based on that idea. If your WHY is to provide healthy, wholesome food, you know that cookies and candy aren’t right for your store. On the other hand, celery is aligned with your mission, so you should stock it.

(Shortform note: The real value of the Celery Test may not be in the test itself—you probably already know that you should make decisions that support your business. Instead, its value may lie in the name. In The Life Brief, brand strategist Bonnie Wan says you should come up with a simple, memorable hook that you can think of to quickly remember your goals. “Celery Test” is just such a hook: It’s a short phrase you can call to mind when you’re facing a difficult or stressful decision, and it reminds you to stay focused on your WHY.)

Stay Focused on WHY

Creating a WHY for a company or organization requires a visionary, inspirational leader. Think of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Sam Walton. Leaders such as these are the ones who provide the passion and motivation for the business, especially when it’s first starting out.

However, one of the central problems of starting with WHY is, paradoxically, that it leads to success. Sinek explains that as a business grows, its inspirational leader becomes further and further removed from the company’s daily operations. Those operations are instead handled by supervisors and managers whose roles keep them focused on WHAT. When that happens, the organization can lose sight of its WHY.

(Shortform note: Sinek asserts that businesses lose sight of their WHY because their leaders step back from daily operations, but there are other theories about why this happens. For instance, according to Jim Collins in How the Mighty Fall, companies lose focus and begin to decline because of overconfidence. Collins says that when you’re a market leader (dominant in your industry), it’s easy to assume that everything you do will just work out—you think you’re too big to fail. This overconfidence can lead to shortsighted, impulsive decisions that move a company away from the WHY and HOW that made it successful in the first place.)

The Split

When a successful company transforms from a WHY organization to a WHAT organization, it’s what Sinek calls “the split.” The split happens when the leadership of a company starts focusing too much on measurable metrics, like sales and financial growth. The organization starts focusing on its WHAT, not its WHY, and stagnates as a result. It becomes concerned with how to manipulate customers and boost metrics, rather than with inspirational new innovations that help fulfill its mission.

(Shortform note: As your company grows, you may be able to avoid this pitfall through the judicious use of delegation. In How to Get Rich, Felix Dennis explains that many people who start companies only stay minimally involved in the long term, since it’s easier and more efficient to allow skilled managers to handle day-to-day operations. However, he adds that it’s important to set clear guidelines about which actions or decisions need your personal approval. In the context of Start With Why, this might mean that any high-level decisions about business strategy or messaging have to go through you. This strategy ensures that the company stays true to your vision and avoids manipulative advertising tactics that may damage trust.)

However, Sinek says the split doesn’t have to happen. Here are strategies for keeping the focus on WHY as your company grows:

Make sure the WHY trickles down from the top to every single employee. This will keep everyone from executives to frontline workers focused on the ultimate goal. (Shortform note: Ensuring that your WHY trickles down from the top means starting with yourself. The authors of CEO Excellence emphasize that your employees will pay much more attention to what you do than to what you say, so it’s crucial that you embody your company’s culture and mission in your daily actions. This is especially true when staying true to that mission involves some personal sacrifice or risk—for example, you might cut your own pay to fund a new initiative or cover losses.)

Measure only the metrics that count. When you’re focused on your beliefs and use those to measure your success, your company will continue to start with WHY. For example, if your WHY is to protect the environment, you might measure success by your organization’s carbon footprint for the past year rather than by its profits.

(Shortform note: Sinek suggests you only track metrics that relate to your WHY, but doesn’t give much specific advice about how to do so. In Measure What Matters, venture capitalist John Doerr provides an effective framework for this: Define your company’s objectives (clear and specific goals), key results (metrics or outcomes that indicate you’re on track to meet those goals), and goal-setting cycle—how frequently you adjust goals or set new ones based on the company’s key results. There are a total of nine parts to Doerr’s system, with the remaining six steps providing more details about how to apply this framework.)

Plan ahead for leadership transitions. Even the most visionary people can’t lead forever, so make sure to line up new leaders who support the company’s WHY just as strongly as current leadership does.

(Shortform note: Jim Collins and Jerry Porras emphasize the importance of planning for leadership transitions in Built to Last. They say that every leader must be committed to continuing the succession plan—in other words, as soon as a new leader takes over, they should start evaluating candidates to eventually take over from them. This continuous succession planning creates what the authors call a “leadership continuity loop,” which ensures that power can smoothly transition from one person to another whenever necessary.)