Start with Why
By Simon Sinek
An obvious classic but a goodie.
In fact, like so many people, I was turned onto the “Start with Why" concept through Sinek’s ultra-popular TedTalk. The idea that people, however you might label them (customers, employees, etc) are loyal to companies less because of what they do, and instead because of why they do what they do.
This book’s philosophy fundamentally changed how I thought about the companies I worked for. I became fixated on understanding what companies believed in. It empowered me to gut-check leadership by asking “How do you see this world differently?”
Doing so exposed some companies I encountered. For them, the what came before the why. It often showed in their product and brand positioning. And I noticed the lack of why often wounded their Go-To-Market strategy and forced them to squander precious time in playing catch-up.
In addition to influencing the companies I worked for, Sinek’s emphasis on the why influenced how I sold software. I developed an allergy to discussing product features in-depth with potential customers. I was known of pausing conversations abruptly if we were zooming in prematurely. Instead, I craved high-level conversations that compared our “How we see the worlds.” I became adept at storytelling and at presentations that underscored a deliberate why. This forged emotional connections with the right customers that proved necessary in selling complex deals.
Lastly, Sinek’s “Start with Why” influenced how I thought about UX Design. It reinforced to me that each feature and user flow I included in a prototype should map back to a user problem identified during initial research. As a result, each of my designs has purpose.