The Why, How, and What of a message
These are some notes I took from a TED lecture by Simon Sinek.
Three things are usually blamed for businesses failing: under capitalization, working with the wrong people, and/or bad market conditions. Really, not understanding your message to people is pretty big, though. People don’t buy ‘what’ you do, they buy ‘why’ you do it. Three concentric circles with “Why” in the middle, “How” next out, and “What” on the outer ring.
Why (Reptilian complex - vital bodily functions. Reliable, but somewhat rigid and compulsive.)
How (Limbic – feelings: trust, loyalty, all human behavior and decision-making, no language)
What (Neocortex – Rational, analytical thought, language )
It could be that Vision, Mission, and Aim are the same as Why, How, and What.
Vision – Why
Mission - How
Aim - What
TIVO (not doing well) said,”We have a product that does blahdeeblah.” They could have said, “If you’re the kind of person who wants total control over your life, we have something for you.”
King’s 1963 speech. He said what he believed, not what the audience should do. 250,000 people showed up. No one showed up for him. They showed up for themselves. It’s what they believed. It wasn’t the ‘I have a plan’ speech.
In advertising Apple Computers could say, “We make great computers. They’re beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. Want to buy one?” Enh. This is how most marketing, and indeed most interpersonal communicating is done: What, How, not even getting to Why.
Apple actually says, “Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?” Why, How, then What.
People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
So, I’ve been trying to figure out the ‘why’ of DG. It seems to me that it is an opportunity to transform yourself, your life, your world for the better. Maybe something like, “We believe we have an opportunity to transform ourselves for the better. The way we do that is by practicing ‘power-with’ instead of ‘power-over/under’. We teach the method to do this. Want to buy one?” or “We believe it is important to fit in (or “belong”?) in society in a way that allows us to live by our values and principles…” etc.
Hmmmm. What do you think?
