The importance of starting from Why

Here is a good recent TEDx Talk that was delivered simply and effectively with nothing but a flip chart and a pen for visuals. The idea that the presenter Simon Sinek was talking about is very simple and not really new perhaps. But it's always good to get a reminder of what is important. I could quibble over some things in the talk — Apple's success (now) is of course more complex than he implies — but the essence of what Simon expresses concerning the importance of Why is quite true. I'm certain if you watch this talk it will get you thinking. Simon goes in depth with the idea of starting with why in his book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. Watch his TEDx Talk below.



Starting presentations from Why
Simon's simple but very important idea can be applied to many challenges we have, even the construction of a good presentation. In Presentation Zen I said that most ineffective presentations could have been prevented if the presenter had just asked two important questions before he began to prepare: (1) What's my point? And (2) why does it matter? Most presenters focus only on the what (information, data, more information...more data just in case) and then spend some time on the how (often resulting in the creation of typical bulletpoint driven ppt slides), but almost no time is spent really thinking about the Why. The Why is were we should start almost all projects, including presentations.

If you think about it, we don't ask Why enough. "Why am I spending loads of money and time on a college education?" Or "Why do I really want to pursue that job or why am I sticking with this one?" Thinking deeply about the Why is not an abstraction; it's fundamental. In life, and in business, we spend all our energy thinking and talking about the what and the how, complaining about what we don't have and what we'd do if we did. We rarely spend time thinking deeply about the why. Why are we doing this? Why does it matter? Why is it important (or not)? What is the meaning in the whole scheme of things? Part of the reason we suffer in our professional, academic, and even personal lives is we do not spend enough time first with the Why. How could your work (including presentations) and your life in general be improved if you spent more time first thinking deeply about Why?
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NOTE: Follow TEDxTokyo LIve this Saturday (May 15)

You can watch TEDxTokyo 2010 Hit Reset live through their web-cast in both Japanese and English at  from 9 AM to 6 PM on Saturday, May 15th. See the awesome list of presenters here. I'll be continuing to work with some of the presenters onsite the day before the event. Please tune in. Last year was remarkable. Follow the TEDxTokyo blog. Follow TEDxTokyo on Twitter. I will also be tweeting live from the event in Tokyo (mostly photos), you can follow me here at @presentationzen.

Comments

[Primoz Frelih, PMP]

Great. But do you know NLP and their presentation technique called 4MAT? It has very similar structure, beginning with WHY...

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[Whennessy]

Wow. Amazing observation, and wildly true. Why uncovers meaning and purpose. How and, especially, What obscure them.

[The Happy Rock]

Thanks for sharing that talk. It is a brilliant idea that was skillfully communicated.

The problem is that for most of us we are stuck answering the how and the what that we don't get to deal in the why's very much. That makes expressing and describing the Why very difficult task.

[presentation skills]

One of the things that strikes me about getting caught up in the what and the how, and not attending to the why, is that this is often because we are so into getting somewhere, and firefighting, and dealing with the mountain that is on our plate that we don't feel we have the luxury of time to step back. And steeping back is what you need to do in order to ask why. This applies to presentations, and pretty much everything else I do in my job. Great video, and post, thanks.

[Houston Spencer]

I facilitate a lot of workshops for young folks trying to figure out what to make of their lives. One thing I experience is that some of the distinctions that Sinek makes are semantic. For a lot of the most important things in our lives, the distinction between what and why is hard for folks to delineate. And that can be frustrating for them, rather than helpful.

For example: Some participants in my workshops talk about how important it is to them, in the course of their lives, to be good parents. In some contexts, that strikes them as a "what": to have children and be a good parent. In other contexts, they see it as a "why": because they have values that are about family, children, and good parenting. Debating about whether its a "what" or a "why" can become just a word game if you're not careful.

I like Sinek's idea and its simplicity. It's a good reminder. That said, it's so basic, that it can twist in many ways that aren't necessarily clarifying.

[coolinsights.blogspot.com]

Nice post and an absolutely spot on observation. I've seen too many presentations that dive into the operational details without a purpose or reason. We certainly need to spend more time on the "Whys" in our lives!

[cabal alz]

I facilitate a lot of workshops for young folks trying to figure out what to make of their lives. One thing I experience is that some of the distinctions that Sinek makes are semantic. For a lot of the most important things in our lives, the distinction between what and why is hard for folks to delineate. And that can be frustrating for them, rather than helpful.

[cabal alz]

And that can be frustrating for them, rather than helpful.

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. For a lot of the most important things in our lives

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I like Sinek's idea and its simplicity. It's a good reminder. That said, it's so basic

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I facilitate a lot of workshops for young folks trying to figure out what to make of their lives. One thing I experience is that some of the distinctions that Sinek makes are semantic. For a lot of the most important things in our lives, the distinction between what and why is hard for folks to delineate. And that can be frustrating for them, rather than helpful.

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Thanks for sharing that talk. It is a brilliant idea that was skillfully communicated.

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secretary of labor for occupational safety and health who wrote the memo, raised the concerns on Tuesday, the day before seven oil spill workers on boats off the coast of Louisiana were hospitalized after they experienced nausea, dizziness and headaches.

[Simon Sinek]

Inspire action with WHY.

It's amazing how powerful that one little question is ESPECIALLY in presentations. The front page of any powerpoint, the cover, should tell the people in the room WHY they need to be there. WHY the presentation exists in the first place.

The vast majority of presentation titles say WHAT the contents of presentation are: "How To Write A Better Presentation", for example, and not WHY you need to hear it: "Communicate In A Way That Drives Support for Your Ideas"

This translates into speeches, emails, letters - anything. It's not good enough to have the WHY buried in there - the brain responds better when everything Starts With Why.

Also - thank you for sharing the concept of WHY with your readers. The more people that learn about its existence, the greater the possibility we will all wake up and do the things that inspire us. Thanks again for being a part of the movement.

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Federal regulators complained in a scathing internal memo about "significant deficiencies" in BP's handling of the safety of oil spill workers and asked the Coast Guard to help pressure the company to address a litany of concerns.

[Ivan]

I saw this one a while ago and found it to be eye opening. The curious thing is that people rarely notice that it's the WHY that moves them.

[Rerto Jordans]

I love any comment that can help me to improve my blog.

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As article seems informative so blog post added to RSS feed for future needs

[Keith McIntyre]

The concept of why and simplicity makes a difference. I've implemented many techniques suggested by Garr resulting in personal and business growth.

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Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more.

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Yours is the only design blog I follow regularly. What a great post, being an Architect I can easily apply the principles to my profession. I love the positive energy in your writing.

[Dhandapani]

Simply Excellent.

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Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real. So, whatever what you do, just work hard and think seriously, then the success will not far away from you.