Event Emcee: Simon Sinek
Posted by TEDxScottAFB in Speakers
via website www.startwithwhy.com:
Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Sinek teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. With a bold goal to help build a world in which the vast majority of people go home everyday feeling fulfilled by their work, Sinek is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them. A trained ethnographer and author of Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Sinek has held a life-long curiosity for why people and organizations do the things they do. Fascinated by the leaders and companies that make the greatest impact in the world, those with the capacity to inspire, he has discovered some remarkable patterns of how they think, act and communicate. He has devoted his life to sharing his thinking in order to help other leaders and organizations inspire action. He is best known for discovering the Golden Circle and popularizing the concept of Why, the purpose, cause or belief that drives every one of us. The Golden Circle is a naturally occurring pattern, grounded in the biology of human decision making, that explains why we are inspired by some people, leaders, messages and organizations over others. Sinek’s unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention and have earned him invitations to meet with an array of leaders and organizations, including: Microsoft, MARS, SAP, Intel, 3M, the United States Military, Members of the United States Congress, multiple government agencies and entrepreneurs. Sinek has also had the honor of presenting his ideas to the Ambassadors of Bahrain and Iraq, at the United Nations and to the senior leadership of the United States Air Force. Sinek shares his optimism with all who will listen. He speaks around the globe and has commented for local and national press, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, FastCompany, CMO Magazine, NPR and BusinessWeek. Sinek is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, writes his own blog,simonsinek.com and makes regular guest appearances on MSNBC’s Your Business, among others. Sinek is an adjunct staff member of the RAND Corporation, one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the world. He is also active in the arts and not-for-profit world, working with Education for Employment Foundation to help create opportunities for young men and women in the Middle East region. When not in hotels, he lives in New York, where he teaches graduate level strategic communications at Columbia University
[...] that author and distinguished speaker Simon Sinek will be hosting the May 30th, 2012 event. Click here for more information on Mr. [...]
I actually have some cictirism for Sinek.What matters is not so much that Why comes first, but that a GOOD Why comes first.We could move from Why to What and still be uninspiring:Why -> To make moneyHow-> With technologyWhat -> We make airplanes Starting with Why doesn’t help at all if you have a sucky Why. He claims that to make money doesn’t count as a Why , it’s only a Result . But really, it is a Why, it’s just an uninspiring Why. Maybe that’s nitpicking, I don’t know.But I’m wondering about these examples, too. Perhaps Apple’s Why is to make money , and their How is be innovative , and their What is make computers and stuff . Sinek seems to measure success via sales. He says that other people made music players (for instance) and nobody bought one . But if that’s how we measure success, then how does Apple compare to Microsoft? Apple follows the Why pattern, according to Sinek, and presumably Microsoft doesn’t. And yet Microsoft sells more product and makes more money. (Alright so the Zune was trounced by the iPod, but Windows trounces Mac OS). Does this invalidate Sinek’s theory?Sinek says that the limbic brain is responsible for all human decision-making. Gee, what does the rest of the brain do? I mean, sure, obviously the limbic brain is very important, but let’s not neglect the neocortex.Yes, sometimes we have gut feelings , which we follow instead of rational analysis. But sometimes we ignore those feelings in favor of rational analysis. That’s how we get rid of irrational fears, for instance.Tivo, by the way, is in fact making a profit.In the end, I still agree that Why is important. You have to know what your true mission is, and making money is a pretty dumb mission. I just feel like Sinek is stretching his argument.
This is a great talk. Simon’s insight about emitoon driving decision-making and not language/features/details is very important when thinking how to write to people, respond to people, or design things for people. Wish I’d been there. Would love to hear what people thought!
Cody,I swear by the gates of heaven, I have seen this talk at least 12+ times. It’s one of the most inprsiational talks I have encountered in the last year. And really proves the point why some companies have a raving fan base while others totally miss out.His line is echoing in the back of my mind: People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it