Why You Do What You Do?

I love to watch TEDx. Speeches empower me to become a better person, to be aware of what's happening in the world and to remind myself that there are still lots of greatness in the universe.  I have TEDx app on my phone and tablet. I subscribed to the TEDx channel on Youtube. I attended to one of the TEDx events in Mississauga last year. Yes, I am a bonafide TEDx fan!

I discovered lots of great speakers and authors thru TEDx such as Seth Godin, David Kelly, Ken Robinson, Tony Robbins and many more. But my most favourite speaker is Simon Sinek, a communication professor at Columbia University. I never thought (I just found out today) that he is a marketer and advertiser who left law school to go to advertising and used to work at Ogilvy & Mather in New York. 

Simon Sinek delivered a presentation at one of the TEDx events and asked everyone their 'WHY's'. He also presented a simple but a great model called The Golden Circle (watch video below). The model only has 3 sections - what, how and why. 

WHAT

Every organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. These are the products and services that they offer to the consumers. We, humans, know WHAT we do. We study, work, travel and many more.

HOW

Some organizations know HOW they do the products and services. These are the things that make them extra special or set them apart from the competition (or what we call in marketing/advertising - unique selling proposition). We, humans, know HOW we study, work or travel. We do these by playing classical music (when we study), using a system (when we work), choosing to drive (when we travel) and eating with spoon and fork (when we eat).

WHY

Very few organizations know WHY they do what they do. A few people know WHY they do what they do. Why is not about having a greater profit or making money. That's a result. According to Professor Sinek, WHY is the purpose, cause and belief. It is the reason why companies exist. We study because we want to learn more and expand our knowledge. We work because we want our skills to be of use - giving us personal satisfaction. We travel because we want to experience different things. We want to understand other cultures and traditions so we become open as a person. 

I certainly believe in what he believed when I watched his TEDx video for the first time. I constantly use this concept not only in my professional career but also in my personal life. The concept guided me in everything that I did from the past few years of my life. It directed my life to choose the paths that I want to take, the people that I want to be with and the connections that I want to make. 

It inspired me to make better choices, drop the things that are irrelevant and take one step forward to be happy overall. 

This concept is very relevant in the marketing and advertising world. We will not be able to find the sweet spot if we don't know how to answer our targets' WHYs. We will be wasting a lot of resources if we don't know how to answer these 'WHYs'. Why do people do what they do? Why do people care? Why? If you know the answers, you're on the right track. 

What are your WHYs?