Book Review: “Start with Why” by Scott Sinek
By Gordon David Durich
With an intriguing forcefulness, Scott Sinek taps into the perennial obsession with entrepreneurship in his book, “Start with Why.” Subtitled “How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Action,” the book offers sage advice to those starting their business. He proposes that when we start with “Why?” in everything we do, we, in turn, inspire action.
Success in business transfers to other realms, it has been found, he maintains. And his emphasis on belonging is important. Sinek writes that finding “WHY with a capital W” is a process of discovery, not invention. We may know our “why” at some level -- we just have to find it.
“Look inwards,” he says. According to Sinek, the best businesses have a point of view about the world, a bigger vision to which they are contributing. Consider Apple’s motivational advertising. Rather than philanthropic, it has to be inspirational. What gets us up in the morning? What really matters to you? What is your “Why.”
Sometimes our feeling of belonging is incidental, Sinek maintains. In the chapter “This Is Not Opinion, This Is Biology,” he cleverly ties his need-to-belong message in with that of Dr. Seuss and the Star-Belly Sneetches. Creative. The need to belong – that desire to fit in -- constitutes a very basic human need, whether you’re human being or a storybook character. Who cannot at some point relate to such feelings?
As Sinek puts it…“There is not a single one of us with a job that is not completely reliant in some way, shape or form on others.”
We’ve gone through a few seasons since we’ve been exposed to books like “Start with Why.” “Who Moved My Cheese?” immediately comes to mind. And we still need to be reminded of what is really important in business and in life: changing course and remembering where we come from and where we are going.
Vincentia Canacoo, who shared this book with this writer, opined, “What I truly liked was the author’s assertion that no culture is better or worse. Cultures are just different. The concept of “why” in relation to personal growth is not a new concept but relating it to business is what makes the book novel and very useful.”
Very useful, indeed. Sinek delivers on the promise of inspiration - and shares a lot of valuable information and timely stories in the process. Recommended.