We can always find co-workers at our workplace who seem very busy, speaking fast, walking fast, no time to chit-chat or even take time to eat lunch. Does “busy” mean productivity? Often times the answer is no. This made me think about the “treadmill phenomenon”:
- You work very hard. But no matter how fast you walk/run, you do not go anywhere.
- If you stop, you will find that you are actually in the exact same spot where you started from.
To be fair, with budget constraints the way they are in many companies, employees carry relatively more responsibilities compared to their workload in the past. However, to some extent, busy means laziness. Busy can be a good excuse not to think about why we do what we do. Just do it to get it done.
I have noticed that Simon Sinek’s “start with why” philosophy - The golden circle has been mentioned in various meetings and conferences recently. The golden circle has three layers:
1. “Why”- why we need to do it? Why can’t we do it?
2. “How” - How we can achieve the goal. It’s the route towards the direction.
3. “What” - What is the expected result?
The golden circle concept is a philosophy of thinking from the inside out. The core belief is Why. If you have a business or you are on the way to transform your business in line with the emerging technologies and ever-changing customer base, to find out “why” - the real value of your business is mission critical. As Sinek puts it, “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.”
Successful companies are those who can clearly answer the “why” question. For example, Mark Zuckenburg founded Facebook because he identified “why he wanted to do it” that to connect people in the world is very important. Everybody wants to connect with his/her friends and family members. Life becomes more meaningful if we can connect with people and share what happens in our life with them.
As a marketer, to find out why customers need/what to buy from us out of all other competitors and to communicate the value to the customers is significant. When Steve Jobs unveiled the MacBook, instead of describing what they do - sell computers. He said that we sell dreams. We help customers unleash their inner genius, and we will win over their hearts and minds. The “why” has generated hundreds of millions of Apple fans.
To start from why, often times, needs to challenge the status quo, challenge ourselves and overcome all our own negative feelings and make changes albeit obstacles and criticisms at different levels. However, this may be the only way we can avoid the treadmill phenomenon and keep abreast of changes and stay ahead of the game.
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