What is Start With Why?
Quick answer
Start With Why is a 2009 book and idea by author Simon Sinek. He argues that inspiring leaders and companies communicate from the inside out: they start with their why (purpose or belief), then explain how they do it and what they make. His diagram for this is the Golden Circle.
The Golden Circle
Picture three circles, one inside the other:
| Circle | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Why (center) | What’s your purpose? Why does your organization exist? | “We believe in challenging the status quo.” |
| How | What makes you different? | “Our products are beautifully designed and easy to use.” |
| What (outer) | What do you sell or do? | “We make computers.” |
Sinek says most organizations communicate from the outside in: “We make great computers. Want to buy one?” Inspiring ones go inside out, starting with the belief, because “people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
The TED talk
Sinek’s talk, “How great leaders inspire action,” was recorded at a TEDx event in 2009 and has been viewed tens of millions of times. He uses examples such as Apple, the Wright brothers and Martin Luther King Jr., whose famous speech was “I have a dream,” not “I have a plan.”
Why it resonates
- It gives teams and companies a simple tool for writing mission statements and marketing.
- It connects work with meaning, much like questions about your purpose in life.
- It’s easy to remember and share.
Criticism
Some business writers argue the Golden Circle is oversimplified, that the examples are chosen with hindsight, and that a strong “why” doesn’t replace good products and execution. Sinek’s claim that the idea maps onto parts of the brain is also seen as a loose analogy rather than proven science.
Related books
Sinek later wrote Leaders Eat Last (2014), Find Your Why (2017) and The Infinite Game (2019). For a practical problem-solving method also built on asking “why,” see the 5 Whys technique.
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