Summary of Start with Why

Companies with a focus on their purpose encourage true innovation above and beyond market competition.
Analysis
The most innovative businesses are those that fulfill their purposes by offering customers things they later believe they need but did not ask for, such as automobiles and portable music players. A company without a strong sense of “why” would be more likely to only improve existing products and compete with companies offering similar products. Inspiring companies benefit more from measuring how well they fulfill their purpose as innovators.

The best business strategies start with a focus on why the company exists, then on how the company will fulfill that purpose, and lastly on what operations will complete that plan.
Analysis
The Golden Circle illustrates where a company should begin its search for strategies. The center of the circle is “why,” the company’s purpose for existing. The next ring is “how,” which relies on an understanding of the purpose and represents the plans to fulfill that purpose. The outer circle, “what,” consists of the actions that carry out the plan that fulfills the purpose.

Successful companies often have one visionary leader who focuses on “why” and a planning leader who establishes “how.” The rest of the organization amplifies the “why” and “how” in what it does.

Customers are attracted to companies whose purposes align with their own because they want to feel a sense of belonging. Those customers will be loyal when a company cannot afford to offer the same low prices or easy access as its

The best business strategies start with a focus on why the company exists, then on how the company will fulfill that purpose, and lastly on what operations will complete that plan.

A company with a clear sense of purpose does not need to measure how it competes against others. Instead, it works to improve itself and uses those measures of improvement to attract customers.

Companies with a strong focus on “why” engage in reflection, learn lessons from failure, and only compete against themselves.

A company with a culture that amplifies the message all the way to the lowest-ranked employees, and which seeks leaders who want to pursue the original purpose, can survive scaling up or replacing leaders because everyone keeps the purpose and plan in mind.

Ensuring focus on purpose throughout a company’s lifetime requires a strong culture and a plan of succession that ensures future leaders maintain the same message.

Even companies that begin with a strong sense of purpose can lose that vision. When the metrics change from measuring the pursuit of the purpose to the pursuit of market share or profit margins, loyal customers leave and employees cease to receive and relay the company’s message clearly.