Mini Book Review: Start with Why

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek

Simon Sinek's mantra is: People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. You can watch his TED talk to get a better idea what he means by this - or read this book.

In the book, Sinek expands on the theories behind his mantra. He shows how his "Golden Circle" maps to the structure of the human brain. He also explains that it really is a cone, as seen from above, and how it maps to an organisation's structure. All this theory is extensively backed up with examples of people and organizations who lived and worked by these principles - and of those who lost their "why".

If you are already familiar with Sinek's ideas, this book won't really provide anything new. He makes a convincing case in showing that his concepts really apply to a broad range of people and organisations, not just some outliers like Steve Jobs and Apple.

On the other hand, it does get a bit repetitive in places. I was also somewhat disappointed in not finding more explicit instructions on how to find your own "why". Why am I doing this? may be a simple enough question, but some help on how to get to the bottom of it would have been appreciated and probably save people a few wrong turns. The extensive examples in this book do help somewhat, but the reader could benefit from some guidance along the way.

If you're short on time, watch Simon Sinek's TED talk. The book expands on it somewhat but doesn't really add anything essential.