Start With Why

New take

Simon Sinek's TedTalk on ‘Start With Why’ has become a massive success.

His framework has turned into a multi-million consulting firm. His books top bestseller lists. Organisations worldwide restructure their messaging around this insight and see improvements from doing so.

His insight that great leaders "start with why" unveiled something profound: people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Most companies communicate from the outside in – what they do, then how they do it. Great leaders reverse this order entirely.

Take Apple's approach, as Sinek explains what their message is: "We believe in thinking differently (why). The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly (how). We just happen to make great computers (what)."

Starting with why – thinking differently – then explaining how they achieve this, and finally what they produce. This reversal explains why Apple commands premium prices and fierce loyalty while competitors with superior technical specs struggle for attention.

The principle is both accurate and powerful.

But there's an unintended consequence of how we've applied this wisdom in our individual lives.

That "finding your why" is a prerequisite for action rather than a result of it.

Someone might struggle with this modern expectation: "I know I should start that, but I haven't figured out if it is something I want to commit to." "I want to switch careers, but what's my authentic purpose?" "Everyone successful seems to know exactly why they do what they do."

This creates a new form of paralysis – where we demand philosophical clarity before we're allowed to begin anything meaningful.

Yet it can often be the case that knowledge follows action, not the reverse. That understanding emerges through sincere effort rather than preceding it. That those who take the first step in good faith will be guided toward greater clarity.

Here's what's fascinating about many transformative leaders: they didn't start with their "why" fully formed. They discovered it through engagement with work that initially captured their attention for much simpler reasons.

The Wright Brothers weren't trying to "revolutionise human transportation." They were bicycle mechanics fascinated by the problem of flight. Their deeper purpose emerged as they witnessed how aviation could connect distant places and people, just like bicycles.

The founder of a nonprofit that teaches financial literacy to teenagers didn't begin with "my why is breaking cycles of poverty." She started as a high school math teacher who noticed her students had no idea how credit cards worked, began incorporating basic financial concepts into algebra problems, and couldn't stop thinking about how mathematical thinking could prevent financial disasters. Her broader mission emerged from that initial problem-solving obsession.

Your "why" doesn’t have to be a prerequisite for starting. It's often what emerges when you pay attention to what consistently engages you attention and where you feel like you could be needed in the world.

This reframe dissolves the paralysing pressure to have your entire mission articulated before taking any meaningful action.

Instead of "What's my why?" try asking: "What draws my genuine attention?"

What inefficiencies do you notice that others seem to accept?
What conversations make you lose track of time?
What small problems keep annoying you across different contexts?
What do you find yourself explaining to people repeatedly?

There's profound wisdom in the idea that intention matters more than outcome – that sincere effort in service of others, even when the full picture isn't clear, carries its own guidance towards your ‘why’. That those who begin with good intentions will find their path illuminated as things become clearer and they find out more.

While Sinek's insight applies powerfully to organisations and movements, individual purpose often reveals itself through faithful engagement with whatever good work is placed before us.

And it probably won’t be an Instagram-worthy or mind-blowing insight.

It might be as humble as the builder who refuses to take shortcuts on a road that others will travel, knowing that integrity in small things creates safety for strangers. Or the merchant who ensures fair weights in every transaction, understanding that honest dealing builds trust that extends far beyond any single sale.

As George Eliot says in her famous novel Middlemarch, “the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts” which are “half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs”

The most meaningful "whys" don’t have to come right at the start, or be very flashy, but can be as simple as a commitment to doing something in a way that is sincere and thoughtful.

Thanks for reading