Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action ISBN 9781591842804
On scale 1-5: 3
The golden circle: why? how? what? Measure and refresh yours why, instead of what. Be aware of possible split when the leader with clear why leaves the organisation. Early adopters create reviews for late adopters. Short term wins are usually driven by what and long-term by why (sales manipulations vs long-term vision).
In general, I liked the book and the golden circle of why, how, what? The idea resonated with me, but I got a feeling over time that the idea was overused to explain why companies and big achievements happened, even when “Why?” might be only one of many factors that impacted the final results.
Additionally, I got feeling the companies were picked, again and again, sharing the same story multiple times not adding real value to the message of the book.
If I compare the achievements other books explain by putting a big emphasis on companies being able to iterate fast and experiment for low cost, then I would expect the Wright brothers were successful, because they were trying their prototypes every day, where the other parties spent too much time iterating on ideas, doing very expensive experiments every time. Duct tape is a very powerful tool sometimes.
Couple of notes I made and found useful from the book are:
- the golden circle: why? how? what?
- aspire & inspire
- early adopters create reviews for later adopters
- railroad companies went out of business when planes came, because they were focused on what “Railroad transport” instead of why: “Transporting people and goods from one place to another”.
- split - when the leader with a strong sense of why leaves the company. Many companies do not survive or lose their original goals
- measure the why, instead of what
- refresh yours why
- manipulation vs loyalty