With Start with Why Simon Sinek wrote a book that keeps one pondering for a while, actually you will start pondering already while reading it. As you may remember I wrote a post earlier on the same topic, including a link to a TED video Simon did about the subject also then it kept me busy. At least busy enough to buy the book and use the slower paced summer time to read it.

To refresh: Simon advocates with Start with Why that people will not buy what you do, but instead they will buy why you do it. The book is well written and easy readable. Simon uses a lot of examples and in most cases the examples are from well known organizations that have earned their success, indeed, because they acted from their why. Southwest Airlines, the Wright brothers and Apple are among the examples used in such a way that it is logic that we buy from them because they act in their never ending pursuit of why they do what they do.

The reasoning for why is very well explained. The only point where I was a little disappointed in the book is the very brief chapter on finding one's why. Somewhere in the early chapters Simon writes that it is fairly easy to find one's why and that he will explain so later in the book. Part 6 goes into "Discover Why" and looks the shortest part of the book. Simon describes his own why: "To inspire people to do the things that inspire them" and describes briefly that finding your why comes from looking back. However clear tools or methods are not provided. Maybe it is because of the fact that, as Simon writes, "Gaining clarity of WHY, ironically, is not the hard part. It is the discipline to trust one's gut, to stay true to one's purpose, cause or beliefs" and hence I need to trust my own gut more. Maybe it is because of the fact that Simon did not want to give all hints away in his book but instead opened an option to subscribe to his Why University where a step-by-step discovery course and a lot of other resources will be provided to help you find your why.

Despite this little disappointment in the end of the book I would highly recommend the book Start with Why to anyone interested in becoming more successful by finding his or her why. The book provides a great background on the reasoning behind the why being important and will keep you pondering on your why and subsequently the things you do for a while.

Originally posted at the Simoons & Company weblog