Why, 'starting with why' is not enough.

How many of us know WHY it’s important for us to do something, yet we still don’t do it?

Think exercise. We know we should be working out regularly, but why do so many of us struggle to stick to a regime?

SPLICE WITH WHY TO GET THINGS DONE

I have found that just knowing your WHY is not enough. Instead you must SPLICE WITH WHY to keep commitment to the micro-steps along your journey, to aid momentum. This is the fundamental blueprint of an action taker. 

Simon Sinek famously coined the ‘start with why’ movement. And his golden circles have become synonymous with product/service launches, explaining the story behind a company’s offerings and values, and for pulling staff together durngmotivational meetings. But is just knowing your WHY or starting with your WHY enough?

Of course Simon Sinek powerfully explains that customers are connected to the WHY behind why companies offer what they offer instead of WHAT they offer. However if we take this concept and apply it to individuals and teams working on a particular task or goal, I have found the ‘SPLICE WITH WHY’ technique to be a powerful tool to keep energy sustained over the long haul. 

Referring to how individuals and teams tackle projects, goals and ideas, my experience is that whilst starting with knowing your WHY is critical at goal setting stage, it may fall short in supporting momentum during the journey. 

Certainly if we know our WHY at the start, we may have an energised start. We may even be able to pull our teams back to our central ‘WHY’ theme to remind folk about the big-picture, it’s inspiring. But how long does inspiration last? And does inspiration equals transformation, and more importantly completion of tasks over the long haul?

If you have a project lasting years, does knowing your WHY still motivate you after 1 year, 2 years, 10 years. For sure it serves as a great reminder service, and can spike your inspiration levels in a shot, however is it enough to sustain your interest, motivation and energy, till successful completion of a project/goal? 

I believe we must splice each step with a WHY at the start of it. This then gives us reasons to carry out those micro tasks. 

It’s a bit like focusing on the step in front of you, instead of the whole mountain. Or if you’re in sales, it’s a bit like maintaining motivation through your sales calls, despite hearing your 100th rejection that week (note if you are getting this many rejections, there is a fundamental flaw in your pitch. More on that another day).

A ‘SPLICE WITH WHY’ process pulls in different stakeholders to individual parts of the process. If we know the ‘WHY’ behind each micro/macro step in our process, and it is communicated to all stakeholders, we are continuously tied to the mission for each individual piece we are handling, so we can keep the momentum throughout the journey. 

Simply put, we understand WHY we should make that 101 call, and not give up. We understand WHY we need to say NO to our child when they ask to eat yet another sweet, despite it being easier to relent to have a peaceful existence. 

We understand WHY we need to put on our trainers 1st, in order to gear our brains to get ready for the run we have been putting off. It’s all very well focusing on the big WHY that keeping fit is essential for my health. However despite knowing this big WHY, i still need to find a ‘mini WHY, as to WHY I should put my trainers on today, right now. 

Splice with why is a step by step approach, allowing you to just focus and conquer the immediate step in front of you. Not the entire project or goal. To go for the run, 1st start with putting on your trainers, then focus on getting out of the door. That’s an easier thing to accomplish, than the 20 min run your are dreading in your mind. 

LEARN FROM KIDS

I learned this from my 2 young kids, who constantly ask WHY. We may be doing a simple task like setting the table, or decorating the christmas tree. The kids will want to know WHY we have a table mat? WHY do we need to place the table mat on the table? WHY do we use cutlery? WHY do we place the fork/knife/spoon in the their respective position? WHY do we place a star at the top of the tree? Why do we have golden lights and not rainbow ones? 

Kids (the best teachers in the world) take an activity and ‘splice it with why’, to a) understand it and b) continue understanding it c) form a reason or meaning as to why the task should be done d) becoming motivated to actually carry out the task.

Take an athlete for example. They may start with their ‘why’, by declaring their overarching reason for training to be an athlete, maybe they want to win a gold medal at the Olympics. However to stay motivated along the journey, they need to understand ‘why’ they train everyday, ‘why’ they need to eat certain nutrients daily, ‘why’ they need to sleep early, why they miss out on social engagements in favour or their intense training. WHY, WHY , WHY, WHY. 

When we don’t understand or believe in the micro-tasks that make up the whole, we can lose focus and motivation. 

When you ‘splice with why’, you are given the micro reasons for carrying out the tasks in front of you, instead of the macro ‘start with why’ reason.

As an analogy, ‘starting with why’ depicts having a big picture view of the entire sandy beach. By contrast ‘splicing with why’, looks at the actual ‘grains of sand’ that need to be accomplished, in order to create the entire sandy beach.

Splicing with why, holds focus, motivation. Hence communicating WHY certain actions are required for individual parts of the process. This creates engagement and speed.

My suggestion is to start with why (as the wise Simon Sinek has popularised) and then move to ‘splice with why’, to keep everyone connected to the mission real time.

Written by Dee Allan-The Gritty Girl, Speaker, Writer and Entrepreneur.

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