Often the first step towards achieving an ambitious business goal begins with asking…”How can we…? For example, “How can we double our revenue in the next three years?”, “How can we disrupt this category?”, “How can we improve engagement?”, “How can we improve our margins?” The answer to these questions begins with…”You need a plan man.” But not just any plan. A plan that combines the emotional, creative-rational and operational content that moves people to act.
In Simon Sinek’s ground-breaking 2009 book entitled, “Start With Why”, he revealed a model, a pattern he observed time and again and was at the heart of what motivated consumers to act. He called his model the Golden Circle. Sinek shared what marketers had known for decades, that people are motivated by both emotional and rational appeals. The difference Sinek brought to this well-known marketing approach was in the complete simplification of what drives engagement. Sinek grocked the psychology of engagement with three simple words; Why, How and What.
Sinek’s Golden Circle put the emotional first in the form of purpose, or what he called “The Why”. This inner circle represents people’s motives and purposes. The next concentric circle he called “The How” representing people’s processes. The final outer circle he called the “The What” which corresponds to results and outcomes.
Using this model, Sinek argued that to create compelling communications and the engagement of consumers, companies and brands should begin with the “Why” not the “What”. By doing so, we connect people to the deeper meaning behind products verses showering them with features and benefits whose ultimate purpose is left behind.
Similarly, if we approach planning to achieve desired outcomes, we will have greater success if our planning includes answering “Why” first, followed by “How”, followed by “What”. In the case of Sinek’s Golden Circle, it’s all about engaging people to act. Likewise, in order to achieve business goals you need more than strategy and direction. You need people to feel compelled to act. And the bigger your goals, the harder it may be for people to overcome their natural resistance to change, their aversion to risk and their fear of potential failure.
By planning your Why, How and What, you will have the essential elements required to create a compelling story that appeals to the hearts and minds of your people. Those same people without which your strategy will go nowhere.
Here’s how it works…
WHY = EMOTIONAL
Make your first step in planning to address the emotional needs of people to be grounded in a compelling purpose. As such, your first planning efforts should define your purpose beyond profit and the impact you desire to leave behind. Thus, before you even create a strategy or define a tactic, your plan will be grounded in a deeper meaning that can compel people to engage and to act. Here are a three examples examples that help to clarify the emotional connection to purpose. One example is for a hypothetical pharmaceutical company called “Molecula”, another for a potential consumer foods company called “Wallbridge” and the third is for an imaginary technology company called “Acme”.
For example, the pharmaceutical company, Molecula, may define their purpose as increasing the length and quality of life. They may define the impact they want to leave behind as millions of people living longer more fulfilling lives.
Wallbridge, consumer foods company, may define their purpose as “Healthier choices for a healthier planet.” They in turn may define the impact they want to leave behind as a greener planet for future generations.
The technology company, Acme, may define their purpose as “Giving people time back with their loved ones.”, while the impact they desire to leave behind is a higher quality of life for more people everywhere. You get the gist. It’s about translating business goals into meaningful humane objectives that connect with our emotions.
HOW = CREATIVE-RATIONAL
Once you have a clear purpose and desired impact, you can begin to design the “How”. This is the creative-rational portion of planning. This is the type of planning most people are familiar with when they think of strategy and/or strategic planning. Through analysis of the current situation, historical data and potential future scenarios, you can develop creative strategies that will in turn drive the direction of action towards achieving your business goals. Your creative strategies are specific choices you make that point the action of people in a certain direction. Let’s take a look at a few examples using the same three company types we used for purpose and impact.
For example, the pharmaceutical company Molecula’s strategy may include “Investing in Cancer research that can yield new therapeutic treatments for skin and bladder cancers” This clearly delineates a choice to pursue a specific category of disease in fulfillment of its purpose.
The consumer goods company Wallbridge’s strategy may state its choice and intention to change eating habits for children by “Focusing investments on healthy breakfast foods for children”.
While the technology company Acme’s strategic choice may include “Developing new software that simplifies bill paying.” All three examples clearly state a rational choice that will drive specific outcomes that align with each company’s purpose.
WHAT = OPERATIONAL
At this point, your plan leverages the emotional and rational levers required to appeal to people’s need for meaning that touches their heart and makes sense to their mind. Now it’s time to map out the work streams required to execute your strategy. This stage of planning is all about articulating “What” needs to occur by “When” to fulfill strategy and achieve goals. This part of planning is most often associated with the articulation of tactics and the allotment of resources to where action needs to occur.
FROM PLANNING STRATEGY TO INSPIRING ACTION
With the first two pieces of planning mentioned thus far (Emotional and Creative-rational), you have the elements required to tell a contextually inspiring narrative that will enhance engagement and commitment as you request action for the operations portion of your plan. Let’s take a look at what this narrative or story may sound like for each of the three company examples we have shared thus far.
Molecula: A Hypothetical Pharmaceutical Company
Our purpose is to increase people’s life expectance, quality of life and access to new treatments. As we pursue our purpose, we will increase the life expectance and quality of life of 40 million people by 2026 while providing access to new treatments for Cancer to an additional 5 million people.
To achieve this, we will be doubling our investment in Cancer research focused on Skin and Bladder Cancers. We will double our sales force in North America and we will partner with no less than two multi-national brands a year to provide their products to the Middle East and Africa for the first time.
We are making a difference people can measure in years!
Wallbridge: A Potential Consumer Goods Company
At Wallbridge we wake up each and every day to create and deliver healthier food choices to people everywhere. We are focused on making our planet healthier. As we pursue our purpose we will provide access to healthier food options to 100 million children around the globe, while doing so with new packaging that leaves no new carbon footprint, leaving behind a greener plant for future generations.
To achieve this, we will focus $50 million dollars of new investment in the development of healthy breakfast foods for children. We will double our distribution of our children’s food products in Asia while re-tooling all of our packaging facilities to be carbon neutral by 2026.
We are making a difference in the health of the world’s next generation!
Acme: An Imaginary Technology Company
Although we create and develop software, the real reason we exist as a company is to give people time back with their loved ones. In doing so, we desire to impact people’s quality of life everywhere around the globe.
As we are guided by our deeper purpose, we will disrupt existing banking models to develop and launch new software that simplifies bill paying for North America and Europe by 2026. We will expand the reach of our existing groceries buying platform by creating new versions in six new languages that will allow for release in Asia and the Middle East by 2025.
We are giving people time back to spend with their families because that’s where the love is!
These narratives can be used by leadership to motivate and inspire their people to commit their hearts and minds to operationalizing strategies in their action plans, not just complying with financial targets. These narratives as stories make the reason why you do what you do clear and compelling, while connecting exactly how you will do it in language that is easy to communicate, understand and share.
CONCLUSION
Positive change begins with a desire to fix something that is not working or an aspiration for an imagined future different than today. In business, these changes begin in the form of questions about what it will take to do something, overcome something, or achieve something. The answer to these questions should always begin with a plan. But not just any plan. A plan that will inspire commitment and elicit action by appealing to people’s hearts and minds. Humans require more than financial goals to motivate and inspire their action and their desire to overcome resistance to change and aversion to perceived risk. Developing your planning to include answers to the question “Why” and defines purpose and impact for your company and brand is covering the emotional aspect of planning, connection and engagement. Additionally, developing the creative-rational aspect of planning will then connect the specific strategic choices your company is taking to fulfill its purpose, providing a compelling story that can motivate people and inspire action. Finally, as you enter the operational aspect of planning to clearly define who does what by when, people will take action feeling more meaning and connection with the role their work has in not only achieving financial targets but helping to fulfill your company’s deeper purpose.
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