Start with Why,

I saw this clip this morning that I find particularly relevant to my current search for a better Architectural marketing model. In which Simon Sinek, the author of the book “Start with Why” spoke about the critical differences between those who lead by what they wish to achieve verses those who lead by what they believe.

He gave several examples in his talk describing the differences between these two modes of thinking and how it ultimately contributed to the success or failure of the business or individual he mentioned. His point was simple, if people do not understand why you do things do you, they have a much less vested interest to help you succeed or buy the product or services you offer. Monetary gain could be a desirable end result but when an individual or company is purely driven by it, they are doom to failure.

Apple believe that we should think differently, the Wrights brother believe that power flight will change the world and Martin Luthur King Jr. believe that universal justice is god’s will. Their success stem from the support of people who share the same belief which create a core level of commitment that cannot be bought otherwise.

So what is the belief of your company, why do you do what it is that you are doing? Chances are, your company have a core belief, you might not even be aware of it but you have been operating under this less than persuasive ideal for years. Struggling to define your unique position in the marketplace and a unify message for your clients when this unnamed core belief has been dragging you down all these years. Well its time to face it and figure out if it is any good.

On a practical level there are a few rules when it comes to defining your company’s belief:

1.The belief has be sharable with your target market. Ending world hunger is a noble cause but if your target market does not care about this particular issue then neither would they care about you.

2. Aspire to greater heights. Better product and services are wonderful but they do not convey a sense of purpose nor do they inspire commitment of any sort. As matter of fact in some way you are telling your client that if they can find better product or services elsewhere, that is where they should go.

3. Core belief should be simple. Concentrated juice is better juice.

4. You must remain consistent with your core belief. If you truly believe what you say you believe then let it define everything you do.

Well, lets look at an example from our own fields, the firm will remain anonymous:

“Our core belief is that the Modern paradigm is the most effective means of creating and promiting positive relationships between public and private. Individual and culture. And singular and common. Questioning conventional scenarios and processes from the basis of our design philosophy. Yet tradition is not abandoned: it is distilled for its relevant ideas,, compositions, and solutions. Combined with our ongoing interest and technology. Sustainability. And aesthetic innovation. We seek to create design that speaks to and of the aspirations of our clients”

or

“Our work reflects an enduring commitment to sustainability and the belief that design is one of the most powerful strategic tools for securing lasting competitive advantage.”

Okay both of these breaks rules 1, 2, 3 and may be even 4 and that only because they are so broad and none-specific that the architects could be peddling illicit chemicals to school children and still claim to adhere to their core belief.

It is only fair for me to put our own belief we have wrote for our start up practice EZarchitecture under the same scrutiny:

“Provides easy access to architectural solutions, we are using the internet platform for our services and also provide traditional face to face services.”

We formulated our belief from the perspective of our customer and what we thought they needed. From talking to many people the message we consistently received was a lack of understanding of what Architects do and offers. I like the first part very much, not so much the second as it is in the realm of “how”. As a matter of fact the “why” component is still a bit weak and would be stronger if we say:

“Provide easy access to architectural solutions for happy clients”

So what do you think? What is your company’s core belief? Would you be able to recite it without looking through your employee manual?