Book Reviews, A Man and His Bicycle

Last week I finished reading Start With Why by Simon Sinek. This book was written in 2009 – I don’t know how I hadn’t heard of it much earlier. All-in-all I enjoyed the book. It provides powerful insights that seem obvious once you read it… but based on our own behaviors and those of organizations we know, it’s not as obvious at it appears.

The gist of the book is that people are attracted to your business or organization when they believe what you (or your organization’s culture) believes, which is your WHY – your reason for doing what you do, personally or in your organization. The WHY and the WHAT are evidence of the WHY, so they need to align in order to be trusted. People who believe what you believe will resonate with your WHY. If you lead off with the WHY in your messaging, that is when you create attraction and action. When you lead with WHAT or HOW, the reaction is less intense and less likely to result in loyalty.

There are at least three areas the author identifies that can benefit from starting with your WHY:

Recruiting / hiring
Leading your organization
Selling products and services

As he says, nobody cares about WHAT you sell, they care WHY you’re selling it. That holds for ‘selling’ products and services, employment opportunities, or your company’s goals.

Overall, I think Start With Why a great book with a powerful message that can lead to profound results if properly embraced. Sinek provides a number of examples, which he touches on throughout the bool – such as Apple, Martin Luther King, and Southwest Airlines.

It seemed to me that Start With Why probably could have been distilled into 5-10 pages overall; however, the examples and nuanced repetition does help hammer home the important principles. Simon Sinek gave a TED Talk in 2009 (video below) that encapsulates the essence of his book. I recommend watching the video, regardless of whether you read the book. But I recommend reading the book too, since it has additional detail and nuance not able to be captured in a short talk.

Now I just need to capture what I’ve learned and take action, putting it to use. I already have some ideas, related to each of the three areas identified above. Have you had measurable improvements in your results from putting Start With Why into practice?

Have you ever read a book and said to yourself, “this should be required reading…for everyone!” Everything Is Figureoutable, by Marie Forleo certainly fits that description. The title itself says it all. In a nutshell, the idea is that having a belief that you can figure out anything forces you to eliminate excuses and focus on finding solutions. This applies whether you have an immediate problem, or whether you are stretching towards achieving your goals, “everything is figureoutable.”

In the first few pages, Marie describes her mother, who was constantly amazing her with the ability to solve problems that seemed not only difficult, but outside of her abilities. On one particular occasion, her mother’s favorite transistor radio broke, and Marie came home to see her mother fixing it.

“Hey, Mom, how do you know how to do so many different things that you’ve never done before, without anyone showing you how to do it?”
She put down her screwdriver, turned to me, and said, “Don’t be silly Ree. Nothing in life is that complicated. You can do whatever you set your mind to if you just roll up your sleeves, get in there, and do it. Everything is figureoutable.”
–Everything Is Figureoutable, by Marie Forleo

I absolutely loved that introduction to the phrase that became the title of this book!

There are several things that I really like about Everything Is Figureoutable. First, Marie Forleo is totally down to Earth. Her style is non-nonsense, but sincere and encouraging. She’s talking directly to you.

Second, the book follows a natural progression. It starts by providing a ‘roadmap’ to achieving results using the “everything is figureoutable” approach. Next, you’re prompted to proactively challenge your beliefs and understand that your excuses are exactly that. While numerous typical excuses are discussed, there is a whole chapter on fear, which of course is near and dear to my heart (anything to tame fear is a good thing). It then walks through defining your dream and taking the steps to make your dream become your reality, including strategies for taking the first steps, overcoming barriers, and keeping momentum.

Not only is the book a practical guide, but the author also has added actionable exercises throughout the book to help spur you to action. She has also provided some inspiring stories from others who have used the techniques to push through their own challenges.

I first read Everything Is Figureoutable by borrowing the Kindle edition from the library. Honestly, the title is what caught my attention; I’d never heard of the book before. I devoured the book, adding highlights and notes (I love the Kindle app!). Since I loved the book and plan to reference and re-read it, I bought the Kindle version for myself. Of course the added bonus is that all my notes and highlights from the borrowed version synchronized with the copy I purchased.

It was interesting to see references to other books I have recently read or have on my short list to read soon. For example, the author cites The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (I had recently purchased that book; it’s in my reading queue) and Mindset by Carol Dweck (which I borrowed and read several weeks ago, and then purchased).

In conclusion, I recommend Everything Is Figureoutable.

Category: Book Reviews

Start With Why

“Everything Is Figureoutable”