INTRODUCTION
For all the stages and circumstances of life that imply a high degree of complexity, the human being requires a guideline that allows him to undertake any type of yearning that he intends to carry out. This guideline can be found more often than not in the person or people who, through their example, teach us that it is really possible to achieve what one hopes to achieve.
These characters motivate us and place us very close to our objective in which through their experiences and knowledge we can verify that life is not a matter of miracles, with some exceptions, life in its broadest representation is based on having the availability to learn, digest, transform and apply in our own lives and under our own circumstances, the knowledge that other great characters have managed to experience within themselves and their environment.
When it comes to practicing a religion, we all have great exponents who guide, incite, and motivate us to embark on the esoteric path of our liking. The same thing happens when practicing a sport, there is a star player that we want to imitate and achieve the same feats that he has accomplished, be it a Roger Federer in tennis, a Garri Kasparov in chess or a Michael Phelps in swimming. But what happens to the business world, who or from whom we are inspired and based when starting or running a company?
What is precisely intended when presenting and publicizing Golden Circle is to investigate and reflect on the way in which great CEOs and Business Management characters have managed to implement within the business environment, the most effective way to transmit the main idea to colleagues, collaborators, clients, etc., generating and obtaining results of greater benefit for all involved.
Through this article it will be possible to analyze the way and procedure that a large number of companies that have obtained global success and solvency have had for many decades, but also the main causes and actions that promote and contribute to failure, stagnation, and retrogression, in relation to the prosperity to which it is called and must have every organization for its own benefit and that of its environment.
SIMON SINEK
Golden Circle, translated into our language as the Golden Circle, arises thanks to the work and research carried out by the English writer and motivator Simon Sinek. Who, upon detecting the main deficiencies and deficiencies of the systems and business models developed up to that time, set out to build and develop a different method that would allow the entrepreneur and his work team to be soaked and positively influenced.
In 2009, Sinek presented a conference at TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) regarding what really inspires true leaders. Under the title of “How great leaders inspire action” it became the third highest rated TED conference, seven years later it has been played by 25 million people worldwide.
For October of the same year, Sinek published his first book "Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action" in which he develops and introduces for the first time the idea of Golden Circle, a biological pattern that in his words explains why some thinkers, organizations and especially leaders inspire us, and why others fail to do so.
In 2010, she joined Rand, as a consultant in innovation and military planning. Later she moved to New York to transmit her knowledge in Strategic Communication to Columbia University.
THE THREE ELEMENTS THAT INTEGRATE GOLDEN CIRCLE
For a long time and based on the imitation that is established between one company and another, the organizational operating system had and continues to be for many companies to have the solution to a simple question: "What?", What we have done, what is being done and what is intended to be done. In other words, its past, present and future revolves around answering this question. Once answered and satisfied, everything is considered to be well and in progress.
What are you doing? Sending an email, capturing electronic information, inserting inputs to the machinery, etc. Very good! They are working, they are doing something, they are even carrying out activities for which they were hired. At first glance everything seems to go in order and under schedule, so what is the problem? Why is it that with the passing of time there start to be negative results, if your activities continue to be carried out regularly and constantly?
A very small number of leaders in some other organizations go beyond the “What” to carry out the activities, expand and merge their scope to a “How”. That is, they include what you are doing and how you are doing it. Are all activities actually done in the proper way? If the answer were affirmative, there should be no reason for errors or mistakes to be made later. The high level of deficiency in companies confirms that indeed, the "How" is falling short and limited. The functions are not performed as expected, the results are not as planned and projected.
The impact that products and services generate on the client is not entirely positive, sales levels are low despite promoting the greatest possible attention in the "How", developing products of the highest quality and at a competitive price within the market. Something is still missing and precisely Golden Circle of Sinek has one more element to better serve and meet global needs and expectations. It is the "Why".
Detect the Why? each activity is carried out, understood as the raison d'être of the company and the potential it has for its innovation. Answering this question, the panorama, the area of opportunity and the way of facing events is totally different. It achieves a 360 ° turn in conventional and traditionalist business models.
A SIMPLE "WHY" THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
Normally, companies, institutions and even the same people in carrying out our activities usually start with the "What" in a few cases we give continuity to the "How" and we have practically forgotten the "Why". In a regular sales speech, its development can be seen as follows:
“I am Néstor Iván, currently I have a grocery business and right now I have an excellent offer in the area of detergents, to be exact from the“ Arco Iris ”brand in presentations of 1 kg and up to 9 kg, they are of different aromas and ingredients etc, etc, etc… ”
As can be seen, sales are made from technical aspects or "hard" and concise data. Data and more data are used to rationalize and contextualize a sale, but they are totally distanced from being able to generate any emotion. Finally, what is it that encourages us -within the role of consumer- to make a purchase, we can assure that it has a great deal to do with luck, mathematics, etc. It really costs a lot to differentiate ourselves when technically we are very similar to the competition.
With the message that Simon Sinek transmits, we can show that the way in which great leaders and executives like Martin Luther King, Larry Page (Google), or great salesmen like Steve Jobs communicate, is just the opposite of how we have used.
These characters begin by speaking and communicating with the "Why or for what" and then, and if necessary, they talk about the "How" or their "What". In other words, they first focus on what makes you do what you do? Why do you do it? What do you believe in and how do you understand the world to offer what you sell? If you can communicate these kinds of emotions first, you can directly connect with the emotions of people who think like us.
These types of people who think like us, are exactly the clients, collaborators or market that interests us to integrate and join forces within the same team. Because these will be people who move for the same goals and interests as us. For example, how does Apple or Steve Jobs communicate? Your message has clearly defined its basis:
"We believe that you can change today's world, you can make a world much easier, simpler and beautiful. That is why we create products that are very easy to use, excellently designed and very simple. We simply make great products that will change your life. ”
It can be clearly identified that the market segment to which the message is addressed is to people who love design and simplicity, while a person who has computer knowledge, who intends to modify and understand the product, will prefer other brands such as Android. Where is the key finally found? In being able to connect with people who believe the same as us. That should be the banner both when selling and when forming a competitive, motivated and creative team.
EMOTIONS: WHAT REALLY DETERMINES BEHAVIOR
Studies confirm that we actually feel first and then decide. Our behavior is intimately related and determined by our "emotional brain", better known as the limbic system, which, lacking the capacity for language, gives a credible explanation to our emotions through language and our "rational brain ”(Neocortex).
In this way, it is how we rationally justify, for example, buying an Apple product for its great screen, for its Apps, for its lightness and beauty, etc. But the reality is that we buy it because of the tremendous emotion it generates and provokes in us.
The only and absolute reality is that it is the emotions that govern our behavior in the vast majority of situations. Therefore, by first communicating the why of our emotions, we will be able to stoke those same types of emotions in which they commune and are in tune with us.
People don't buy the "What" you do, people buy the "What for" you do it. This is how other people are really moved to awaken their inner motivation for the sake of doing things for themselves and not for someone else. But they will believe in the same as us and will continue to be with us, since they were not forced to do anything, they simply found people with the same way of thinking and conceiving reality.
LOYALTY
Most of the people and companies that base their sales on making known and transmitting the "What" of their products and services, although their sales are high and effective, they find it difficult to generate and raise a loyalty or sense of belonging by customers towards the organization.
This is because they are satisfying their rational and present needs through the product, but the impact on the feelings and emotions that it should generate for the consumer is left blank. At the first opportunity that arises, the client will stop buying from us and go to the competitor's business for the most simple and insignificant detail.
On many occasions we have heard the phrase "What is required is what you must be willing to give." If we ask for loyalty, we must give loyalty to our customers. Without a doubt, the easiest or least complicated way to achieve it is doing what we like and what we really believe in. It is the only way to stay as long as possible on the path of loyalty.
When we really tell the client - by means of a clear and convincing message - the "Why" we do things, without lies or deception, people who are attracted to this "Why" will generate loyalty to themselves of what What are they. That fidelity and loyalty, being the same one that the company professes, will generate a strong bond that will unite them despite adversities.
The client, collaborator and work team will be part of the organization because it is what they believe in and what they are, they will not be manipulated by anyone, because the way of thinking and being they have is the same as the organization. practice and encourage. "I feel" is what really encourages the purchase "I feel that it is good" "I feel that it will turn out good", etc. When it is possible to really impact this emotional part and feelings, which are manifested in the stomach and heart, respectively, the person will do things for himself and does not follow anyone else.
The individual will have a clear conviction of "Why" is performing this or that activity or function. The choice to make the purchase will not be left to chance or weather in a highly competitive and similar market between each of its suppliers. There will be a reason for being and existing, everything will have an explanation, a "Why" of things, it will walk in the same direction and with beneficial results for the participants.
THE REAL INNOVATION
Innovation is today one of the most talked about themes. Everyone wants to find it, develop it and enjoy its benefits. But what is innovation? And how is it generated?
"True innovation changes the course of industries or even society" Simon Sinek (2009).
A common mistake when talking about innovation is to confuse this term with that of novelty. Something new does not mean that it is innovative. This confusion arose from the way in which different companies have used the concepts without any distinction.
Innovation is characterized by a certain action or event that completely changes the structure when doing a certain thing. Unlike innovation, with innovation a new concept of reality is drawn, modifying the course and the way of proceeding. For its part, the novelty is distinguished by adding strength and knowledge to something already existing but with an additional plus, where it will have the same bases and foundations but with a different way of proceeding.
INNOVATION IN THE APPLE COMPANY
Apple for two consecutive years (20011-20012) has been the most innovative company in the world, being in the top 5 of the ranking according to information from FastCompany.com. But how has the association of innovation been to occupy the top positions for practically a whole decade.
Its technological revolution began in 2007, when Apple created and launched its first iPhone with the slogan "" Apple reinvents the phone ". This first iPhone changed the structure of mobile telephony for two reasons:
- First. It was the first cell phone to leave the buttons behind to make way for a screen with touch capabilities and "multitouch" functions, on which Apple owns the patent. The Appstore or Playstore, the creation of an e-commerce store to buy and download applications for said device.
For 2010, Apple decided to launch the iPhone 4 with the slogan "This changes everything… again". Being its main distinctive feature, the retina screen (high number of pixels for the best visualization of images), making it impossible for the human eye to differentiate photographic deficiencies.
This is how it can be distinguished that the first iPhone with its multitouch screen and its Appstore completely changed the mobile phone industry and redesigned the concept of cell phones within our culture, making it a true innovation. On the other hand, the iPhone 4, with the adhesion of the retina screen, only added one more feature to the concept created by the iPhone 1. In other words, the iPhone 4 was a novelty that did not change the structure implanted by the first iPhone at all.
In subsequent years, new products have continued to be launched, such as the iPhone 4S and the variety of Galaxy that continue to incorporate new products. They add characteristics that make it more desirable and encourage its purchase, being reflected in the degree of acceptance and sales that it generates. It can be seen that the novelties have a short-term duration since they are easily matched or exceeded by competing companies as opposed to innovation.
This is why the precursor claims that:
"The novelty can generate sales but its impact does not last." Simon Sinek (2009).
The way in which the three elements are combined in Golden Circle is as follows:
We believe in challenging the status quo in everything we do. We believe in thinking differently (WHY). The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products user friendly and beautifully designed (HOW). We manufacture computers, music players, cell phones, software and e-commerce stores (WHAT).
MARTIN LUTHER KING
As you can see, Golden Circle has different environments and circumstances to put it into practice. In most of the times, the way in which the CEOs and representatives of an organization transmit the ideas to their team is exemplified. This does not imply that there are no other situations to put Golden Circle into action and that a different way of impacting the receiver is sought.
Martin Luther King, is one of the most admired personalities in the history of the United States, served as the American pastor of the Baptist Church and focused on developing crucial work in the civil rights of African-American people. His main tasks were fighting out of non-violence for the civil rights of African-Americans, participating in numerous protests against the Vietnam War and poverty in all its contexts.
THE MARCH IN WASHINGTON
Martin Luther King represented one of the six great organizations that developed the march on Washington promoting work and freedom. The march raised specific demands:
- End racial segregation in public education. Civil rights legislation that ends racial discrimination in the workplace. Protection of activists from police violence. Minimum wage for workers without distinction. Independent government. for Washington.
The march was a complete success in what was the largest demonstration to have taken place in the American capital. On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people of all ethnicities gathered in front of the United States Capitol. Being Martin Luther King's speech "I have a dream" the one that would go down in history being considered one of the best in American history, in which he expressed his will and his hope of knowing a fraternal America.
"I have a dream" is the clearest example of "Why" so essential when trying to convey an idea. At all times Luther King focused on transmitting and impacting each of the people through the "Why" they were meeting that August 28, he forgot to detail and specify the "How" and "What" that would have been become boring, tired and difficult to interpret by a large majority of citizens.
The rolling of tears in Luther King, connotes the veracity in each of his words and the situation that both he and all those gathered there were living. Any word and idea that tries to impact must be transmitted with sincerity and a high degree of truthfulness, it must externalize what is really happening, it must invite a change or transformation (not to believe that things are well, not to settle) to fight for what is really best, never give up, but always on the path of non-violence and above all with the help and through the mediation of a supreme being to us, where the rights and guarantees of all are safeguarded and without any distinction.
CONCLUSION
With the high levels of production and manufacturing to which most organizations are subject, only a few of these have stopped to really analyze "What" is what moves them. The exorbitant feeling that profits generate in the minds of managers and corporations permeates and impacts each and every one of the people who make up the organization.
What someone is taught is what they will learn and when they are lied to, at some point the truth will emerge. The collaborators do not want to give away even one more minute within the organization, they look forward to his departure and not set foot in the organization until the next day. No one is willing to give a penny for the benefit of someone else. The managers, by not investing and being equitable with fair wages, the only thing they get from their collaborators is a poor job, a constant flow of personnel, financial thefts, materials and products, etc.
The "What" is intimately linked with the "How much". The CEO is only interested in knowing how much profit a certain investment implies for the company. For his part, the collaborator is only interested in knowing how much he is going to earn for doing his job. Regarding the circle that is established internally in the company, it is what is projected abroad, towards customers, suppliers, government, society, etc.
The interests of each part revolve around a simple aspect: getting money, what I want it for, I don't know, I only know that I need it to be happy and to be able to make those around me happy, to be successful and to be a different person from the rest. Will this be true, really everything must revolve around money. Everyone is looking for a way to obtain economic benefits from the organization, customers, society, suppliers and not to mention the government. It seems that the situation goes beyond the perspective that we have as individuals of life.
As it was evident, Golden Circle proposes to find an explanation in the reason of being that each situation and each action has from the recognition of each aspect in our interior. It motivates us to find within ourselves what really moves us, what really constitutes us and directs us to do things better and better each time.
To tell the truth, I realize how difficult it is to discover “Why” when I ask myself the question. As insipid as the answer sounds, I consider that everything I do is because I seek happiness, and I realize the serious mistake that I have made all this time since happiness is not a state that can be achieved in the future, happiness it is lived in every moment and with every action within the limits of our possibilities and circumstances.
The future is totally uncertain, we cannot expect the results to come tomorrow, we must live, feel and experience the results today. We must know why we are doing things today. Talking to people about tomorrow is very trivial, it is essential to know why the actions we live today will allow us to rest easy tomorrow.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- From why to what in Innovation. (sf). Retrieved on March 26, 2017, from: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2308614Gonzalez, LF (July 12, 2013). Simon Sinek -TED- Golden Circle. Retrieved on March 2017, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4VO4Lt1fqIJimenez, G. (October 16, 2015). Start with Why. The first step to find passion. Jiménez, MS (June 17, 2014). How to sell more and motivate your people, all in one. Retrieved on March 26, 2017, from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140617094826-66481264-el-c%C3%ADrculo-de-oro-c%C3%B3mo-vender-m%C3% A1s-and-motivate-your-people-all-in-one Quijano, G. (January 18, 2015). The Golden Circle. Retrieved on March 26, 2017, from Discover Why They Follow Leaders: https: //www.marketingyfinanzas.net / 2015/01 / the-circle-of-gold-discover-why-they-follow-the-leaders / Terol, A. (October 18, 2014). Simon Sinek's "Golden Circle". Retrieved on March 26, 2017, from:
Latin phrase, which translates as "state of the current moment", which refers to the global state of an issue at a given moment. According to the RAE.
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