Talking about outcomes and value – Simon Sinek
by progturnaround
in Uncategorized
Sometimes words get used so much it is easy to lose sight of their true meaning. Simon Sinek wrote a brilliant book called Start With The Why*. It makes a lot of sense doesn’t it, you need to have a good view of why you’re doing something to know whether it’s worthwhile, right?
With that thought in mind, the “why” for tech programmes is often represented in a work of fiction called The Business Case. This is a document written at the start of the programme that contains a number of woolly and highly speculative objectives. It usually has a table in it somewhere with a Net Present Value calculation used to persuade some unsuspecting CFO to approve a large wedge of investment money. The document is then safely stored, and not referred to again until the Benefits Realisation Team turn up to validate that the work of fiction actually became reality. Nine times out of ten they can’t.
Start With The Why challenges the reader to think much more deeply about why they do what they do.
“Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY I mean your purpose, cause or belief – WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?
That last sentence is a killer, I mean why should any of your team or the poor souls on the receiving end of your solution actually care what you’re trying to achieve? Don’t get me wrong, a financial case is important but it is in no way sufficient. People need to be able to connect emotionally with why they are going through all the aggro that any programme requires – the hard work, the change, the uncertainty, the doubts. It is deceptively hard. Who is the customer? What do they want? How much do they want it? How do I know? The truth is you probably don’t know for sure at the start. Continual validation of the assumptions made at the beginning of the programme needs to happen throughout it.
As the man says:
"All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year."
* Simon Sinek also wrote Leaders Eat Last, a humbling but very worthwhile read for anyone who aspires to leadership. Maybe one for another article.