Start with Why Book Review

Start with why: how great leaders inspire everyone to take action

Penulis: Simon Sinek

Start with why book adalah buku tentang sense of purpose (memulai sesuatu harus dengan tujuan dulu). 

Sebelum baca lebih lanjut, "Mengapa kamu tertarik dengan buku ini?" Itulah sedikit contoh hasil dari aku membaca buku ini.

Aku baca buku ini karena tertarik dengan sosok Simon Sinek. Waktu itu, videonya yang bicara tentang pasangan hidup berseliweran di Instagram dan membuatku terkesan. Aku ingin tahu kalau dia sebagai bos di perusahaan itu seperti apa. Nah, kalau kamu kenapa?

Start with why quotes:

Orang tidak membeli apa yang kamu lakukan, mereka membeli mengapa (alasan) kamu melakukannya

Buku Start with Why itu sebenarnya isinya ringan dan sederhana tetapi cara menulisnya dan tampilannya (layout, font, dll) yang membuatnya berat, membosankan, dan sangat melelahkan untuk dibaca. Kalau dipadatkan pasti bisa jauh lebih pendek dari jumlah halaman aslinya. Selain itu, membacanya itu mengingatku pada sensasi membaca buku The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, alias kebanyakan contoh (contohnya berlebihan). Buatku yang nggak tertarik dengan biografi tiap-tiap orang di dunia bisnis atau sejarah detail mereka, aku tuh nggak sabar pengen langsung ke intinya/pelajarannya aja. Contohnya beberapa aja, yang paling mewakili, dan yang penting pembaca ngerti. 

Sesuai judulnya, Simon Sinek menempatkan WHY di urutan nomer 1. Apakah memang demikian? Ya itu kan pandangan dan sudut pandang dia. Nyatanya, ada buku yang mengutamakan WHAT (misalnya: What is Your What? karya Steve Olsher dan What's Your Problem? karya Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg ), WHEN (misalnya: When karya Daniel H. Pink), atau sesuatu yang tidak tercantum dengan jelas di dalam judul. Seingatku di dalam buku Think Straight (atau pokoknya buku tentang berpikir, aku lupa judulnya), itu malah haram kalau nanya why. Why itu seperti kata-kata yang menimbulkan kebuntuan dan depresi. Buku itu malah menekankan pada how atau setidaknya what. How itulah yang memicu otak kita untuk berpikir kreatif/berpikir tentang keberlimpahan hidup/mencari solusi sendiri. Tapi, buku itu juga memberikan tekniknya ya, nggak sekadar bertanya how. Di buku relationship/asmara lain lagi, ada yang menganjurkan tanya why (agar lebih mudah akrab), ada yang malah melarang keras karena dianggap terlalu intrusif/terlalu kepo.

Meskipun Start with Why adalah buku bisnis, tapi Simon Sinek sendiri mengatakan kalau prinsip ini berlaku untuk bidang apapun. Nah, apakah orang-orang itu hanya berbeda bidang atau sekadar beda tipe orang (Simon Sinek tipe orang why/visioner, sedangkan mereka tipe how/pembuat struktur dan what/pelaksana) ya nggak tahu lagi. 

Mengenai isinya, aku setuju bahwa manusia itu sebenarnya berbuat untuk dirinya sendiri. Bahkan, apa yang terlihat loyal pun itu sebenarnya palsu, lagi-lagi itu tentang keuntungan untuk dirinya sendiri. Karena di dalam Al Quran pun sudah dijelaskan kalau manusia itu kikir. 

Dan kalau untuk hasil akhirnya, aku lebih suka baca buku yang lain.

Start with Why Summary

Buku Start with Why adalah buku yang mengajarkan akan pentingnya why/tujuan di posisi pertama sebelum melakukan sesuatu. Kalau kita mengedepankan what dulu itu biayanya mahal, hanya bisa sukses jangka pendek/jangka panjang tapi nggak akan se-sukses orang yang berbisnis berdasarkan why, sulit membuat keputusan, harus terus update barang/jasa, terlalu mikirin kompetitor, serta menimbulkan transaksi tetapi tidak menyebabkan loyalitas/sense of belonging/perasaan memiliki.

Why ini juga harus diselaraskan dengan how dan what dan terus dipegang selamanya. 

Simon Sinek juga menawarkan pola hubungan antara why-how-dan what (golden circle) yang menurutnya sesuai dengan cara kerja otak serta hierarki di organisasi.

Contoh yang diberikan banyak sekali, termasuk dari kehidupan/pengalamannya sendiri. 

Buat yang ingin baca ringkasannya lebih detail, di google books/google ebook misalnya ada berbagai versi Start with Why Summary yang bisa dipilih, salah satunya berjudul Summary of Start with Why yang ditulis oleh penulis yang sama (Simon Sinek). Kamu juga bisa nyari Start with Why Summary karya Michael Hawthorne di toko lain. Atau, kalau masih belum puas ya baca versi lengkapnya aja, Start  with Why by Simon Sinek.

English version

Start with why book is a book about sense of purpose. 

Before reading further, "Why are you interested in this book?" That's a little example of the results of me reading this book.

I read this book because I was interested in Simon Sinek. At that time, his videos talking about life partners were all over Instagram and impressed me. I wanted to know what he was like as a boss in the company. So, what about you?

Start with why quotes:

People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

The Start with Why book is actually light and simple in content but the way it is written and the way it looks (layout, fonts, etc) makes it heavy, boring, and very tiring to read. If it was condensed, it would have been much shorter than the original number of pages. Also, reading it reminded me of the sensation of reading The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, aka a plethora of examples (examples are overrated). For me, who's not interested in biographies of individual people in the business world or their detailed histories, I can't wait to get to the point/lessons. Just a few examples, the most representative, and what's important for the reader to understand. 

As the title suggests, Simon Sinek puts the WHY at number 1. Is that the case? Yes, that's his view and point of view. In fact, there are books that prioritize WHAT (for example: What is Your What? by Steve Olsher and What's Your Problem? by Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg), WHEN (for example: When by Daniel H. Pink), or something that is not clearly stated in the title. I remember in the book Think Straight (or any book about thinking, I forget the title), it's even forbidden to ask why. Why is like a word that causes deadlock and depression. The book instead emphasizes how or at least what. The how is what triggers our brain to think creatively/think about the abundance of life/find its own solutions. But, the book also provides techniques, not just asking how. In other relationship/romance books, some recommend asking why (to make it easier to get along), others strictly forbid it because they are considered too intrusive/too nosy.

Although Start with Why is a business book, Simon Sinek himself says that this principle applies to any field. Now, whether those people are just different fields or just different types of people (Simon Sinek is a why/visionary type of person, while they are how/structure maker and what/executioner types), I don't know anymore. 

Regarding the content, I agree that humans actually do things for themselves. In fact, even what looks loyal is actually fake, again it's about benefitting themselves. Because even in the Quran, it has been explained that humans are miserly. 

And as for the end result, I'd rather read another book.

Start with Why Summary

Start with Why is a book that teaches the importance of why/goal in the first position before doing something. If we prioritize what first, it is expensive, can only be successful in the short/long term but will not be as successful as people who do business based on why, difficult to make decisions, have to keep updating goods/services, think too much about competitors, and generate transactions but do not cause loyalty/sense of belonging.

This why must also be aligned with the how and what and held forever. 

Simon Sinek also offers a relationship pattern between why-how-and what (golden circle) which he says is in accordance with the way the brain works and the hierarchy in the organization.

He gives a lot of examples, including from his own life/experience. 

For those who want to read the summary in more detail, on google books/google ebooks for example there are various versions of Start with Why Summary to choose from, one of which is entitled Summary of Start with Why written by the same author (Simon Sinek). You can also find Start with Why Summary by Michael Hawthorne in other stores. Or, if you're still not satisfied, just read the full version, Start with Why by Simon Sinek.