The importance of WHY

Saturday, February 11, 2012The importance of WHY

Many of you have surely seen this presentation by Simon Sinek http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html.  He very eloquently – with to help of  three circles outlines how important it is - not to start with the What (what is being offered – the outer circle) or with How this has been achived – but make it clear for ourselves and then for our audience Why we are doing what we are doing. I definitively recommend watching  and rewatching the video.

This Why often addresses good-for-society-at-large issues. Idealism of this sort will invariably bring both the needed passion to new levels, attract resources who have stronger drivers than money alone and makes the whole thing attractive for those that should buy in. It is not only a pure procurement matter – but something with a deeper meaning.

So when we applied this to the 5th stage of the Real Time Economy project we are running here in Finland we came up with the following:

Why are we running the program?

1.  Better competitivity for enterprises (better service, lower costs, easier control)

2. More efficient and better-serving public sectors (lower tax pressure brings new jobs)

3. Better jobs (less routine – more value add – better paid)

4. Harmonizing EU to create a true Single Market – VAT-reporting and collection in focus

5. Better tax collection – efficient, just and less fraud-prone

6. Lower CO2 emissions – net saving of 300g compared to paper based transaction

My own experience is that this kind of approach – in e-banking, mobile communications (connecting people..), in e-business solutions (reusing e-banking and payment tools in e-business for e-id, e-invoicing etc,) has brought in a much better business case than expected.

Simon Sinek says it all eloquently