Start with why

(From a different direction)

Hi all —

This week, I’ve gotten irrationally annoyed at the strain of business “wisdom” that talks about purpose and storytelling.

You’ve probably encountered it in one of its forms:

“We need to tell the world what we stand for and against!”

“Our story is our strategy.”

“If people don’t align with our brand’s purpose, they won’t buy from us.”

“Start with why.”

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not against brands having stories or purposes.

But customers don’t really care, and spouting your company’s purpose out into the world is self-centered. Self-righteous, even.

And from a business strategy lens, it’s about as effective of a navigation tool as your religion is: it may set some general boundaries, but will never tell you how to approach customers or your competition. (And like your religion, most of your customers are a little weirded out when you talk about it all the time.)

So what should you do instead?

Instead of approaching everything - product roadmaps, marketing plans - from the starting point of your company’s purpose, choose the starting point of: “Why does the customer care?”

With that as your starting point, you immediately reframe whatever you’re working on with the context of their priorities and alternatives.

And that makes everything clearer and easier, with the added benefit of making your business work better and your evangelism feel less…religious.