Connect With Your Why

I was speaking with a client recently about their relatively new not-for-profit project and how they want to expand beyond the initial efforts to embrace a greater vision. It's a good idea for an organization that's rapidly grown from one passionate individual with a simple concept to a team of advisors, ambassadors, and industry partners spanning multiple countries and a worthy topic of discussion at this stage in the process for them.

As the conversation progressed, I could feel my client struggling with the idea of continuing to carry the project on their own shoulders... feeling like it was up to them to single-handedly chase each new engagement and secure funding for the organization while also managing the growing team.

As we explored ideas for how to expand the organization's mission beyond that initial concept and connect it to a broader ideal that could inspire others to invest their time, effort and energy, it occurred to me that something important was missing.

"There are four pieces to this magic amulet (more on Amulet Theory in a future post) but you're missing one of them." I told them. "I believe in this project because I believe in you as a person... you have a great idea and you have the passion, the experience and the reputation to be the right person to do it... so you've clearly got the 'what' and 'who' parts. Throughout our conversation, we've talked a lot about the 'how' which appears to be working great for you so far. But you are missing..." and I trailed off.

"The why." they said. "I'm missing the why."

Why The Why

The why of a thing is not just important, it's transformative... it's more than a mere justification for the who, what and how of doing a thing, it contextualizes them and gives them purpose and meaning. While an exciting what and how can generate interest in a idea and a charismatic who can draw followers and supporters to a project, a compelling why can inspire people to commit themselves and their resources to making the vision and mission their own... and carrying it far beyond what a founder could ever do on their own.

I often use the idea of a dentist's office as an analogy for how a proprietorship becomes a business... e.g. "If the dentist doesn't show up at the office, the teeth don't get fixed. Do you want to be the person drilling teeth or do you want to be the person setting the standards for what healthy and happy smiles look like?" The same is true of an intentional business or not-for-profit organization. Do you want to limit yourself to the impact that you can achieve as an individual by focusing on the what and how... or do you want to inspire a generation of people to make change in the world by giving them a why worth standing up for?

Finding the Why

It's been my experience that most people with good ideas have either not deeply considered or are not very good at speaking about the why of their projects. Maybe it's because they feel so strongly about their mission that they believe the motivation behind it should be obvious to others... or maybe they've just never examined that motivation clearly themselves. And then there are times when an idea just sounds good enough and is doable enough that no real why has ever existed beyond "because we can".

Finding the why can be a painful experience. Imagine spending years of your life and a significant portion of your personal wealth promoting an project only to realize that you have no real idea why you did it beyond "It seemed like a good idea at the time." If you don't have a well articulated and compelling why, however, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There is nothing wrong with doing the work after the fact to connect your actions to a deeper why, even if you weren't sure what it was from the start.

If you don't know why you're doing a thing, now is the time to sit down with yourself and figure it out. Your why doesn't have to be a lofty "save the world" or exciting "disrupt a critical industry"... it could be as simple as "I like watching rocket launches" or even "there's money in it." The trick here is to be honest with yourself, and your audience and potential supporters.

If you want people to be inspired by and commit their resources to your project, as well as maintain your own passion for it, you need to be able to give them and yourself that compelling why.

A Word About Vision and Mission

Organizations create vision and mission statements to provide direction, inspiration, focus and a framework for decision-making... they are designed to make sure that everyone involved in the business is aligned in their values and objectives and working together toward a common goal. But they don't always capture the real why of a thing.

I have seen more than a handful of such statements crafted by committee with the sole intent of stroking the egos of shareholders and investors. I've also seen a few where founders were, whether deliberately or not, simply making up a why because they felt they had to... effectively lying to their teams, their customers and even themselves.

But I've also seen people capture the true essence of their why in such pure and simple terms that the truth and beauty of their ideals became guiding principles for their leadership teams, employees and supporters... and even their customers. In doing so, they not only created impact far beyond what they could have accomplished alone, but also gave purpose and meaning to the lives of those who were inspired by them.

In Summary

The why of your project, while it may be difficult to identify and explain to people, is the single most impactful element of your story. If you are seeking investment, support or just the strength to carry on for another day, connecting your efforts to your why may be the piece you're missing. Take the time to find it and learn how to share it.