Several years ago (March of 2014),
my place of employment engaged in an institution-wide exercise of creating a “Why
Statement.” The
City Manager at the time had everyone read a book by Simon Sinek called Start with Why. He then asked a group of us to come up with a statement utilizing input from a cross-section of employees in our organization.
A “Why Statement” is not a mission statement or a goal statement or a list of
common strategies, it is a statement that, according to Sinek, encompasses “a single
purpose, cause or belief that serves as the unifying, driving and inspiring
force for any individual or organization.”
It’s the thing that gets you out of bed in the morning and keeps you
going. Sinek argues that having a “Why” is the only way to maintain lasting
success and to be open to innovative ideas and to be flexible.
Sinek, like Susan Peirce Thompson (“SPT”),
uses behavioral science to support his analysis. He teaches that the neocortex
portion of our brains is where rational and analytical thought process comes
from. A human’s capacity for language
and communication skills is nestled in the neocortex. Sinek says that it’s easy for us to
articulate “what” we do because it is associated with the neocortex, but articulating
“why” we do something is difficult because it comes from a place in our brains,
the limbic brain, which has no capacity for language. The limbic brain is where gut feelings come
from. It is responsible for that feeling
we get when we know instinctively whether something is right or wrong, but
can’t explain why we think so. “WHY” reaches the limbic brain, the part of your
brain responsible for feelings such as trust and loyalty. The limbic brain is what makes you feel warm
and fuzzy, and it is also responsible for behavior and decision making, but it’s
difficult to articulate.
After much consternation (and way
too many meetings), we came up with the following “Why Statement”:
“We believe a strong community embraces diversity,
promotes innovation, and encourages collaboration. We strive to lead by
example within the region. We do this because we want everyone to choose Troy
as their community for life. We believe in doing government the best.”[1]
So, two weeks into this BLE program
I’ve been thinking about and people have been asking me “why” I’m doing this. I
can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “Wait, what… you don’t eat sugar,
like no sugar at all? But you LOVE chocolate.”
Or “Wait, what… you don’t drink alcohol anymore? What happened? Did you pick up DUI?” Sure, I can tick off any number of reasons
I’m doing this:
To be healthy
Hopefully to live longer
To see if my back will improve
To have more energy
To have a better overall mood
To look good in clothes
To wear a bathing suit without covering
up
So I don’t cringe when I see myself
in photographs
These are all fine reasons to lose
weight, but they’re not really a “reason to get out of bed every morning.” And
I’m not sure these reasons will sustain me when the going eventually gets tough
or when I (*hopefully*) get to a maintenance phase. These reasons don’t really define
a purpose, cause or belief. I write this entry not because I’m faltering or
planning to give up, I’m still 100% all in, but I think it’s important to explore
the why behind my desire to lose weight. I haven't quite made it there yet, so I'm asking you...
What is your why? How do you answer
the question, “Wait, what… why?”
[1] Understandably,
the City’s administrative leaders and Council
abandoned the City’s “Why Statement” last year after the city manager was
ousted in utter disgrace for assaulting his girlfriend and then convicted of
federal charges for soliciting bribes. I think I was the ONLY person in the
building who was somewhat sad to see the Why Statement eviscerated, not because
of any loyalty or allegiance to the former city manager (obviously), but having
been part of the team invested in finalizing the Why Statement, I was kind of
attached to it. But I digress…
No comments:
Post a Comment