Founders at Work from Jessica Livingston
Start with Why from Simon Sinek
Both are awesome books if you are starting a startup!

Think about the 'why' of your question. What is the goal that written communication will solve for your team, in your view?

This has two benefits: one, it challenges your own thinking (perhaps the underlying issue could be solved in a different way, which might be more successful); two, it gives you justification which you can use to persuade your team members.

See: Simon Sinek's "Start With Why". Additionally, I've found the "Hands-on Agile" Slack group to be a great community resource for this type of team-focused Q&A.

I mean, the title of the book is Start With Why. The thesis, I suppose, is "Starting with why yields better products / results than not."

1. 10% Happier

2. Traction

3. Unshakable

4. Shoe Dog (This has been my favorite book thus far of 2017, I did not think it would of left such a lasting impression on me about life and success and business)

5. Start with Why

6. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck

I remember listening to Start with Why, where the author proposes an example ad for Apple that starts with why:

> Let's look at that Apple example again and rewrite the example in the order Apple actually communicates. This time, the example starts with WHY.

> Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently.

>The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly.

> And we happen to make great computers.

> Wanna buy one?

Or, in another paragraph:

> People with Apple laptop computers, for example, love opening them up while sitting in an airport. They like that everyone knows they are using a Mac. It's an emblem, a symbol of who they are. That glowing Apple logo speaks to something about them and how they see the world. Does anyone notice when someone pops open the lid of their HP or Dell computer? No! Not even the people using the computers care.

I don't know. Maybe it's good for marketers. But for anyone who isn't interested in tribalism, groupthink or status symbols, the book is bewilderingly shallow.

I figured out six years ago that my current situation was pretty messed up business wise. I bailed out of the company while it was actually taking off, used 5 years to heal myself working alone in the beginning and then building a consultancy. During (and before) I read all kind of business and self help books, like 7 habits.. 4 hour work week, etc. They all helped me move in a better direction, but it was not until I read Simon Sinek's "Start with why" that helped me understand what is most important to me and how I conduct my business.

1) Shoe Dog - Phil Knight

2) The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

3) Start with Why - Simon Sinek

I think that 'good' businesses, or at least 'good' senior execs, care about more than the bottom line. Note that they still care about the bottom line because, hey, they have to make payroll.

But there are businesses out there that care about more than the bottom line.

'Good To Great' and 'Start With Why' are good books that document such businesses.

A much faster way to understand the central message of "Start with Why" would be to watch the TEDx talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

Is the book worth reading, in addition? I see very mixed reviews.

The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman

Start with Why by Simon Sinek

Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness

Game Changers by Dave Asprey

Shoe Dog

Read the book, the power of habit. Here's a few other books I recommend:

1. The Unicorn Project
2. Measure What Matters
3. Start With Why
4. Project to Product
5. Accelerate

Books I bought in 2019

1) Creativity Inc

2) Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice

3) Start With Why

4) Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love

5) The Hard Thing about Hard Thing: Building a Business When There are No Easy Answers

I only managed to finish ~50% of my planned reading in 2019

>> The idea of just quitting books that you enjoy is really important...

Frankly, even though I did mention it in the article, I'm honestly still really struggling with this concept. Like, I literally feel guilty about dropping a book so I always try to push through as much as possible.

But hell, I started reading "Start with WHY" and I just had to drop that crap ... Like, just ... no, LOL.

>> Sometimes a great book only clicks when you’re 1/4 of the way through it, though

Oh yeah! I had this with 11/22/63. Like, first 15% were amazing, then like 70% was pure boredom and holy crap, the last 15% was like ... FUUUUUUUUU. Made everything before that ABSOLUTELY worth it!

So, absolutely agreed - sometimes you just have to preserve!

Leadership skills.

Whether or not you need them today or not, whether you want to be in a leadership role soon or not, they are essential for anyone seeking to progress and you can’t start too soon.

There are many many ways to approach this and I’ll just offer two book titles that I believe would be beneficial.

1. Start with Why
2. Extreme Ownership

I'm currently nearing the end of David Marquet's "Turn The Ship Around" [1]. The author talks about this same point in his book. One of the points he makes is that different people will get the message at different stages. So repeating it and being consistent are important. As far as I remember, Simon Sinek goes through the same idea in his "Start With Why".

By the way, "Turn the Ship Around" is a great book, and pretty easy to read.

[1] http://www.davidmarquet.com/

I struggled with motivation for many years, primarily because I did not know who I was and what I wanted.

I read books like "Drive, the surprising thruth about what motivates us" and many more, but it was not until I read "start with why" by Simon Sinek I understood my "why" and finally became truly internal motivated.

Now I am more motivated than I have time and energy, but luckily I also have a guidance tool that helps me put energy into stuff that fuels me more.

"Start with Why", by Simon Sinek.

Everything from leadership to how your mission needs to speak to people's reptilian brain first, because that's how people ultimately make their decisions.

It helped me think about the deep motivations that should drive me to build a successful company. Apart from making money. And all the benefits that comes with thinking from Why, to How and then to What.

It was an eye-opener for me. And it's full of real-world stories to really make you understand his points.

I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Simon Sinek himself, on Audible.

Their pitch is a work of beauty, but it doesn't tell me much about what they actually do. It's definitely the most memorable ad I've ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyYyKRiJR4M

They learned well from Simon Sinek's Start with Why, but I'm afraid they jumped the shark: it comes off as trying too hard to inspire.

Honestly, I started w/ my pain. What caused me to struggle the most often goes against my core values. It wasn't until I sat and jot down "why" my recent problems escalated so quickly and had a greater negative impact. Often my new problems were mirroring old problems. It was then that I realized my beliefs. This is where I stood during adversity. What I was willing to fight to protect and nurture. It's why I'm willing to stop every bad habit just so I don't become its bottleneck. It's my compass for every decision. Your passion has a direct correlation to your pain. Start w/ your pain, verbalize it instead of being reactive. Once you know the words at least you can go to thesaurus.com and use the antonyms as a start to explore your passion ;-) Good luck and much joy to ya!

Also, passion isn't just a burst of energy, excitement or full of woo-woo emotions. It's strategic, empathetic, intelligent, loving, strong, and actionable. Plus reading/listening to Start with Why is helpful AF! Much success to you on your journey!

resource: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17447384-start-with-why

Start with Why by Simon Sinek very much changed how I thought on a daily basis.

Well, I can't seem to do anything without a login, so that is a big flaw.

The home page is very poorly laid out. Your logo is WAY too huge, and you don't do a very good job explaining what you do.

'At The Healthful Source ®, we believe disclosure is what it will take to make a difference' - looks like you took a page out of Simon Sinek's Start With Why, but unfortunately you didn't tie the why into what you actually do. What does disclosure have to do with clean air?

You've got a good domain name, but that's it as far as I can tell.

Sorry if that's harsh, but you haven't shown us anything here.

Here's a TED talk by Sinek on the concept (it turned into a book, Start With Why, and now a set of courses, etc.)

It's a simple but powerful concept - one of those you should revisit on a regular basis to test your beliefs and the difference you want to make at work, in your society, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA&vl=en

When my company was faced with a sudden 40% drop in revenue I saw a way to make a turnaround in "from worst to first" by Gordon Bethune, a book about a $400m turnaround done in 12 months : http://www.amazon.com/From-Worst-First-Continentals-Remarkab...

After getting out on top after my turnaround, Simon Sinek's "Start with why" helped me figure out why I am running my business the way I am, and how I can use that to do even better : http://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/...

What I would do in your situation is start with reading books. If you’re not into reading, try Audible.

What you mention feels in line with the book Start with Why by Simon Sinek.

Hey, I am around the same age as you and in the process of establishing my own business. Despite the fact that that you have a lot of ideas, What is your basis for creating these? why not start with something your passionate about? That is the difference between a brand and just a regular company. Just my 2 cents. If you have time check out the book, Start With Why, by Simon Sinek.

There's nothing "pessimistic" about thinking that a "shared purpose" is required. (I couldn't agree more!)

There's a reason Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" (clearly define the purpose of your organisation before the product) is the 3rd most popular Ted Talk (of all time ...)
https://www.ted.com/playlists/171/the_most_popular_talks_of_...

If the purpose is clearly defined, it should be obvious to everyone without any "marketing" required.

Are you lucky enough to work for an organisation that has a clear purpose? (I ask because v. few people do ...)

I have experienced the same problems during my life.

I found that even though I intellectual understood the process vs. event based life I could not quite let go of celebrating events and being grumpy about past unfair events.

Then I read Simon Sineks "Start with why" and finally figured out my why (happiness) and integrated it into my way of making decisions.

Since then I have really found that my self worth has grown and become more balanced - because the decisions I make is right for me and since the ring true to my why I do not care (as much) what others think.

1. "An Elegant Puzzle - Systems of Engineering Management" by Will Larson. His blog & "Staff Eng" posts are helpful as well. https://lethain.com/tags/staff-eng/

2. "The Phoenix Project", "The Unicorn Project" (novels), and "DevOps Handbook" by Eugene Kim, on how different parts of a tech + non-tech organization come and work together.

3. "High Output Management" by Andrew Grove on overall technical management.

4. "Measure What Matters" by John Doerr on setting objectives and measuring their progress.

5. "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande on thinking through replicable processes.

6. "Who" by Geoff Smart on hiring.

7. "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek and "The Culture Code" by Daniel Coyle on creating culture and reasons for why people do the work. It's an important part of any management process, double import because of how often it is lost in technical management.

Haha, I could only hope to achieve even half of what Joel Spolsky has :)

I've previously written about how I created my sleep ritual (http://joel.is/post/5303723252/creating-a-sleep-ritual) and what you mention about committing to too many routines has been key for me. I'd say that is the reason I've not managed it until now and also the reason I've managed to put a decent routine in place now and I'm able to keep adjusting it and improving it.

I think the key is to adjust one thing at a time until it becomes a "ritual" we are pulled towards rather than a "routine" which we force ourselves to do. At first, I got up at 6am and went to the gym at 6:30. Over time, I've gradually got up earlier and earlier so that now I am starting to get up at 4:30am and have 1.5hrs of productive work time before I go to the gym. I've also adjusted my exercise routine at the gym whereas before just getting there was hard enough.

I don't do a whole lot in terms of diet right now, however I want to soon when the current routine becomes more comfortable.

The article you mention is written by Tony Schwartz who I've mentioned in my post, and I can't recommend his book "The Power of Full Engagement" enough. The two main things I took away from it were the importance of renewal (I now break up my day with various activities, such as the gym, meals, or reading a book for 20 minutes) and relating tasks to my core values (this is related to Simon Sinek's "Start with Why").

Start With Why - Simon Sinek

The ideas in this post are inline with Simon Sinek's 'start with why' book and ted talk.
http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspi...

There are several drivers for human behavior in an organization (e.g. compensation, satisfaction, loyalty, etc.).
According to Simon Sinek's "Start With Why" book the most powerful driver is having a common sense of purpose. A bigger goal that the organization wants to achieve and that defines WHY they to WHAT they do (here: fresh produce).

I think getting to know the "Why" and finding out how the CEO communicates, establishes, and motivates people towards the "Why" is a valuable lesson. It imagine it to be very hard given the limited time you will be spending with the CEO, but since you are in an established relationship with them, it could be easier to get to the point in conversations.

It's a great opportunity that you have there and I wish you the best of success in your shadowing.

This reminds me of the Simon Sinek classic "Start With Why." He leans on the example of Apple a bit too much, but otherwise it's a book that gets your attention and makes you wonder why something so simple can be missed by so many.

https://simonsinek.com/product/start-with-why/

TED Talk as well, tho' I don't think it does the book justice.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

I read Simon Sinek's book "Start with why" last year and realized that my why is "happiness".

This made it much easier for me to choose what to work on, and currently I am using my time and energy (and all of my surplus money I get from my consulting business) to create and spread the word about TimeBlock - a new way of working that has made me happier, my employed Makers happier and our customers happier!

My goal is to help Makers, Managers and customers become just 1% happier if I can do that I will feel very priviliged.

You should listen to Simon Sinek's TED talk about "Start With Why". He also has written a book with the same name.

The reason people like Apple products, and consequently Apple the company, is because they like how Apple approaches building products. Apple starts with "Why?" and works their way to "What?"

Obviously, this approach doesn't appeal to everyone but it does explain that "religiousness" you described.

I struggled for many years of lack of motivation. One source of insight into motivation is "Drive: The surprising truth..." http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates...

The main takeaway is that you want internal motivation, not external!

I found my internal motivation through finding my "why", read "Start with why" for an explanation http://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/...