Why start with WHY?
Simon Sinek [1][2] talks about the importance of asking WHY since it helps one understand the purpose, cause, and belief behind an organization. He talks about "The Golden Circle" (Why > How > What), the correct order in which one should approach decision making or communication or marketing. He provides examples of companies and leaders who have the perfect balance: clarity of WHY, discipline of HOW and consistency of WHAT.
Most of the companies, organizations and individuals approach what they do in the order of What, How and Why. Whereas, starting with Why, then How and finally What provides a clear way to communicate to others and helps a company in winning its customers. Simon talks about Celery Test for decision making - starting WHY not only helps you know which is the right advice for you to follow, but also to know which decisions will put you of balance.
Agile Software Development
Simon Sinek [1][2] talks about the importance of asking WHY since it helps one understand the purpose, cause, and belief behind an organization. He talks about "The Golden Circle" (Why > How > What), the correct order in which one should approach decision making or communication or marketing. He provides examples of companies and leaders who have the perfect balance: clarity of WHY, discipline of HOW and consistency of WHAT.
Most of the companies, organizations and individuals approach what they do in the order of What, How and Why. Whereas, starting with Why, then How and finally What provides a clear way to communicate to others and helps a company in winning its customers. Simon talks about Celery Test for decision making - starting WHY not only helps you know which is the right advice for you to follow, but also to know which decisions will put you of balance.
Agile Software Development
I started thinking about how this applies to software development teams specifically to teams adopting agile development methodologies. I extended Simon's Why, How, What with When and Who, which are very appropriate in the agile world.
Most common order in which people would approach:
But I believe (based on Simon's idea), the correct order in which we need do is:
Why approaching each sprint, story and task with the above framework of mind is beneficial to the organization:
But I believe (based on Simon's idea), the correct order in which we need do is:
Why approaching each sprint, story and task with the above framework of mind is beneficial to the organization:
- everyone in the team from Product Owner to tester to user understand the context, purpose and importance of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that is will be delivered
- everyone on the team have a clear filter for decision making (everything should pass the Celery Test!)
- empowerment of the team and distributed control are very easy
- team will be motivated and will be committed to delivering it since everyone on the team understands
- understanding why will help architects, designers, developers, testers and documentation writers do their job easily since they have a clear context and purpose
In my opinion, teams should not take on something until everyone understands the WHY!
- How Great Leaders Inspire Action, Simon Sinek TED Talk
- Start With Why, Simon Sinek, 2009
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