DTU ProjectLab - User contributions [en-gb]

Project Uniqueness

2019-03-12T01:30:53Z

Ugur:

''Developed by Seyed Habibollah Zohori Bahrami''

=Abstract=
Projects are per definition unique. But since some project are more unique than others, how should the project manager decide whether to address and handle the tasks and activities as a project or as a business activity? In other words, how does one distinguish between what is a project and what is not, subject to the uniqueness? This article strives to answer these questions based on a project management model described in Harvey Maylor’s book “Project Management”, where projects are considered as a set of processes that have either high or low variety and volume. Based on their variety and volume, projects are categorized. This article furthermore briefly discusses how the category would influence how the project manager would expect to manage the particular project given the uncertainties and risks affiliated with the projects.

=The Big Idea=
[[File:Volume.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 1''': Volume vs. variety of processes in a project. The volume is the quantity of throughputs for the processes in a project, and variety is the number of different variations of processes possible. <ref name="Harvey" />]]

According to the worldwide federation of national standards bodies, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a project is defined as:

“A project consists of a unique set of processes consisting of coordinated and controlled activities with start and end dates, performed to achieve project objectives…”. <ref name="ISO">ISO-21500, 2013.</ref>

Furthermore, the Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as:

“A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service”. <ref name="PMBOK"> Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), 5th Edition, 2013.</ref>

Likewise, many other definitions state that projects are unique, and must have a degree of novelty in terms of time, team carrying out the task or product being provided. Although all projects are per definition unique, the degree of uniqueness of projects differs considerably from project to project. For example, the uniqueness of Elon Musk’s mars colonization project is very much different than the uniqueness of a yearly event management project by DTU. More than much else, it is the uniqueness of a project that frames which tools, models, and theories that are applicable and should be used to successfully manage a project from its commencement to its completion. However, quantifying and assessing the uniqueness of a project is utmost complicated.

Harvey Maylor suggests that one way a project manager can thoroughly determine what is and what is not a (unique) project is by analysing the system of delivery and considering the activities and processes of that particular project instead of the outcome of the project. <ref name="Harvey"> Maylor, Harvey. “Project Management”. 4th ed. Financial Times Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-273-70432-4. Harlow, 2010. </ref> In other words, the project manager should organise to deliver a project as a process. Subsequently, the project manager should assess each process and classify it. In the classification of processes, the project manager should consider the volume and variety of the processes of that particular project. Here the volume is the quantity of throughputs for that process, and variety is the number of different variations of processes possible. These form an inverse relationship as shown in Figure 1. Based on this figure, processes of a project can either have high or low variety and volume.

* High volume processes have operations/processes that are highly repeatable, for example the processes of a petrochemical plant, whereas low volume processes have operations/processes that are little/slightly repeatable, for example a chauffeur service.
* High variety processes have operations/processes that are very flexible, for example a chauffeur service, because the service has to respond to needs of individual passengers, whereas a low variety processes have operations/processes that are well-defined/standardized, for example a petrochemical process has little flexibility.

According to Maylor’s model of volume versus variety, projects can be classified into three types:

===First timers: ===

In its traditional understanding, project management has processes that have low-volume and high-variety. This means that the processes have low quantity of throughputs and little (or no) repeatability, and high number of different variations of process possible and very flexible/ductile processes. Because of this particular characterisation of processes, a project (in its traditional understanding) is very unique, since the notion uniqueness prevails from precisely this process classification variation. In Figure 1 the projects with very high level of uniqueness are defined as “First-timers”. These are projects that no one has done before, for example the first man walking on the moon, the first message sent between a network of geographical separated computers and the first alternative fuel vehicle. All these projects have processes that have low-volume and high-variety.

===As… But…: ===
Processes that have slightly higher volume and lower variety than the first-timers are also considered as projects. These projects, annotated as “As... but…”, have some similarity to previous work, which could be in terms of either operations/processes followed or products being delivered, however they have some differences. In other words, despite trying to complete the same project with the purpose of obtaining a very similar outcome/product, there will be some alterations such as people being involved, or processes being followed.

===Painting by numbers: ===
A third classification of projects is the “Painting by numbers”, in which processes have mid-high volume (are repeatable) and mid-low variety. The term “Painting by numbers” originates from the art-style system, where a picture is divided into shapes each marked with a number that corresponds to a particular colour, and by painting each shape with that specific colour, a finished painting ultimately emerges. Following that framework, projects in this category have well defined processes and outcomes, and they have high commonality with previous projects. Marketing research is an example of activities in an organization that is considered project-based, but because many aspects of the activities in the marketing research has been done before, it is not considered a very unique project. Because of the high quantity of throughputs in its processes, as well as the repeatability and low number of variations of processes, marketing research is considered a project categorized as “Painting by numbers”.

===Business as usual:===
At the extreme of the model in Figure 1, where processes have very high volume and very little variety, activities/operations are highly repeatable and inflexible, and are therefore neither considered unique or a project. Examples of such processes are the production of a car and delivery in a post office. These repetitive operations are not considered projects, but rather fall on a category as “Business as usual”, not presented in Figure 1, and not discussed further in this article.

=Applications=
Applying the volume versus variety model put forth by Maylor is deemed useful for any project-based organization that wishes to analyse the uniqueness of a project. If the processes of a project and their volumes and varieties are assessed prior to project launch, the uniqueness of the project can be evaluated. And based on the uniqueness the correct project manager can be assigned to the project to efficiently and effectively manage the project. In the following, each of the three categories of projects, i.e. “First-timers”, “As... but...” and “Painting by numbers”, are exemplified, it is succinctly explained when they are applicable, and their strengths are briefly assessed.

===Very unique projects and decisions: ===
Combing innovation with project management has progressively become more apparent in project-based organizations, creating consensus in the idea of project management also being about breaking new ground - doing things that have never been done before <ref name="Gallagher"> Gallagher, S. “Time, risk, and innovation: creating space in your day to solve meaningful problems.” Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2015—EMEA, London, England. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute. 2015. </ref>. Definitionally, these innovative projects fall into the category of unique first-timers. First-timer projects are proven beneficial to organizations, not least because of their value-creating innovative attributes. However, these projects are characteristically unique, which makes them more complex, uncertain and difficult to manage (see Uncertainties in projects). To manage first-timer projects efficiently and effectively, high level of requirements of project management skills, experience, and competencies from the assigned project manager (and the project management team) are deemed a necessity. These projects are therefore often exclusively managed by Project Management Professionals (PMP).

In the category of highly unique first-timer projects, where uncertainty is immense, the project manager is expected to make decisions under uncertainty. This can be very hard for the project manager, because in very uncertain settings, risks are inevitable. While many theories, tools, and models in risk management are to be applied for these types of settings, one “best way” has not been developed. Robust decision-making people, however, can attack these types of settings by the regret decision theory, i.e. instead of maximizing return/value, they minimize regrets <ref name="G2"> Geraldi, J., & Oehmen, J. “Don’t maximize value, minimize regret: Simple rules for early opportunity screening in volatile environments.” Poster session presented at MIT System Design & Management Symposium 2018, Cambridge, MA, United States, 2018.</ref>. For example, if a project manager does not know how to optimize the net present value for an investment option, he/she can minimize the regret by deciding not to spend more than €10,000,000. This theory is about capping your worst scenario. If the project manager realizes that the investment option will exceed the cost limit, it is rejected.

===Learning from similar projects: ===
In a project-based organization learning from previous projects and applying the knowledge to somewhat similar future projects is vital to ensure success in all phases of a project lifecycle, from its commencement to its completion. “As... but...” projects, that is, as the job we did last time, but with the following differences, are all about utilizing the experience of doing similar projects. There are many benefits affiliated with applying knowledge about previously commenced projects to new ones, such as reducing uncertainty, ensuring higher quality by not falling into the same setbacks, and assigning the right resources from the start. “As… but…” projects are furthermore known for using previous costs as a baseline for future cost-estimation, which is a technique widely practiced amongst project managers.

===Process thinking:===

Many projects require that several similar or identical operations in a segment of the project is to be applied repeatedly. In other cases, we find that a project that has high commonality with a previously completed project is to be commences. These projects are referred to as “Painting by numbers”. Understanding the uniqueness of these projects, by applying the process-thinking that the volume vs. variety model yield, can be proven remarkably valuable for these types of projects. One example is the companies Yorkon and Britspace, who have taken the process-thinking to heart and adapted it into their core competencies. They have developed modular construction systems for use in fast-food restaurants for the McDonald’s chain <ref name="Lawson"> Lawson, R. M., et al.. ” Modular Construction using Light Steel Framing: An Architect’s Guide”. The Steel Construction Institute. ISBN 1 85942 096 6. Berkshire, 1999.</ref>. Modular construction is about using pre-engineered volumetric units that are installed on-site as fitted-out and serviced building blocks. Because McDonald’s wanted to expand their outlets for their restaurants, the companies Yorkon and Britspace designed modular constructions for their outlets, building over 300 outlets. After each construction project, the companies improved the process of constructing the modules. A project in Runcorn was completed in just 24 hours from the modules arriving on the prepared site to opening, exceptionally proving the true strength of painting by numbers projects. If each of the 300 outlets were considered a unique first-timer project, the construction of every single outlet may very well have taken several months to complete.

==Uncertainties in projects: ==
[[File:Unique.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 2''': Certainty vs. uncertainty in very unique first-timer projects. ]]
[[File:Non-unique.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Certainty vs. uncertainty in non-unique painting by numbers projects. ]]

The word “project” derives from the latin word “pro-jectae”, meaning “throw forward”. Projects are therefore considered projections into the future, and since the future is uncertain so is the progression of the project <ref name="Geraldi"> Geraldi, J., Thuesen, C., Oehmen, J., & Stingl, V.. “How to DO Projects? A Nordic Flavour to Managing Projects: DS-handbook 185:2017.”. Dansk Standard, 2017.</ref>. All projects, regardless of their uniqueness, are inherently uncertain. However, unique projects give rise to unique problems yielding to more uncertainty and risks than non-unique projects. According to Luce et al. who researched standard approaches in economics, the uncertainties affiliated with a project is highest at the inception of the project, which directly correlates to the deficiency of the information available <ref name="Luce"> Luce, Robert Duncan, and Howard Raiffa. “Games and decisions: Introduction and critical survey.” New York: Wiley, 1958.</ref>. This is illustrated in Figure 2. As the project progresses, information becomes readily more available and uncertainties decrease innately until completion of the project is reached. At the point of completion all information has become available and the uncertainties affiliated with the project have ceased. Figure 2 describes the Certainty vs. uncertainty distribution of unique first-timer projects.
Moving away from very unique first-timer projects can be beneficial in an organizational point of view. As the activities/processes in a project becomes more repetitive/routinized, the risks and uncertainties affiliated with the activities/processes will decrease, because habitualization and routinization reduces pervasive uncertainty <ref name="Becker"> Becker, Markus C., and Knudsen, Thorbjørn. "The role of routines in reducing pervasive uncertainty." Journal of business research58.6 (2005): 746-757.</ref>. In other words, if a project that has high commonality with previous projects is commenced, the amount of information available at the inception of that project is innately higher than the previous projects, because the information of the previous projects are inherited. Figure 3 visualises the Certainty vs. uncertainty distribution of non-unique painting by numbers projects. Evidently from Figure 3, the uncertainties affiliated with non-unique projects are also highest at the inception of the project, because of the deficient amount of information available.

=Limitations=
In this article, the uniqueness of projects has been assessed by considering the project as a process and analysing the processes by the volume vs. variety model put forth by Harvey Maylor. The strengths of the model have been explained through exemplifications of each of the categories “first-timers”, “as... but...”, and “painting by numbers”, and uncertainties in projects has briefly been explained. While the model helps a project manager to determine what is and what is not a (unique) project, it inevitably has limitations as well. In the following, some of these limitations are explained.

'''A project that is a first-timer project to you is not necessarily a first-timer project to me'''

Projects are made by people and for people <ref name="Geraldi" />. Adding the people constraint into the uniqueness of a projects might invalidate the categorization of the three types of projects in Maylors model, because a project that e.g. is a first-timer project to you is not necessarily a first-timer project to me <ref name="Straw"> Straw, Gary. “Understanding project management: Skills and insights for successful project delivery”. Kogan Page Publishers, 2015.</ref>. Each individual has a particular interpretation of the project based on the his/her experience. Because of this experience even a very non-unique project can become unique for the project manager, and vice verca.

'''“Hedgehog syndrome”'''

Using previous knowledge as a baseline for future projects has in this article been assessed to be very useful. However, this method assumes that the projects that was previously completed has been reviewed in a meaningful way to develop the project processes and provide feedback to the organisation. Otherwise the so-called hedgehog syndrome will rule. The hedgehog syndrome refers to the inability of project contributors (i.e. hedgehogs) to learn from experiences (i.e. encountering cars while crossing the rode) and utilize their knowledge in a beneficial, for the upcoming project, phase <ref name="Chatzimichailidou"> Chatzimichailidou, M. et al. ”A conceptual grey analysis method for construction projects”. Management: Journal of Sustainable Business and Management Solutions in Emerging Economies, 20(74), 25-36. Zlatibor, Serbia, 2014. </ref>. It is argued that the poor quality of post-project reviews, or entirely absence of these, causes hedgehog syndrome.

'''Not quantifiable'''

It is in many cases not possible to quantify the exact volume and the exact variety of processes in a project. Therefore, it is hard to distinguish between the three categories “first-timers”, “as... but...”, and “painting by numbers”.

= Annotated bibliography =
'''Maylor, Harvey. “Project Management”. 4th ed. Financial Times Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-273-70432-4. Harlow, 2010.'''

The volume vs. variety model was first presented by Harvey Maylor in this book. While the book is merely considered an introduction to project management, it thoroughly describes many tools, techniques used by best-practice companies to improve their project management performance. The chapters that was used for this article are chapter 1 and 8.

'''Straw, Gary. “Understanding project management: Skills and insights for successful project delivery”. Kogan Page Publishers, 2015.'''

Adopting the volume vs. variety model from Harvey Maylor, this book describes the same model in a different visualisation and exemplifies the three categories “first-timers”, “as... but...”, and “painting by numbers”. In the first chapter, the book give insight into the challenge of characterizing projects and project management.

=References =
<references/>

File:Non-unique.png

2019-03-12T01:29:33Z

Ugur:

File:Unique.png

2019-03-12T01:27:44Z

Ugur:

File:Volume.png

2019-03-12T01:25:00Z

Ugur:

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T22:13:27Z

Ugur:

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regard to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016. p. 4.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition. p. 53-58.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result, Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regard to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people every day and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being done. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined. <ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior. <ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However, both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project. <ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and WHY they have to passionately work for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier, WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and the HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity. <ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was to create an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903. <ref name="WRIGHT" /> <ref name="LANGLEY" />
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at a university. Langley was a well-connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand, the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years, but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley, they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to, was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When an overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and surely were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the ones who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators, but they generally do not come up with new ideas, but they welcome new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority. The early majority people are the ones who feel safer when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously, when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore, people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3, it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore, the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early majority and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become safer when others pursue an idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY. <ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore, it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

As it is mentioned above, the statements from Simon Sinek are not backed up by empirical data and he is the only person who speaks about the model. It is important to critically evaluate some of the statements he makes about the model, but especially the relationship between the model and the human brain. Even though it seems to make sense that different parts of the brain trigger different things, it is to be noted that the brain is a complex system. Therefore, it might not be that easy to say what part of the brain drives behavior and what part of the brain is responsible for gathering information, since it might be a complex combination of different parts of the brain that, for instance, are responsible for behavior.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

*Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.
In this book, different aspects of managing programs are covered. In regard to this article, there is a small section about the vision perspective, where the reader can get information about what a vision is and what a good vision should include. Additionally, readers can get information from this book about different program management principles, risk management, leadership and stakeholder engagement.

*ISO 21500:2013.
This document is the standards on project management. The standards provide a guidance on project management. These standards include several definitions related to projects and project management. The chapters of this document are split into 4 parts: Scope, terms and definitions, project management concepts and project management processes. One thing that the reader cannot directly find information about in these standards is vision and what a vision should include. The vision part is only covered in these standards in terms of how organizations establish a strategy based on several things including the vision.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:39:48Z

Ugur: /* Annotated bibliography */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016. p. 4.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition. p. 53-58.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

*Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.
In this book, different aspects of managing programs are covered. In regard to this article, there is a small section about the vision perspective, where the reader can get information about what a vision is and what a good vision should include. Additionally, readers can get information from this book about different program management principles, risk management, leadership and stakeholder engagement.

*ISO 21500:2013.
This document is the standards on project management. The standards provide a guidance on project management. These standards include several definitions related to projects and project management. The chapters of this document are split into 4 parts: Scope, terms and definitions, project management concepts and project management processes. One thing that the reader cannot directly find information about in these standards is vision and what a vision should include. The vision part is only covered in these standards in terms of how organizations establish a strategy based on several things including the vision.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:29:53Z

Ugur: /* Annotated bibliography */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016. p. 4.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition. p. 53-58.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

*Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.
In this book, different aspects of managing programs are covered. In regard to this article, there is a small section about the vision perspective, where the reader can get information about what a vision is and what a good vision should include. Additionally, readers can get information from this book about different program management principles, risk management, leadership and stakeholder engagement.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:25:15Z

Ugur: /* Abstract */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016. p. 4.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition. p. 53-58.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

*Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.
In this book, different aspects of managing programs are covered. In regard to this article, there is a small section about the vision perspective, where the reader can be information about what a vision is and what a good vision should include. Additionally, readers can get information from this book about different program management principles, risk management, leadership and stakeholder engagement.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:23:38Z

Ugur: /* Abstract */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016. p. 4.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition. p. 53-58.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

*Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.
In this book, different aspects of managing programs are covered. In regard to this article, there is a small section about the vision perspective, where the reader can be information about what a vision is and what a good vision should include. Additionally, readers can get information from this book about different program management principles, risk management, leadership and stakeholder engagement.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:23:11Z

Ugur: /* Annotated bibliography */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition. p. 53-58.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

*Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.
In this book, different aspects of managing programs are covered. In regard to this article, there is a small section about the vision perspective, where the reader can be information about what a vision is and what a good vision should include. Additionally, readers can get information from this book about different program management principles, risk management, leadership and stakeholder engagement.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:19:05Z

Ugur:

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition. p. 53-58.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

*Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:17:21Z

Ugur: /* Annotated bibliography */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

*Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:14:35Z

Ugur: /* Annotated bibliography */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
*Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T21:12:21Z

Ugur: /* Annotated bibliography */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==
Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.
This book is written by Simon Sinek himself. In this book, different aspects of the Golden Circle Model are treated. There is a blend of explanation of the theory of the Golden Circle Model with lots of examples. Sinek is quite often using Apple as an example in order to show and tell the reader of the book how Apple has differentiated themselves by starting with WHY.
The book does not only cover the model in regard to how leaders should inspire people. Readers can also find a section of the book where it is explained how the model can represent the structure of a company or an organization.

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-28T20:56:49Z

Ugur: /* Applications */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.<ref name="SINEK" />

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T17:28:03Z

Ugur: /* Limitations */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly, it is important to notice that this is Simon Sinek's own model and it does not build up on empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T17:26:46Z

Ugur: /* Limitations */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience" <ref name="BMP" />. When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously, the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model and it can therefore easily be assumed that the model does not take stakeholders into account.

When the vision subject is treated more broadly, it is difficult to compare the Golden Circle Model to the status quo of the standards. Looking at ISO 21500:2013, it is evident that there is no clear definition of a vision and what a vision needs to include <ref>ISO 21500:2013 </ref>. The standards, however, has a part that deals with the vision subject in terms of the strategy of an organization. Therefore it can be said that the Golden Circle Model is not a part of the standards, but it extents them. The model itself cannot necessarily be used in terms of an organization as a whole, but it can definitely be used in terms of the projects that an organization conducts.

Lastly it is important to notice that Simon Sinek's explanation of the model is the only empirical data.

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T16:30:34Z

Ugur: /* Limitations */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

According to Best Management Practice (BMP), there are several things that characterize a good vision. One of them is that the vision should be easy to understand for the stakeholders and that the vision should be written "... with the broadest groupings of stakeholders as the target audience". When the Golden Circle Model is held up against the good vision characteristics from BMP, it is evident that the Golden Circle Model is lacking in this regard. The model itself does not really take stakeholders directly into account. It is more focused on inspiring people to believe what a leader believes. Obviously the people might include the stakeholders as well. However, this is not clearly articulated in the model.

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T16:00:03Z

Ugur: /* Limitations */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements. Even though it seems to make sense that a clear WHY can drive behavior, it is not proved that a company or a leader who start with WHAT or HOW has not been able to drive projects or a company successfully.

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T15:04:32Z

Ugur: /* Limitations */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.

==Limitations==
Although the Golden Circle Model seems to be a model that can be widely used among leaders, it is not a perfect tool. Simon Sinek states that organizations and leaders who have a clear WHY and who think from inside out are successful. However, one might ask whether this is true or not. Although Sinek makes several points and gives several examples of companies and people who have been thinking from inside out, there is no empirical data backing up his statements.

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T14:43:58Z

Ugur:

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British-American author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization and leader know WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations and leaders know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated, such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by leaders among others. The leader can be the CEO of a company or it can be a project manager among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it, but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result of the things that are being conducted. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successful, but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers and team members. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the leader will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, they are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leaders need to know WHY the WHATs are being done. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help leaders and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a leader is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the leader and the team members believe the things that are being said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members to drive behavior. Despite several failed attempts, the Wright brothers and their team did not give up because there was a clarity of WHY. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King knew. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the ideas into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory, the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas but they are however open to new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar, but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea before them. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented, but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea, since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance of the idea will happen and thus it will create a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.

==Limitations==

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T03:30:07Z

Ugur: /* Applications */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization knows WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by project managers among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successfu,l but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the project manager will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, the leaders are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leader and project manager need to know WHY they do WHAT. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help project managers and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a project manager is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the project manager and the team members believe the things that are said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King did. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the idea into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance the idea will happen and thus creating a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY and to purposefully drive a project or an idea, the leader must start with WHY.

==Limitations==

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T03:27:50Z

Ugur: /* Example 2 */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization knows WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by project managers among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successfu,l but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the project manager will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, the leaders are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leader and project manager need to know WHY they do WHAT. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help project managers and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a project manager is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the project manager and the team members believe the things that are said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King did. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs, they were touched by them and they were incorporating the idea into their own lives. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance the idea will happen and thus creating a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY

==Limitations==

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-26T03:27:01Z

Ugur: /* Applications */

==Abstract==
[[File:WHY.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 1''': An image highlighting the components of the model: WHY, HOW and WHAT. The image shows that purposeful projects are driven when project managers and team members think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT) <ref name="HOW" />]]

One of the key things for a project manager, in regards to doing projects, is to establish a strong vision. By establishing the purpose of the project, the vision enables the team members of the projects to collaborate, it gives them a direction and it gives the team members a great opportunity to develop and grow. By having a purpose of a project, it becomes possible to answer why the project is being done in the first place. <ref name="HOW">Geraldi, Joana et al., '''How to DO Projects Vision''', Version 0.5. BETA VERSION, 2016.</ref>

According to Best Management Practice, a vision is "a picture of a better future". <ref name="BMP">Best Management Practice, '''Managing Succesful Programmes''', 2011 Edition.</ref> There are several ways to establish a vision of a project and one of them is by asking: WHY? Simon Sinek, a British author and marketing consultant is the person who has developed The Golden Circle Model. This model consists of the questions WHY, HOW and WHAT.
According to Sinek, every organization knows WHAT they are doing, some know HOW they do it and very few know WHY they are doing it. And by WHY (according to Sinek) very few organizations know the purpose of the things they are doing.
As a result Sinek finds that the way unsuccessful organizations and leaders think is from outside in (from WHAT to WHY). In contrast, the more inspiring and successful organizations and leaders think from inside out (from WHY to WHAT). <ref name="HOW" /> <ref name="TED"> TED. ''Simon Sinek: Hvordan store ledere inspirerer til handling''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=da#t-180980, [Accessed 12 February 2018].</ref>

In the following of this article, several aspects of the model will be treated such as

# A more detailed explanation of the model.
# How the model can be applied in regards to project management.
# The limitations of the model.

==Big Idea==
In this section of the article the Golden Circle Model will be explained and the points that the model itself states will also be included in this section.

The Golden Circle model is a model that can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used by organizations, by people everyday and by project managers among others. The model is designed by Simon Sinek and it consists of 3 parts: WHY, HOW and WHAT.

The WHAT part of the model describes - as the name states - WHAT is being done in the project. HOW describes HOW the WHAT part of the project is conducted. However, the WHY part of the model is the purpose of the project. It states WHY the WHAT part of the project is being done.

According to Sinek, everyone knows WHAT they are doing, some people know HOW they do it but very few people know WHY they do it. The question "WHY?" shall not be answered with something as making money, since that is a result. However by asking WHY, the purpose of the project and its cause and belief shall be defined.<ref name="SINEK">Sinek, Simon, '''Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action''', 2009, Portfolio. ISBN 978-1-59184-280-4.</ref>

The Golden Circle Model states that the way most people are thinking is from WHAT to WHY, which corresponds to from outside in, since it is easier to go from things that are most clear (WHAT) to things that are most difficult to understand and thus the fuzziest things (WHY). In contrast to those people, inspired leaders including project managers and other inspired people think from WHY to WHAT - from inside out and they are the ones who will drive projects purposefully.
The inspired leaders who know WHY they do the projects will not only be successfu,l but they will be able to sustain the success and be able to grow continuously. On the other hand, the leaders who begin to lose the idea of WHY the projects are done - the purpose and belief of the project, those are the ones who will experience lack of loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers. When the loyalty and inspiration among the co-workers are lost, the project manager will (according to the model) most likely make use of manipulation rather than inspiration to motivate behavior.<ref name="SINEK"/>

[[File:BRAIN.png|thumb|350px|right|'''Figure 2''': Relationship between the Golden Circle Model and the human brain. The WHAT part of the Golden Circle corresponds with the neocortex whereas both HOW and WHY correspond with the limbic brain. <ref name="SINEK" />]]

The Golden Circle Model is not just a model that help leaders and project managers to communicate to successfully drive a project. The model is closely related to the human biology and especially the human brain. The WHAT part of the model that a leader uses corresponds with the neocortex, a part of the brain that is responsible for analytical thought among others. However both HOW and especially WHY corresponds with the limbic brain which is responsible for feelings such as loyalty.
When leaders communicate from outside in, the leaders are able to connect with their co-workers in terms of information. The downside of this way of communicating a vision is that it will not drive behavior. On the other hand, when leaders communicate the vision from inside out, it triggers the part of the human brain that is responsible for decision making and it will thus drive the behavior of the participants of the project.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Clarity, Discipline and Consistency===
In his model, Sinek explains something he calls the Clarity of WHY, the Discipline of HOW and the Consistency of WHAT. He believes that everything starts with clarity, meaning that the inspiring leader and project manager need to know WHY they do WHAT. They also need to clearly articulate the WHY to their co-workers since the co-workers need to know WHY they have to be part of a project and passionately working for the project.

With the discipline of HOW, Sinek believes that the HOWs are the values and principles that will help project managers and the team members to successfully bring the purpose of the project to life. The discipline of HOW is important when things seem to go wrong. When a project manager is able to hold his or her team members accountable to the values and principles, it will inspire and enhance team members to team work and work more passionately.

As stated earlier WHY is the purpose and belief of the project and HOWs are the actions. The WHATs however are the results of the HOWs. Since team members buy WHY they do things rather than WHAT they do, it is - according to the model - important that the WHATs are consistent. When the WHATs are consistent, the people that a leader inspires will most likely believe the purpose of the project, the WHY.
With consistency of WHAT comes authenticity. Authenticity basically means that the Golden Circle is in balance, meaning that both the project manager and the team members believe the things that are said and done. When the Golden Circle is not in balance however, then stress and uncertainty take place. Sinek does not believe that authenticity is an absolute must in terms of having success, but it will definitely help. However, without a clear definition of the WHY of a project, the project itself cannot have an authenticity.<ref name="SINEK" />

===Example 1===
In the late nineteenth century the new technology was creating an airplane. The most well-known people in this regard are Samuel Pierpont Langley and the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are the ones who are actually credited for inventing the world's first successful airplane in 1903.
Langley graduated from high school and worked as a professor of mathematics at an university. Langley was a well connected man and he was well funded. He was able to assemble a great team around him to create the world's first successful airplane. The team members included well-known engineers and the team had access to good resources in terms of materials. On the other hand the Wright brothers did attend high school for three years but they did not get their diploma. Their team included people who did not graduate college and even people who did not graduate high school. Unlike Langley they were not well funded. The only source of money they had access to was the money they made during the time they worked at their bicycle shop. <ref name="WRIGHT"> Wikipedia. ''Wright brothers''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref> <ref name="LANGLEY"> Wikipedia. ''Samuel Pierpont Langley'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pierpont_Langley, [Accessed 16 February 2018].</ref>

When a overview is taken of the situations, Samuel Pierpont Langley was the person who had the best chances of having success. However, the Wright brothers were the first ones to succeed in 1903. According to Sinek, one advantage that the Wright brothers had over Langley was that they had inspiration and they were able to inspire others. The Wright brothers were inspired and motivated by a belief and a purpose - or in other words, they started with a WHY - where they also inspired their team members. In contrast, Langley started and was motivated by WHAT. He was more concerned with becoming famous and wealthy. Because the Wright brothers started with WHY and because they were thinking from inside out, they were the ones who succeeded. <ref name="TED" />

===Example 2===
One of the most influential persons in the twentieth century is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who in 1963 in Washington D.C. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech as the leader of the civil rights movement. The speech was given in order to address the inequality and segregation that America was facing in the 1960s. At that time 250,000 civil rights supporters showed up and the speech itself was and still is considered as a defining moment of the civil rights movement. <ref name="DREAM"> Wikipedia. ''I Have a Dream'', [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, [Accessed 16 February 2018]</ref>

One might ask why Dr. King was so successful with his speech. Surely there were other people at that time who were thinking the same as Dr. King and sure were there other people who knew WHAT needed to be done as Dr. King did. The way Dr. King was able to distinguish himself from others was through his clarity of WHY. He was able to clearly articulate WHY things needed to change and it inspired other people to believe the same as he did. Dr. King was not necessarily able to inspire people in terms of HOW the WHATs should be done, but he surely did inspire them in terms of WHY things needed to change. The people who showed up heard his beliefs and they were touched by them. <ref name="TED" />

==Applications==
[[File:INNO.png|thumb|500px|right|'''Figure 3''': Diffusion of Innovations. The population can be divided into 5 categories: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority and Laggards. <ref>Medium. 2015. ''Start with Why: Law of Diffusion of Innovations (Chapter 7 & 8)''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://medium.com/@seancrawford21/start-with-why-law-of-diffusion-of-innovations-chapter-7-8-1b8f2a2555ba, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>]]

As it has been stated earlier, the Golden Circle Model can be applied by leaders on different levels. The leader can among others be the CEO of a company or it can be the project manager of a project team. No matter what level the leader is on, it is important to inspire people to believe the belief and purpose of the ideas a leader might have in order to create behavior.

In this regard the Golden Circle Model is related to the Law of Diffusion of Innovation, a theory described by Everett Rogers which tells why, how and at what rate ideas spread. <ref name="INNO">Wikipedia. ''Diffusion of Innovations''. [ONLINE] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations, [Accessed 20 February 2018]</ref>
According to the theory the population can be divided into 5 categories: 2.5 % Innovators, 13.5 % Early Adopters, 34 % Early Majority, 34 % Late Majority and 16 % Laggards.
Basically, the innovators are the part of the population who are willing to pursue and come up with a new idea quickly and they are the one who think differently from most people. The early adopters are somehow similar to the innovators but they generally do not come up with new ideas. The early adopters are followed by the early majority and the late majority which are somewhat similar but the late majority people are normally more skeptical to new ideas compared to the early majority The early majority people are the ones who feel more safe when other people have pursued an idea. The laggards on the other hand are people who are more comfortable with how things are at the concerned time. They appreciate traditions more than new ideas. <ref name="INNO" /> <ref name="SINEK" />

Obviously when a leader presents a new idea or a new project, the leader will face people who believe in the idea or in the project more than other people do. It is also to be noted that one person might believe in one idea presented but the same person might not believe another idea which is presented. Therefore people who are considered early adopters for one idea might be considered late majority when it comes to another idea since different people believe in different things. One might ask: "How and to which group should the leader then articulate the WHY?"
Looking at figure 3 it is evident that the laggards are the one furthest to the right. Therefore the more a leader speaks to people on the right side of the curve in figure 3, the less is the leader inspiring to make people believe the purpose of the idea - the WHY. When a leader is trying to use the Golden Circle Model to inspire people, the early adopters should be the first type of people, who the manager appeals to, since the leader is categorized as an innovator and because the early adopters do not come up with new ideas, but they tend to quickly pursue new ideas. Since the early and late majority are somehow dependent on the early adopters (they become more safe when others pursue the idea), a more global understanding and acceptance the idea will happen and thus creating a more global inspiration and behavior in the group, the leader is trying to inspire.

The leader should aim for the so-called tipping point. This is a point where the spread of the WHY happens at a rapid pace and where most people accept and believe the idea. According to the Diffusion of Innovations, this will happen when approximately 15-18 percent of the people that the leader is trying to inspire are inspired. This percentage of the people should be furthest to the left on the curve in figure 3. This percentage of the inspired people are the ones who believe the WHY

==Limitations==

==Annotated bibliography==

==References==
<references/>

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-24T18:44:09Z

Ugur: /* Big Idea */

Why, How, What (The Golden Circle Model)

2018-02-24T18:16:30Z

Ugur: /* Big Idea */