[Music]
passion is not an actionable word it’s
correct you know that those who do the
things that they’re passionate about do
better but it’s not helpful advice and
so the question is where does passion
come from passion is a result passion is
an energy passion is the feeling you
have when you’re engaged in something
that you love passion is the feeling you
have that you would probably do this for
free you know and you can’t believe
somebody pays you to do it you know and
I think we mistake that passion is
something we do in our private lives but
it shouldn’t be done you know in our
careers for example and I’m a firm
believer that you are who you are and
anybody who says I’m different at home
that I have it working well those two
places you’re lying and the goal is to
make everything you do in home and it
works something that you have excitement
to do so how do you find the things that
you’re excited to do well it’s actually
easier than you think what are the
things that you love to do what are the
things that you would do for free you
know how can you recreate that feeling
and and be papered so what are the
things that I do on the weekend right
I love
I’m very involved in the art world I
love to go to museums and galleries but
I love to go see dance and performances
because I want to see how others are
interpreting the world so that inspires
me new ideas new clothes new ways of
looking at the world are things that
interest me privately and I seek it out
and pay money for it right so does that
mean I have to have a career in the arts
no it means I have to have a career
where new ideas are explored where
people are experimenting and trying
things out and I have to explore the way
ideas and try things out and I’m just as
excited to go to work every day as I am
to you know go do something on a
Saturday night and so the idea of
finding your passion is ironically
simple because you should be doing stuff
that you enjoy sometimes what is the
stuff that you enjoy and then what is
stuff that you love who are the people
you love and what it is what they all
have in common
performing under pressure whether it’s
me or anybody else is the same
you know I have the same pressures as
anyone else there’s time there’s
performance there’s financial I mean
zero you know there’s deadlines my
pressures are not unique the situations
may be different or you know but
everybody has the same kinds of
pressures but what I found or what I
find fascinating is the interpretation
of the stimuli let me let me explain so
I was watching the Olympics this glass
number one and I was amazed at how bad
the questions world if the reporters
would ask all the athletes and almost
always they asked the same question
whether they were about to compete or
after they competed were you nervous
right and to a team all the athletes
went no right and what I realized is
it’s not that they’re not nervous if
their interpretation of what’s happening
in their bodies and what it what happens
when you’re nervous right your heart
rate starts to go you’re you know you
sort of get a little tense you get a
little sweaty right you have expectation
what’s coming and we interpreted that is
I’m nervous now what’s the
interpretation of excited your heart
rate starts to go you become you’re
anticipating what’s coming right you get
a little sort of like tense it’s all the
same thing at the same stimuli except
these athletes these these Olympic
quality athletes have learned to
interpret the stimuli that the rest of
us would say as nervous as excited they
also the same thing no I’m not nervous
I’m excited and so I’ve actually
practiced it just to tell myself when I
start to get nervous that this is
excitement you know and so where when
you used to feet speak in front of a
large audience and somebody’d say how do
you feel I say little nervous now when
somebody says how do you feel like
really excited actually and it it came
from just sort of telling myself no no
this is excitement
Nelson Mandela is a particularly special
case study in the leadership world
because he is universally regarded as a
great leader you can take other
personalities and depending on the
nation you go to we have different
opinions about other personalities but
Nelson Mandela across the world is
universally regarded as a great leader
he was actually the son of a tribal
chief and he was asked one day how did
you learn to be a great leader and he
responded that he would go with his
father to tribal meetings and he
remembers two things when his father
would meet with other elders one they
would always sit in a circle and to his
father was always the last to speak
you’ll be told your whole life that you
need to learn to listen I would say that
you need to learn to be the last to
speak I see it in boardrooms every day
of the week even people who consider
themselves good leaders who may actually
be decent leaders will walk into a room
and say here’s the problem here’s what I
think but I’m interested in your opinion
let’s go around the room it’s too late
the skill to hold your opinions to
yourself until everyone has spoken
there’s two things one it gives
everybody else the feeling that they
have been heard the give me gives
everyone else the ability to feel that
they have contributed and two you get
the benefit of hearing what everybody
else has to think before you render your
opinion the skill is really to keep your
opinions to yourself if you agree with
somebody don’t nod yes if you disagree
with somebody don’t not know simply sit
there take it all in and the only thing
you’re allowed to do is ask questions so
that you can understand what they mean
and why they have the opinion that they
have you must understand from where they
are speaking why they have the opinion
they have not just what they are saying
and at the end you will get your turn it
sounds easy it’s not practice being the
last to speak that’s what Nelson Mandela
did
let me tell you a story so a friend of
mine and I we went for a run in Central
Park the Roadrunners organization
on the weekend they post races and it’s
very common at the end of the race
they’ll have a sponsored move give away
something apples or bagels or something
and on this particular day we got to the
end of the run
some free bagels they had picnic tables
set up and on one side was a group of
volunteers on the table were boxes of
bagels and on the other side was a long
line of runners waiting to get their
free bagel so I said to my friend let’s
let’s get a bagel he looked at me and
said that lines too long and that’s when
I realized that there’s two ways to see
the world some people see the thing that
they want and some people see the thing
that prevents them from getting the
thing that they want I could only see
the bagels
he could only see the line and so I
walked up to the line I leaned in
between two people put my hand in the
box and pulled out two bagels and no one
got mad at me because the rule is you
can go after whatever you want
you just cannot deny anyone else to go
after whatever they want so the point is
is you don’t have to wait in line you
don’t have to do it the way everybody
else has done it you can do it your way
you can break the rules you just can’t
get in the way of somebody else getting
what they want
I talked to so many smart fantastic
ambitious idealistic hard-working kids
and there right out of college their
their entry-level jobs and I’ll ask them
how is it going and they’ll say I think
I’m gonna quit I’m like why they say to
me I’m not making an impact I’m like you
know you’ve been here eight months right
they treat the sense of fulfillment or
even love like it’s a scavenger hunt
like it’s something you look for my
millennial friends they’ve gone through
so many jobs they’re either getting
fired or they’re quitting because
they’re not making an impact or they’re
not finding the thing they’re looking
for they’re not feeling fulfilled as if
it’s a scavenger hunt love a job you
find joy from is not something you
discover it’s not like I found love here
it is I found a job I love that’s not
how it works both of those things
require hard work you are in love
because you work very hard every single
day of your life to stay in love you
find a job that brings you ultimate joy
because you work hard every single day
to serve those around you and you
maintain that joy it’s not a discovery
but the problem is the sense of
impatience it’s as if an entire
generation is standing at the foot of a
mountain they know exactly what they
want they can see the summit but they
can’t see as the mountain this large
amove abou
object that doesn’t mean you have to do
your time that’s not what I’m talking
about take a helicopter climb I don’t
care but there’s still a mountain life
career fulfillment relationships our
journey problem is this entire
generation has an institutionalized
sense of impatience and do they have the
patience to go on the journey to
maintain love to feel fulfilled or do
they just quit and on to the next dump
and on to the next ghost and on to the
next I spoke at an education summit for
Microsoft I also spoke at an education
summit for Apple at education for Mike
at the education summit for Microsoft I
would say that 70% of the executives
spent about 70% of their presentations
talking about how to
Apple at the Apple education summit a
hundred percent of the executives spent
a hundred percent of their presentation
talking about how to help keep your feet
and how to help students learn one is
playing this way and one
playing finite and the other one is
playing against with one gets frustrated
so at the end of my talk at Microsoft
that gave me a gift they gave me the new
Xun when it was a thing and let me tell
you this thing was spectacular
it was the most elegant piece of
technology I’d ever used the user
interface was incredible the design was
spectacular I absolutely loved it it was
easy to use and it was bright and
gorgeous and elegant my god it was
elegant
so I’m sitting in the back of a taxi
with a very senior Apple executive sort
of employee number 12 kind of guy and
you know I like to stir pots so I turned
him I said you know Microsoft gave me
their new zoom and it is so much better
than your iPod touch and he turned to me
and he said I have no doubt
conversation over
because the infinite player understands
sometimes your head and sometimes you
behind
sometimes your product is better and
sometimes it’s worth the goal isn’t to
be the best every day the goal isn’t out
to outdo your competition every day
that’s a finite construction if I had
said to Microsoft I’ve got the new ipod
touch and it’s so much better than your
Zune
they would have said can we see it what
does it do react react react react
finite players play to be bet to beat
the people around them infinite players
play to be better than themselves to
wake up every single day and say how can
we make our company a better version of
itself today than it was yesterday how
can we create a product this week that’s
better than the product we created last
week we also have to play the infant
game it’s not about being ranked number
one it’s not about having more followers
on Twitter than your friends it’s not
about outdoing anyone it’s about how to
outdo yourself it’s not about selling
more books or getting more TED views
than somebody else it’s about how to
make sure that the work that you’re
producing is better than your work we
produced before you are your competition
and that is what ensures you stay in the
game the longest and that is what
ensures you find
because the joy comes not from
comparison but from itself
[Music]
I met my best when I’m around people who
believe what I believe I know it seems
silly but I try very very hard to stack
the deck you know to put myself in a
position of strength so for example you
know somebody asked me just yesterday
have you ever had sort of a bad you know
engagement I was thinking myself I’m
like not really but it’s not because I’m
some sort of sort of genius
understanding anything like that it’s
because I stack the deck it’s because I
want to be there I want to be around
people who want me to in other words if
I’m somebody’s tenth choice they’re like
you know I’ll probably turn it down
whereas you had my first choice they
really won’t be there and so I’m more
likely to have a good engagement they’re
supportive of me I’m supportive of them
and so
yeah I’m at my maximum I respected that
when I choose to be in an environment
where my Spencer okay
every decision we make in our lives as
individuals or as organizations is a
piece of communication it’s our way of
saying something about who we are and
what we believe this is why authenticity
matters this is why you have to say and
do the things you actually believe
because the things you say and do are
symbols of who you are and we look for
those symbols so we can find people who
believe what we believe our very
survival depends on it so if you’re
putting out false symbols you will
attract people to those symbols but you
won’t be able to form trust with them
this is what Tiger Woods did to us he
lied he lied he told us what he thought
we wanted to hear and it was great and
we were drawn to it and all of us who
kind of liked that idea of the sort of
the good guy we’re drawn to it until we
found out it was a lot he could have
been the bad boy of gold he could have
had all the same endorsements and had a
fantastic career and still been hailed
as one of the great athletes of our day
but he didn’t he chose to lie good luck
forming trust again tiger we don’t
believe we don’t trust you the goal of
putting something out
if you say what you believe do you
believe you will attract people who
believe if you better one of your
friends and you say to one of your
friends how would you like me to dress
so that you’ll like me better how would
you want me to address you how do you
want me to speak so that you’ll like me
more right your friends are gonna
looking good what are you talking about
come on come on come on shot what should
I wear so that you’ll find me more
appealing and how would you like me to
speak to you so that you like me more
and your friends are gonna tell you just
be yourself that’s why I like you I
don’t just be yourself now think about
what we do in industry when we do we do
market research and we go up and we ask
the customers what kind of things the
way what style should we speak to you
how should we decorate ourselves what
kind of things are you drawn to so that
we can do those things you’ll like us
more it’s just as ridiculous it’s just
as ridiculous organizations should say
and do the things they actually believe
and they will attract people who believe
what they believe or they can choose to
lie and at the slightest hint that they
might be lying cynicism sets in and
people start saying I’m not sure I can
trust these guys because there’s not a
lot of consistency and all the things
they say and do which means they can’t
have a very strong belief set or they’re
lying to me and we call them it
authentic the entire process of asking
other people who we should be is
inauthentic that’s hilarious to me all
these positioning studies we do are
inherent we’re going to do a study to
find out from people so we can be more
authentic that’s hilarious
say and do what you actually believe and
the symbols you put out there the things
you say and the things you do those red
hats are ways that people can find you
what you have the ability to do as
designers is create those symbols
and allow people to use those things to
say something about who they are work
for companies work for clients work for
people who you believe what they believe
show up and feel a part of something
bigger than yourself and your part is to
put what they believe into pictures and
words and symbols and graphics so that
other people can use those things to say
something about who they are we surround
ourselves with the people and the
products and the brands that say
something about who we are and when we
can find the people who believe what we
believe we’re really drawn because our
very survival depends on it we need it
and so the more you can give of yourself
the more you can give of what you
believe the more you can discipline with
discipline saying boo and do the things
you actually believe strange things
start to happen
[Music]
how do you explain when others are able
to achieve things that seem to defy all
of the assumptions for example why is
Apple so innovative year after year
after year after year they’re more
innovative than all their competition
and yet they’re just a computer company
they’re just like everyone else they
have the same access to the same talent
the same agencies the same consultants
the same media then why is it that they
seem to have something different why is
it that Martin Luther King led the civil
rights movement he wasn’t the only man
who suffered in a pre-civil Rights
America and he certainly wasn’t the only
great orator of the day why him and why
is it that the Wright brothers were able
to figure out control powered man flight
when there were certainly other teams
who were better qualified that are
funded and they didn’t achieve powered
man flight the Wright brothers beat them
to it there’s something else at play
here about three and a half years ago I
made a discovery and this discovery
profoundly changed my view on how I
thought the world worked and even the
family changed the way in which I
operate in it
as it turns out there’s a pattern as it
turns out all the great and inspiring
leaders and organizations in the world
whether it’s Apple and Martin Luther
King or the Wright brothers they will
think act and communicate the exact same
way and it’s the complete opposite to
everyone else all I did was codify it
and it’s probably the world’s simplest
idea I call it the Golden Circle
this little idea explains why some
organizations and some leaders are able
to inspire where others aren’t let me
define the terms really quickly every
single person every single organization
on the planet knows what they do 100
percent some know how they do it when
you call it you’re differentiating value
proposition or your proprietary process
or your USP but very very few people or
organizations know why they do what they
do and by why I don’t mean to make a
profit that’s a result it’s always a
result by why I mean what’s your purpose
what’s your cause what’s your belief why
does your organization exist why do you
get out of bed in the morning and why
should anyone care well as a result the
way we think the way we act the way we
communicate is from the outside in it’s
obvious we go from the clearest thing to
the fuzziest thing but the inspired
leaders in inspire or inspired
organizations regardless of their size
regardless of their industry or think
act and communicate from the inside out
let me give you an example I use Apple
because we easy to understand and
everybody gets it if Apple were like
everyone else a marketing message from
them might sound like this we make great
computers they’re beautifully designed
simple to use and user friendly want to
buy one and that’s how most of us
communicate that’s how most marketing is
done that’s how most sales done and
that’s how most of us communicate
interpersonally we say what we do we say
how we’re different or how we better and
we expect some sort of behavior or
purchase vote something like that here’s
our new law firm we have the best
lawyers with the biggest clients we have
you know we always perform for our
clients do business with us here’s our
new car it gets great gas mileage it has
you know leather seats by our car but
it’s uninspiring here’s how Apple
actually communicates everything we do
we believe in challenging the status quo
we believe in thinking differently the
way we challenge the status quo is by
making our products beautifully designed
simple to use and user friendly we just
happen to make great computers run a buy
one totally different right
you ready to buy a computer from me all
I did was reverse the order of the
information what it proves to us is that
people don’t buy what you do people buy
why you do it people don’t buy what you
do they buy why you do it
this explains why every single person in
this room is perfectly comfortable
buying a computer from Apple but
also perfectly comfortable buying an mp3
player from Apple or a phone from Apple
or a DVR from Apple but as I said before
Apple is just a computer company there’s
nothing that distinguishes them
structurally than any of their
competitors their competitors are all
equally qualified to make all of these
products in fact they tried a few years
ago gateway came out with flat-screen
TVs they’re eminently qualified to make
flat-screen tvs they’ve been making
flat-screen monitors for years in fact
talking about it now we can’t even
imagine buying an mp3 player from Dell
why would you buy an mp3 player from a
computer company but we do it every day
people don’t buy what you do they buy
why you do it the goal is not to do
business with anybody with everybody who
needs what you have the goal is to do
business with people who believe what
you believe
here’s the best part none of what I’m
telling you is my opinion it’s all
grounded in the tenets of biology not
psychology biology if you look at a
cross-section of the human brain looking
from the top down what you see is the
human brain is actually broken into
three major components that correlate
perfectly with the golden circle our
newest brain our Homo Sapien brain our
neocortex corresponds with the what
level the neocortex is responsible for
all of our rational and analytical
thought and language the middle two
sections make up our limbic brains and
our limbic brains are responsible for
all of our feelings like trust and
loyalty it’s also responsible for all
human behavior all decision-making and
it has no capacity for language in other
words when we communicate from the
outside in yes people can understand
vast amounts of complicated information
like features and benefits and facts and
figures just doesn’t drive behavior
when we communicate from the inside out
we’re talking directly to the part of
the brain that controls behavior and
then we allow people to rationalize it
with the tangible things we say and do
this is where gut decisions come from
you know sometimes you can give somebody
all the facts and figures in this I know
what all the facts and details say but
it just doesn’t feel right why would we
use that verb it doesn’t feel right
because the part of the brain that
controls decision-making doesn’t control
language and the best we can muster up
is I don’t know it just doesn’t feel
right where sometimes you say you’re
leading with your heart or you’re
leading with your soul well I hate to
break it to you those aren’t the other
body parts controlling your behavior
that’s all happening here in your limbic
brain the part of the brain that
controls decision-making and not
language but if you don’t know why you
do what you do and people respond to why
you do what you do then how will anybody
how do you ever get people to vote for
you buy something from you or more
importantly be loyal and want to be a
part of what it is what you bet you do
again the goal is not just as to sell
people who need what you have the goal
is to sell to people who believe what
you believe the goal is not just to hire
people who need a job it’s to hire
people who believe what you believe I
always say that you know there’s if you
if you if you hire people just because
they can do a job they’ll work for your
money but if you hire people who believe
what you believe they work for you with
blood and sweat and tears and no air up
nowhere else is there a better example
of this than with the Wright brothers
most people don’t know about Samuel
Pierpont Langley and back in the early
20th century the pursuit of powered man
flight was like the calm of the day
everybody was trying it and Samuel
Pierpont Langley had what we assume to
be the recipe for success I mean even
now when you ask people why did your
product or why did your company fail and
people always give you the permute same
permutation of the same three thing
undercapitalized the wrong people bad
market conditions it was the same three
things so let’s explore that Samuel
Pierpont Langley was given fifty
thousand dollars by the War Department
to figure out this flying machine money
was no problem he held a seat at Harvard
and worked at the Smithsonian and was
extremely well-connected he knew all the
big minds of the day he hired the best
minds money could find and the market
conditions were fantastic
the New York Times followed him around
everywhere and everyone was rooting for
Langley and how can we’ve never heard of
Samuel Pierpont Langley a few hundred
miles away in Dayton Ohio Orville and
Wilbur Wright they had none of what we
consider to be the recipe for success
they had no money they paid for their
dream with the proceeds from their
bicycle shop not a single person on the
Wright brothers team had a college
education
not even Orville or Wilbur and the New
York Times followed them around
know where the difference was Orville
and Wilbur were driven by a caused by a
purpose by a belief they believed that
if they could figure out this flying
machine but it changed the course of the
world Samuel Pierpont Langley was
different he wanted to be rich and he
want to be famous he was in pursuit of
the result he was in pursuit of the
riches and lo and behold look what
happened the people who believed in the
Wright brothers dream worked with them
for blood and sweat and tears the others
just worked for the paycheck and they
tell stories of how every time the
Wright brothers went out they would have
to take five sets of parts because
that’s how many times they would crash
before they came in for supper and
eventually on December 17th 1903 the
Wright brothers took flight and no one
was there to even experience it we found
out about it a few days later and
further proof that Langley was motivated
by the wrong thing the day the Wright
brothers took flight he quit he could
have said that’s an amazing discovery
guys and I will improve upon your
technology but he didn’t he wasn’t first
he didn’t get rich he didn’t get famous
so he quit people don’t buy what you do
they buy why you do it and if you talk
about what you believe you will attract
those who believe that you believe well
why is it important to attract those who
believe what you believe
decision-making is a process right the
question is what filters are you using
to make you sick are you making
decisions based on the financial reward
are you making decisions based on how
easy the work will be I mean I remember
in college you know they would give you
the book where they all the students
would rate the classes and they would
write things like how easy the class was
and how you know how much they liked the
professor and you know the first year I
picked all my classes based on workload
and I think everything a low workload
you know and pretty bored didn’t work
very hard which is fine but nothing was
dynamic and nothing really excited me
and I thank goodness learned that and so
the second year I picked all my classes
by professor rating regardless of the
workload so every class I had I had
these dynamic amazing incredible human
beings passing on their knowledge and
you were excited to work hard for them
you know and so again what the question
is what are the filters were using and
so if you’re only chasing the mighty
dollar
then you will have jobs that’ll pay you
a little more than the last but are you
enjoying yourself and I talked to a guy
recently who was not he’s in bad shape
like he really hates his life and he’s
really depressed he doesn’t know what to
do and so we were going through all his
old jobs you know and I said give me a
job that you’ve loved and he had every
single job he’s chosen out of college he
picked because of the the money and if
something offered him more somewhere
else he took it you know regardless and
and and and the amazing thing is he
plateaued because if you’re only chasing
the result if you’re only chasing the
thing that makes it easy right then
eventually you will get bored or they’ll
get bored of you right
and you Plateau in other words chasing
the almighty dollar if that’s your only
thing it eventually flattens out whereas
if you’re chasing the thing that excites
you the human beings to be around the
work that excites you the stuff that you
know you know you can get passionate
about you know the the irony is is you
actually make way way more right because
you’re excited and they appreciate your
excitement they reward your excitement
and you’re better at your work because
you want to work harder and all of that
stuff you don’t have to strain to work
harder so decision-making is simply a
matter of filter you know and so I’ve
made decisions in my life that I would
rather be happy than right I’d rather do
good then then get rich and and so the
decisions I make
positions where when I leave anything
games
meeting I feel that I treated
[Music]
how can you help the human race happen
you help the human race human species
progress
I’m not joking either this is something
I think we all have to be aware of at
the end of the day the human animal is a
social animal and our very survival
depends on our ability to form
communities to form cultures what’s a
community what’s a culture it’s a group
of people with a common set of values
and beliefs right what’s a country it’s
a group of people with a common set of
values and beliefs
what’s a company it should be a group of
people with a common set of values and
beliefs when we’re surrounded by people
who believe what we believe something
remarkable happens Trust emerges and
make no mistake of it trust as a feeling
a distinctly human feeling you know we
all have friends we’re total screw-ups
and yet we still trust them right Trust
is not a check with simply doing
everything you say you’re going to do
doesn’t that much does not mean people
will inherently trust you it just means
you’re reliable
we need trust right we need trust when
we’re surrounded by people who believe
what we believe and trust starts to
emerge and we trust them and they trust
us we’re more willing to take risks
we’re more willing to experiment which
requires failure we’re more willing to
explore and go somewhere with that no
one has ever gone before with the
confidence that if we fail if we trip
over if we turn our backs that those
within our community those who we trust
and who trust us will look after us
while we’re gone we’ll pick us up when
we fall over will help us when we’re
hurt our very survival depends
we’re not good at everything we’re not
good by ourselves you know I send you
out to go fight a saber-toothed tiger by
yourself odds are Tiger one you zero
it’s not going to go very well but if
you go out as a group we’re pretty damn
amazing and the reason is is because we
all have our strengths and we all of our
certain weaknesses and the goal is not
to fix your weaknesses the goal is to
amplify your strengths and surround
yourself with the people who can do what
you can’t do but it’s not just based on
skills and an application and experience
it’s based on what you believe it’s
based on what you believe you see simply
being good at something and having
somebody else being good what you’re no
good at does not mean you will trust
each other trust the sense of trust
comes from the sense of common values
and common beliefs
we want to go to work with people who
understand us who believe what we
believe who have a similar view of the
world that has nothing to do with their
opinions and the differences that we
share that’s good that’s called
diversity that’s called advantages to
problem-solving which is we can all look
at the same thing from a different angle
and come up with solutions what I’m
talking about is why should you help
each other in the first place what are
you in pursuit of now the question is is
what creates that sense of values and
believes what creates that sense of
trust right our very human instinct we
know how to find people who believe what
we believe our survival depends on it
we’re biologically gifted with this idea
if I ask you to go out in the street and
find all the people who believe what you
believe you know exactly what to do
you’re going to strike up conversations
you’re going to start talking to people
and you’ll either you’ll have a good
feeling about them or you won’t either
you’ll have chemistry whatever that
means where you don’t sometimes it’s
quick sometimes it’s slow but we know
how to do it it’s called making friends
it’s called dating it’s called
networking we have the innate ability to
do it
[Music]
passion is not an actionable word it’s
correct you know that those who do the
things that they’re passionate about do
better but it’s not helpful advice and
so the question is where does passion
come from passion is a result passion is
an energy passion is the feeling you
have when you’re engaged in something
that you love passion is the feeling you
have that you would probably do this for
free you know and you can’t believe
somebody pays you to do it you know and
I think we mistake that passion is
something we do in our private lives but
it shouldn’t be done you know in our
careers for example and I’m a firm
believer that you are who you are and
anybody who says I’m different at home
that I have it working well those two
places you’re lying and the goal is to
make everything you do in home and it
works something that you have excitement
to do so how do you find the things that
you’re excited to do well it’s actually
easier than you think what are the
things that you love to do what are the
things that you would do for free you
know how can you recreate that feeling
and and be papered so what are the
things that I do on the weekend right
I love
I’m very involved in the art world I
love to go to museums and galleries but
I love to go see dance and performances
because I want to see how others are
interpreting the world so that inspires
me new ideas new clothes new ways of
looking at the world are things that
interest me privately and I seek it out
and pay money for it right so does that
mean I have to have a career in the arts
no it means I have to have a career
where new ideas are explored where
people are experimenting and trying
things out and I have to explore the way
ideas and try things out and I’m just as
excited to go to work every day as I am
to you know go do something on a
Saturday night and so the idea of
finding your passion is ironically
simple because you should be doing stuff
that you enjoy sometimes what is the
stuff that you enjoy and then what is
stuff that you love who are the people
you love and what it is what they all
have in common
performing under pressure whether it’s
me or anybody else is the same
you know I have the same pressures as
anyone else there’s time there’s
performance there’s financial I mean
zero you know there’s deadlines my
pressures are not unique the situations
may be different or you know but
everybody has the same kinds of
pressures but what I found or what I
find fascinating is the interpretation
of the stimuli let me let me explain so
I was watching the Olympics this glass
number one and I was amazed at how bad
the questions world if the reporters
would ask all the athletes and almost
always they asked the same question
whether they were about to compete or
after they competed were you nervous
right and to a team all the athletes
went no right and what I realized is
it’s not that they’re not nervous if
their interpretation of what’s happening
in their bodies and what it what happens
when you’re nervous right your heart
rate starts to go you’re you know you
sort of get a little tense you get a
little sweaty right you have expectation
what’s coming and we interpreted that is
I’m nervous now what’s the
interpretation of excited your heart
rate starts to go you become you’re
anticipating what’s coming right you get
a little sort of like tense it’s all the
same thing at the same stimuli except
these athletes these these Olympic
quality athletes have learned to
interpret the stimuli that the rest of
us would say as nervous as excited they
also the same thing no I’m not nervous
I’m excited and so I’ve actually
practiced it just to tell myself when I
start to get nervous that this is
excitement you know and so where when
you used to feet speak in front of a
large audience and somebody’d say how do
you feel I say little nervous now when
somebody says how do you feel like
really excited actually and it it came
from just sort of telling myself no no
this is excitement
Nelson Mandela is a particularly special
case study in the leadership world
because he is universally regarded as a
great leader you can take other
personalities and depending on the
nation you go to we have different
opinions about other personalities but
Nelson Mandela across the world is
universally regarded as a great leader
he was actually the son of a tribal
chief and he was asked one day how did
you learn to be a great leader and he
responded that he would go with his
father to tribal meetings and he
remembers two things when his father
would meet with other elders one they
would always sit in a circle and to his
father was always the last to speak
you’ll be told your whole life that you
need to learn to listen I would say that
you need to learn to be the last to
speak I see it in boardrooms every day
of the week even people who consider
themselves good leaders who may actually
be decent leaders will walk into a room
and say here’s the problem here’s what I
think but I’m interested in your opinion
let’s go around the room it’s too late
the skill to hold your opinions to
yourself until everyone has spoken
there’s two things one it gives
everybody else the feeling that they
have been heard the give me gives
everyone else the ability to feel that
they have contributed and two you get
the benefit of hearing what everybody
else has to think before you render your
opinion the skill is really to keep your
opinions to yourself if you agree with
somebody don’t nod yes if you disagree
with somebody don’t not know simply sit
there take it all in and the only thing
you’re allowed to do is ask questions so
that you can understand what they mean
and why they have the opinion that they
have you must understand from where they
are speaking why they have the opinion
they have not just what they are saying
and at the end you will get your turn it
sounds easy it’s not practice being the
last to speak that’s what Nelson Mandela
did
let me tell you a story so a friend of
mine and I we went for a run in Central
Park the Roadrunners organization
on the weekend they post races and it’s
very common at the end of the race
they’ll have a sponsored move give away
something apples or bagels or something
and on this particular day we got to the
end of the run
some free bagels they had picnic tables
set up and on one side was a group of
volunteers on the table were boxes of
bagels and on the other side was a long
line of runners waiting to get their
free bagel so I said to my friend let’s
let’s get a bagel he looked at me and
said that lines too long and that’s when
I realized that there’s two ways to see
the world some people see the thing that
they want and some people see the thing
that prevents them from getting the
thing that they want I could only see
the bagels
he could only see the line and so I
walked up to the line I leaned in
between two people put my hand in the
box and pulled out two bagels and no one
got mad at me because the rule is you
can go after whatever you want
you just cannot deny anyone else to go
after whatever they want so the point is
is you don’t have to wait in line you
don’t have to do it the way everybody
else has done it you can do it your way
you can break the rules you just can’t
get in the way of somebody else getting
what they want
I talked to so many smart fantastic
ambitious idealistic hard-working kids
and there right out of college their
their entry-level jobs and I’ll ask them
how is it going and they’ll say I think
I’m gonna quit I’m like why they say to
me I’m not making an impact I’m like you
know you’ve been here eight months right
they treat the sense of fulfillment or
even love like it’s a scavenger hunt
like it’s something you look for my
millennial friends they’ve gone through
so many jobs they’re either getting
fired or they’re quitting because
they’re not making an impact or they’re
not finding the thing they’re looking
for they’re not feeling fulfilled as if
it’s a scavenger hunt love a job you
find joy from is not something you
discover it’s not like I found love here
it is I found a job I love that’s not
how it works both of those things
require hard work you are in love
because you work very hard every single
day of your life to stay in love you
find a job that brings you ultimate joy
because you work hard every single day
to serve those around you and you
maintain that joy it’s not a discovery
but the problem is the sense of
impatience it’s as if an entire
generation is standing at the foot of a
mountain they know exactly what they
want they can see the summit but they
can’t see as the mountain this large
amove abou
object that doesn’t mean you have to do
your time that’s not what I’m talking
about take a helicopter climb I don’t
care but there’s still a mountain life
career fulfillment relationships our
journey problem is this entire
generation has an institutionalized
sense of impatience and do they have the
patience to go on the journey to
maintain love to feel fulfilled or do
they just quit and on to the next dump
and on to the next ghost and on to the
next I spoke at an education summit for
Microsoft I also spoke at an education
summit for Apple at education for Mike
at the education summit for Microsoft I
would say that 70% of the executives
spent about 70% of their presentations
talking about how to
Apple at the Apple education summit a
hundred percent of the executives spent
a hundred percent of their presentation
talking about how to help keep your feet
and how to help students learn one is
playing this way and one
playing finite and the other one is
playing against with one gets frustrated
so at the end of my talk at Microsoft
that gave me a gift they gave me the new
Xun when it was a thing and let me tell
you this thing was spectacular
it was the most elegant piece of
technology I’d ever used the user
interface was incredible the design was
spectacular I absolutely loved it it was
easy to use and it was bright and
gorgeous and elegant my god it was
elegant
so I’m sitting in the back of a taxi
with a very senior Apple executive sort
of employee number 12 kind of guy and
you know I like to stir pots so I turned
him I said you know Microsoft gave me
their new zoom and it is so much better
than your iPod touch and he turned to me
and he said I have no doubt
conversation over
because the infinite player understands
sometimes your head and sometimes you
behind
sometimes your product is better and
sometimes it’s worth the goal isn’t to
be the best every day the goal isn’t out
to outdo your competition every day
that’s a finite construction if I had
said to Microsoft I’ve got the new ipod
touch and it’s so much better than your
Zune
they would have said can we see it what
does it do react react react react
finite players play to be bet to beat
the people around them infinite players
play to be better than themselves to
wake up every single day and say how can
we make our company a better version of
itself today than it was yesterday how
can we create a product this week that’s
better than the product we created last
week we also have to play the infant
game it’s not about being ranked number
one it’s not about having more followers
on Twitter than your friends it’s not
about outdoing anyone it’s about how to
outdo yourself it’s not about selling
more books or getting more TED views
than somebody else it’s about how to
make sure that the work that you’re
producing is better than your work we
produced before you are your competition
and that is what ensures you stay in the
game the longest and that is what
ensures you find
because the joy comes not from
comparison but from itself
[Music]
I met my best when I’m around people who
believe what I believe I know it seems
silly but I try very very hard to stack
the deck you know to put myself in a
position of strength so for example you
know somebody asked me just yesterday
have you ever had sort of a bad you know
engagement I was thinking myself I’m
like not really but it’s not because I’m
some sort of sort of genius
understanding anything like that it’s
because I stack the deck it’s because I
want to be there I want to be around
people who want me to in other words if
I’m somebody’s tenth choice they’re like
you know I’ll probably turn it down
whereas you had my first choice they
really won’t be there and so I’m more
likely to have a good engagement they’re
supportive of me I’m supportive of them
and so
yeah I’m at my maximum I respected that
when I choose to be in an environment
where my Spencer okay
every decision we make in our lives as
individuals or as organizations is a
piece of communication it’s our way of
saying something about who we are and
what we believe this is why authenticity
matters this is why you have to say and
do the things you actually believe
because the things you say and do are
symbols of who you are and we look for
those symbols so we can find people who
believe what we believe our very
survival depends on it so if you’re
putting out false symbols you will
attract people to those symbols but you
won’t be able to form trust with them
this is what Tiger Woods did to us he
lied he lied he told us what he thought
we wanted to hear and it was great and
we were drawn to it and all of us who
kind of liked that idea of the sort of
the good guy we’re drawn to it until we
found out it was a lot he could have
been the bad boy of gold he could have
had all the same endorsements and had a
fantastic career and still been hailed
as one of the great athletes of our day
but he didn’t he chose to lie good luck
forming trust again tiger we don’t
believe we don’t trust you the goal of
putting something out
if you say what you believe do you
believe you will attract people who
believe if you better one of your
friends and you say to one of your
friends how would you like me to dress
so that you’ll like me better how would
you want me to address you how do you
want me to speak so that you’ll like me
more right your friends are gonna
looking good what are you talking about
come on come on come on shot what should
I wear so that you’ll find me more
appealing and how would you like me to
speak to you so that you like me more
and your friends are gonna tell you just
be yourself that’s why I like you I
don’t just be yourself now think about
what we do in industry when we do we do
market research and we go up and we ask
the customers what kind of things the
way what style should we speak to you
how should we decorate ourselves what
kind of things are you drawn to so that
we can do those things you’ll like us
more it’s just as ridiculous it’s just
as ridiculous organizations should say
and do the things they actually believe
and they will attract people who believe
what they believe or they can choose to
lie and at the slightest hint that they
might be lying cynicism sets in and
people start saying I’m not sure I can
trust these guys because there’s not a
lot of consistency and all the things
they say and do which means they can’t
have a very strong belief set or they’re
lying to me and we call them it
authentic the entire process of asking
other people who we should be is
inauthentic that’s hilarious to me all
these positioning studies we do are
inherent we’re going to do a study to
find out from people so we can be more
authentic that’s hilarious
say and do what you actually believe and
the symbols you put out there the things
you say and the things you do those red
hats are ways that people can find you
what you have the ability to do as
designers is create those symbols
and allow people to use those things to
say something about who they are work
for companies work for clients work for
people who you believe what they believe
show up and feel a part of something
bigger than yourself and your part is to
put what they believe into pictures and
words and symbols and graphics so that
other people can use those things to say
something about who they are we surround
ourselves with the people and the
products and the brands that say
something about who we are and when we
can find the people who believe what we
believe we’re really drawn because our
very survival depends on it we need it
and so the more you can give of yourself
the more you can give of what you
believe the more you can discipline with
discipline saying boo and do the things
you actually believe strange things
start to happen
[Music]
how do you explain when others are able
to achieve things that seem to defy all
of the assumptions for example why is
Apple so innovative year after year
after year after year they’re more
innovative than all their competition
and yet they’re just a computer company
they’re just like everyone else they
have the same access to the same talent
the same agencies the same consultants
the same media then why is it that they
seem to have something different why is
it that Martin Luther King led the civil
rights movement he wasn’t the only man
who suffered in a pre-civil Rights
America and he certainly wasn’t the only
great orator of the day why him and why
is it that the Wright brothers were able
to figure out control powered man flight
when there were certainly other teams
who were better qualified that are
funded and they didn’t achieve powered
man flight the Wright brothers beat them
to it there’s something else at play
here about three and a half years ago I
made a discovery and this discovery
profoundly changed my view on how I
thought the world worked and even the
family changed the way in which I
operate in it
as it turns out there’s a pattern as it
turns out all the great and inspiring
leaders and organizations in the world
whether it’s Apple and Martin Luther
King or the Wright brothers they will
think act and communicate the exact same
way and it’s the complete opposite to
everyone else all I did was codify it
and it’s probably the world’s simplest
idea I call it the Golden Circle
this little idea explains why some
organizations and some leaders are able
to inspire where others aren’t let me
define the terms really quickly every
single person every single organization
on the planet knows what they do 100
percent some know how they do it when
you call it you’re differentiating value
proposition or your proprietary process
or your USP but very very few people or
organizations know why they do what they
do and by why I don’t mean to make a
profit that’s a result it’s always a
result by why I mean what’s your purpose
what’s your cause what’s your belief why
does your organization exist why do you
get out of bed in the morning and why
should anyone care well as a result the
way we think the way we act the way we
communicate is from the outside in it’s
obvious we go from the clearest thing to
the fuzziest thing but the inspired
leaders in inspire or inspired
organizations regardless of their size
regardless of their industry or think
act and communicate from the inside out
let me give you an example I use Apple
because we easy to understand and
everybody gets it if Apple were like
everyone else a marketing message from
them might sound like this we make great
computers they’re beautifully designed
simple to use and user friendly want to
buy one and that’s how most of us
communicate that’s how most marketing is
done that’s how most sales done and
that’s how most of us communicate
interpersonally we say what we do we say
how we’re different or how we better and
we expect some sort of behavior or
purchase vote something like that here’s
our new law firm we have the best
lawyers with the biggest clients we have
you know we always perform for our
clients do business with us here’s our
new car it gets great gas mileage it has
you know leather seats by our car but
it’s uninspiring here’s how Apple
actually communicates everything we do
we believe in challenging the status quo
we believe in thinking differently the
way we challenge the status quo is by
making our products beautifully designed
simple to use and user friendly we just
happen to make great computers run a buy
one totally different right
you ready to buy a computer from me all
I did was reverse the order of the
information what it proves to us is that
people don’t buy what you do people buy
why you do it people don’t buy what you
do they buy why you do it
this explains why every single person in
this room is perfectly comfortable
buying a computer from Apple but
also perfectly comfortable buying an mp3
player from Apple or a phone from Apple
or a DVR from Apple but as I said before
Apple is just a computer company there’s
nothing that distinguishes them
structurally than any of their
competitors their competitors are all
equally qualified to make all of these
products in fact they tried a few years
ago gateway came out with flat-screen
TVs they’re eminently qualified to make
flat-screen tvs they’ve been making
flat-screen monitors for years in fact
talking about it now we can’t even
imagine buying an mp3 player from Dell
why would you buy an mp3 player from a
computer company but we do it every day
people don’t buy what you do they buy
why you do it the goal is not to do
business with anybody with everybody who
needs what you have the goal is to do
business with people who believe what
you believe
here’s the best part none of what I’m
telling you is my opinion it’s all
grounded in the tenets of biology not
psychology biology if you look at a
cross-section of the human brain looking
from the top down what you see is the
human brain is actually broken into
three major components that correlate
perfectly with the golden circle our
newest brain our Homo Sapien brain our
neocortex corresponds with the what
level the neocortex is responsible for
all of our rational and analytical
thought and language the middle two
sections make up our limbic brains and
our limbic brains are responsible for
all of our feelings like trust and
loyalty it’s also responsible for all
human behavior all decision-making and
it has no capacity for language in other
words when we communicate from the
outside in yes people can understand
vast amounts of complicated information
like features and benefits and facts and
figures just doesn’t drive behavior
when we communicate from the inside out
we’re talking directly to the part of
the brain that controls behavior and
then we allow people to rationalize it
with the tangible things we say and do
this is where gut decisions come from
you know sometimes you can give somebody
all the facts and figures in this I know
what all the facts and details say but
it just doesn’t feel right why would we
use that verb it doesn’t feel right
because the part of the brain that
controls decision-making doesn’t control
language and the best we can muster up
is I don’t know it just doesn’t feel
right where sometimes you say you’re
leading with your heart or you’re
leading with your soul well I hate to
break it to you those aren’t the other
body parts controlling your behavior
that’s all happening here in your limbic
brain the part of the brain that
controls decision-making and not
language but if you don’t know why you
do what you do and people respond to why
you do what you do then how will anybody
how do you ever get people to vote for
you buy something from you or more
importantly be loyal and want to be a
part of what it is what you bet you do
again the goal is not just as to sell
people who need what you have the goal
is to sell to people who believe what
you believe the goal is not just to hire
people who need a job it’s to hire
people who believe what you believe I
always say that you know there’s if you
if you if you hire people just because
they can do a job they’ll work for your
money but if you hire people who believe
what you believe they work for you with
blood and sweat and tears and no air up
nowhere else is there a better example
of this than with the Wright brothers
most people don’t know about Samuel
Pierpont Langley and back in the early
20th century the pursuit of powered man
flight was like the calm of the day
everybody was trying it and Samuel
Pierpont Langley had what we assume to
be the recipe for success I mean even
now when you ask people why did your
product or why did your company fail and
people always give you the permute same
permutation of the same three thing
undercapitalized the wrong people bad
market conditions it was the same three
things so let’s explore that Samuel
Pierpont Langley was given fifty
thousand dollars by the War Department
to figure out this flying machine money
was no problem he held a seat at Harvard
and worked at the Smithsonian and was
extremely well-connected he knew all the
big minds of the day he hired the best
minds money could find and the market
conditions were fantastic
the New York Times followed him around
everywhere and everyone was rooting for
Langley and how can we’ve never heard of
Samuel Pierpont Langley a few hundred
miles away in Dayton Ohio Orville and
Wilbur Wright they had none of what we
consider to be the recipe for success
they had no money they paid for their
dream with the proceeds from their
bicycle shop not a single person on the
Wright brothers team had a college
education
not even Orville or Wilbur and the New
York Times followed them around
know where the difference was Orville
and Wilbur were driven by a caused by a
purpose by a belief they believed that
if they could figure out this flying
machine but it changed the course of the
world Samuel Pierpont Langley was
different he wanted to be rich and he
want to be famous he was in pursuit of
the result he was in pursuit of the
riches and lo and behold look what
happened the people who believed in the
Wright brothers dream worked with them
for blood and sweat and tears the others
just worked for the paycheck and they
tell stories of how every time the
Wright brothers went out they would have
to take five sets of parts because
that’s how many times they would crash
before they came in for supper and
eventually on December 17th 1903 the
Wright brothers took flight and no one
was there to even experience it we found
out about it a few days later and
further proof that Langley was motivated
by the wrong thing the day the Wright
brothers took flight he quit he could
have said that’s an amazing discovery
guys and I will improve upon your
technology but he didn’t he wasn’t first
he didn’t get rich he didn’t get famous
so he quit people don’t buy what you do
they buy why you do it and if you talk
about what you believe you will attract
those who believe that you believe well
why is it important to attract those who
believe what you believe
decision-making is a process right the
question is what filters are you using
to make you sick are you making
decisions based on the financial reward
are you making decisions based on how
easy the work will be I mean I remember
in college you know they would give you
the book where they all the students
would rate the classes and they would
write things like how easy the class was
and how you know how much they liked the
professor and you know the first year I
picked all my classes based on workload
and I think everything a low workload
you know and pretty bored didn’t work
very hard which is fine but nothing was
dynamic and nothing really excited me
and I thank goodness learned that and so
the second year I picked all my classes
by professor rating regardless of the
workload so every class I had I had
these dynamic amazing incredible human
beings passing on their knowledge and
you were excited to work hard for them
you know and so again what the question
is what are the filters were using and
so if you’re only chasing the mighty
dollar
then you will have jobs that’ll pay you
a little more than the last but are you
enjoying yourself and I talked to a guy
recently who was not he’s in bad shape
like he really hates his life and he’s
really depressed he doesn’t know what to
do and so we were going through all his
old jobs you know and I said give me a
job that you’ve loved and he had every
single job he’s chosen out of college he
picked because of the the money and if
something offered him more somewhere
else he took it you know regardless and
and and and the amazing thing is he
plateaued because if you’re only chasing
the result if you’re only chasing the
thing that makes it easy right then
eventually you will get bored or they’ll
get bored of you right
and you Plateau in other words chasing
the almighty dollar if that’s your only
thing it eventually flattens out whereas
if you’re chasing the thing that excites
you the human beings to be around the
work that excites you the stuff that you
know you know you can get passionate
about you know the the irony is is you
actually make way way more right because
you’re excited and they appreciate your
excitement they reward your excitement
and you’re better at your work because
you want to work harder and all of that
stuff you don’t have to strain to work
harder so decision-making is simply a
matter of filter you know and so I’ve
made decisions in my life that I would
rather be happy than right I’d rather do
good then then get rich and and so the
decisions I make
positions where when I leave anything
games
meeting I feel that I treated
[Music]
how can you help the human race happen
you help the human race human species
progress
I’m not joking either this is something
I think we all have to be aware of at
the end of the day the human animal is a
social animal and our very survival
depends on our ability to form
communities to form cultures what’s a
community what’s a culture it’s a group
of people with a common set of values
and beliefs right what’s a country it’s
a group of people with a common set of
values and beliefs
what’s a company it should be a group of
people with a common set of values and
beliefs when we’re surrounded by people
who believe what we believe something
remarkable happens Trust emerges and
make no mistake of it trust as a feeling
a distinctly human feeling you know we
all have friends we’re total screw-ups
and yet we still trust them right Trust
is not a check with simply doing
everything you say you’re going to do
doesn’t that much does not mean people
will inherently trust you it just means
you’re reliable
we need trust right we need trust when
we’re surrounded by people who believe
what we believe and trust starts to
emerge and we trust them and they trust
us we’re more willing to take risks
we’re more willing to experiment which
requires failure we’re more willing to
explore and go somewhere with that no
one has ever gone before with the
confidence that if we fail if we trip
over if we turn our backs that those
within our community those who we trust
and who trust us will look after us
while we’re gone we’ll pick us up when
we fall over will help us when we’re
hurt our very survival depends
we’re not good at everything we’re not
good by ourselves you know I send you
out to go fight a saber-toothed tiger by
yourself odds are Tiger one you zero
it’s not going to go very well but if
you go out as a group we’re pretty damn
amazing and the reason is is because we
all have our strengths and we all of our
certain weaknesses and the goal is not
to fix your weaknesses the goal is to
amplify your strengths and surround
yourself with the people who can do what
you can’t do but it’s not just based on
skills and an application and experience
it’s based on what you believe it’s
based on what you believe you see simply
being good at something and having
somebody else being good what you’re no
good at does not mean you will trust
each other trust the sense of trust
comes from the sense of common values
and common beliefs
we want to go to work with people who
understand us who believe what we
believe who have a similar view of the
world that has nothing to do with their
opinions and the differences that we
share that’s good that’s called
diversity that’s called advantages to
problem-solving which is we can all look
at the same thing from a different angle
and come up with solutions what I’m
talking about is why should you help
each other in the first place what are
you in pursuit of now the question is is
what creates that sense of values and
believes what creates that sense of
trust right our very human instinct we
know how to find people who believe what
we believe our survival depends on it
we’re biologically gifted with this idea
if I ask you to go out in the street and
find all the people who believe what you
believe you know exactly what to do
you’re going to strike up conversations
you’re going to start talking to people
and you’ll either you’ll have a good
feeling about them or you won’t either
you’ll have chemistry whatever that
means where you don’t sometimes it’s
quick sometimes it’s slow but we know
how to do it it’s called making friends
it’s called dating it’s called
networking we have the innate ability to
do it
[Music]
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