Our "Why" at ZTEC Instruments

Simon Sinek's book "Start With Why" argues that we are driven by "why". Decision-making is emotional and we use reason to justify our emotional decisions. Sinek supports his theory with a biological argument that decision-making is centered in the limbic system at the core of the human brain. The limbic brain is the most primal part of the brain and is responsible for emotion, behavior & long-term memory. Language and reason occur in the more developed part of the brain called the neocortex. We use reason to justify and rationalize our emotional decisions, but all decisions are based upon emotion.

Great companies start with a "why", and this "why" emotionally connects with customers and workers alike. We purchase products that resonate with our identity and values. We purchase products from companies that are aligned with our beliefs. Sinek states "People do not buy what you do, they buy why you do it." In regards to work, we all want to be part of something greater than ourselves. If you hire people who believe what you believe, work takes on true meaning and purpose. An organization aligned in its "why" provides the passion and drive to accomplish great things.

And, this is our "why" at  ZTEC Instruments.  We believe in individual contribution, contribution to our customers, to our industry, to our community, and especially contribution to the professional development of a superior workforce. We believe that a talented and highly-motivated group of people can change the world. We have the passion and drive to do extraordinary things. How we do this is through rapid and focused innovation. What we do is manufacture wireless test equipment.

How Big Companies Lose Their Way

I recently refinanced my home with a large bank, one that is publicly announcing that it wants to grow its market share to 40%. This lender currently controls 1 in 3 U.S. mortgages, and states that this is a result of doing a better job than its rivals. If my refinance experience is an example of doing a better job, this bank is sorely mistaken. This nationwide bank treated me as if they were doing me a favor by accepting my business, and either through neglect or bad faith, at three different times tried to extract thousands of dollars in additional fees. This episode demonstrates how a large organization can lose its way and cause its own downfall.

This leading nationwide mortgage lender attempted to raise fees at the very end of a 90-day refinance process, hoping that either I would not notice or would be so far along that I would cave in. I found out about the fee changes from the legal disclosure documents in the last days before closing. Three times, I was verbally assured that their original fee structure would be honored and then later received written documentation to the contrary. Each time, I had to make numerous phone calls to confront and resolve the undisclosed fee changes.

21st Century Infrastructure

Recently, there has been much discussion about the need for more government investment in our infrastructure. Most of us think about bridges and roads when we hear infrastructure. The world is changing rapidly and our infrastructure investments need to keep pace with those changes. Instead of building transportation infrastructure to connect us physically, why not build 21st century infrastructure to connect us electronically?

Outliers

In statistics, an outlier is an unusual occurrence that falls outside of the normal statistical distribution. These random and rare occurrences often seem inexplicable. Consider rolling dice and getting snake eyes 100 times in a row.

Malcolm Gladwell's book by the same name, Outliers discusses unusual patterns of achievement and success. In the book, Gladwell identifies logical causes for what would otherwise be considered statistically impossible events. He identifies cause and effect relationships for statistical outliers.

The Discipline of Market Leaders

I recently gave a colleague this classic book on business strategy by Treacy & Wiersema. Although I will not go into detail about the book's content, I do recommend it to anyone involved in defining business strategy. In brief summary, the authors provide compelling evidence that market-leading companies have single-minded focus on one of three value propositions:

1. Product Leadership
2. Operational Excellence
3. Customer Intimacy

Made in America

We hear much talk about the decline of manufacturing in America. Some argue that America has lost its manufacturing capacity. The data from the most recent year available (2010) paints a somewhat different picture. Not only is the U.S. by far the largest economy with 23.1% of the world's GDP (China is second with 9.3% of the world's GDP), the U.S. is the second largest manufacturer. In 2010, America's manufacturing output was $1.952 trillion, just behind China's $1.995 trillion. Yes, in 2010 the U.S. lost the title as the world's largest manufacturer that it held for more than a century, but America is far from having lost its manufacturing capacity. America still manufacturers19.4% of the world's goods.

We Are Living in Exponential Times

The world is changing more rapidly than ever before and that rate of change is accelerating.

This YouTube video about the rapid progression of information technology was shown at a Sony executive conference last year. Here are some excepts:

• The first text message was sent in 1992. Today, the number of messages sent every day exceeds the number of people on Earth.
• It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million people, TV 13 years, the Internet 4 years, the iPod 3 years, and Facebook 2 years.
• The number of internet devices in 1984 was one thousand, in 1992 one million, in 2008 one billion.
• 4 exabytes (4 x 10^19) of unique information will be generated this year: more that the previous 5,000 years combined.
• The amount of technical information is doubling every year.
• The most in-demand jobs of 2010 did not exist in 2004.

The Dream that is America

Last night when "God Bless America" was sung during the 7th inning stretch of the baseball game, I found myself moved with emotion. It was not anything specific, nor did I consciously understand what brought on the emotion. The emotion came first and made me consider it.

My reaction reminded me of the premise of Start With Why, the premise that great institutions and leaders define a purpose that connects with us at an emotional level. When we have an emotional connection, we use reason to rationalize the beliefs that the emotions inspire. 

Start With Why

Simon Sinek's concept about "Start With Why" provides a compelling perspective on culture and values. Sinek argues that all people are driven by a why, also known as a purpose or cause. He supports his theory with a biological argument that decision-making is centered in the limbic system at the core of the brain. The limbic brain is the most primal part of the brain and is responsible for emotion, behavior & long-term memory. If the limbic brain is responsible for decision making, then all decisions are emotional. Language and reason occur in the more developed part of the brain called the neocortex. We use reason to justify and rationalize our emotional decisions, but all decisions are based on emotion. Sinek argues that great companies start with a why, and this why incites emotion within the limbic brain from workers and customers alike.

We are Building a Temple

The story of three stonecutters is a fine example of the power of vision. As the story goes, a traveler comes upon three stone cutters working in a quarry. He asks the first one what he is doing and the stone cutter replies “breaking rocks.” He asks the second one the same question and gets the response “doing my job, cutting stones.” Finally when asked, the third replies “I am building a temple.” Who do you think works with more passion, drive, dedication and achieves excellence?