#55 Use 'The Golden Circle' to Be A Better Curator
The Golden Circle by Simon Sinek and its implications for curators
Dearest,
Simon Sinek’s model The Golden Circle has been guiding my curation for quite some time now.
What’s The Golden Circle?
The Golden Circle is the why? how? what? circle.
When Simon made this profound discovery that he calls The Golden Circle, he realized,
There's a pattern. As it turns out, all the great inspiring leaders and organizations in the world, whether it's Apple or Martin Luther King or the Wright brothers, they all think, act and communicate the exact same way… I call it the golden circle.
Most brands in their communication, first cover what they do because it’s the easiest to crack. Then they go into how they do it (their USP), and finally, very briefly they touch upon why they do what they do.
Simon’s Golden Circle explains that this is the reason why most brands fail to have any lasting impact. He believes that one needs to reverse the direction of the information. Spending more time on the why of it makes all the difference. For instance,
Here's how Apple communicates. (Why) Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. (How) The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. (What) We just happen to make great computers. (CTA) Want to buy one?
The Golden Circle by Simon Sinek is grounded in biology.
He explains in his talk that the human brain can be broken into three major parts that correspond perfectly with the golden circle. Our neocortex correlates with the "what" level and is responsible for all of our rational and analytical thought and language. The middle two sections are our limbic brains, which are responsible for all of our feelings. That is the part that fosters trust and loyalty. Interestingly, it also drives human behavior, all our decision-making.
To influence behavior, to make someone decide in your favor, you have to share your motives with them so that they can trust you and then be loyal towards you. When you are absolutely clear about what you believe in and share the same with people, you will attract those who have similar beliefs (trust), and that is how your community grows (loyalty).
How you can use The Golden Circle
So if you are looking to build an online community, through your newsletter or podcast, or YouTube videos, I’ve come to realize that it’s necessary to use the Golden Circle. There are three reasons to do so:
You can communicate better with your readers or audience and hence attract the right people for you and strengthen your bond with them.
Every time you feel uninspired, you can return to the why of it all, and fill yourself with new vigor.
By constantly trying to figure out why you do what you do, you not only get clearer about your beliefs but can also come up with new ways of doing things (the how).
Subsequently, because of a more extensive why and how what you do gets broadened too.
For example, a year ago what I did here was only curate The Nook. But as I understood that I also believe in sharing (in person) my experiences as a writer and understand other writers’ processes, I started conducting workshops. Since I enjoy diverse opinions, I also began interviewing people. You get the drift!
Being absolutely clear about your beliefs gives you the necessary language around everything you do and everything else that you can do in the future.
Try The Golden Circle and see how it not only inspires others to believe in what you curate/create but more importantly strengthens your belief in yourself.
If you found The Golden Circle interesting, you might enjoy my workshop too. I have a session this Sunday, where we discuss a lot of concepts from neuroscience that can make us better writers. You can have a look at the session details here.
Some verses:
Li-Young Lee, Excerpt from From Blossoms
There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.
Marilyn Nelson, Bird Feeder
Approaching seventy, she learns to live,
at last. She realizes she has not
accomplished half of what she struggled for,
that she surrendered too many battles
and seldom celebrated those she won.
Approaching seventy, she learns to live
without ambition: a calm lake face, not
a train bound for success and glory. For
the first time, she relaxes her hands on the
controls, leans back to watch the coming end.
Asked, she’d tell you her life is made out of
the things she didn’t do, as much as the
things she did do. Did she sing a love song?
Approaching seventy, she learns to live
without wanting much more than the light in
the catbird window seat where, watching the
voracious fist-sized tweets, she hums along.
Some soft wisdom:
“They say that a person’s personality is the sum of their experiences. But that isn’t true, at least not entirely, because if our past was all that defined us, we’d never be able to put up with ourselves. We need to be allowed to convince ourselves that we’re more than the mistakes we made yesterday. That we are all of our next choices, too, all of our tomorrows.”
Fredrik Backman, Anxious People
Some tunes
Down memory lane with Frank Lloyd Wright
“Designing 1,114 architectural works of all types — 532 of which were realized — he (Wright) created some of the most innovative spaces in the United States. With a career that spanned seven decades before his death in 1959, Wright’s visionary work cemented his place as the American Institute of Architects’ “greatest American architect of all time.”
You can take a virtual tour to experience the work of the master architect. Click here.
Read: An Evening at the Waldorf (A love story to affirm your faith in the human community)
Watch: Winter’s Blight (When help comes from an unexpected friend)
Hue and joy: Art and forest tour
Take care: Make a salad inspired by Thai flavors (Spoiler alert: It’s yummy!)
Get empowered: 10 things you didn't know about an orgasm
Parting Poem
An Ode to my Beloved Friend by Alina Celine Lancy
You have always been my comfort
Like the shade of a tree,
The soft moonlight,
And the song of a river.
(Click here to submit your poem to The Nook, and get it featured as the parting poem.)
Wondering how you can support me?
You can contribute via GPay or UPI and show The Nook some love here: riya.roy6@axisbank
or,
you can buy me a book!
See you next Sunday,
Love, Riya