What Is Your Why?
Browsing the discussions and resources here in the Thwack community, I can see that you are an incredible bunch of people - passionate and knowledgeable about your own areas of expertise & eager to guide & advise others.
But, for a moment, let’s look up from what we are doing. Let’s talk about your Why.
I'm sure you all know what you do. That would be easy to tell someone, right? And you'd could probably also go into great detail about how you do it. But do you have a real vision for why you do what you do? Do you have a vision that extends beyond "because it's my job?" or "because the servers would fall over if I didn't?"
This isn't a deeply technical topic, but it can become your secret weapon. Your Why can lift you during a frustrating day. It can get you through a 1am call out (as well as all the caffeine). And it will be music to the ears of management or the business when you come to them with a problem or a recommendation. If you can frame your conversations with them to address their Why, I can guarantee you better success.
“I'm a sys admin. I monitor and maintain our servers. I do this to keep the business running. The end users can then serve their customers.” Easy so far, right?
So what does your company do for its customers, who are ultimately your customers? Is the product or service vision of your company as deeply ingrained in your mind as it is in the marketing department?
Does your company give peace of mind to people and help them in the toughest times … i.e. are you an insurance company?
So really, you give people peace of mind & help them in the toughest times by ensuring that your staff have fast access to their computer systems when they need them.
Tell me what your Why is? How do you think your Why can influence how you work & what decisions you make?
Simon Sinek explains Apple’s Why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sioZd3AxmnE
P.S. If you are in this for the thrill of working with technology, I get that too.
Top Comments