In 2010 I watched a TED.com presentation by Simon Sinek, and it hit me between the eyes like a hockey puck. Simon was talking about Solution Tree, without using our name. He was articulating everything I believe about our business. Solution Tree is all about the Why, not the How or the What. Those two actions support the Why.
What we do at Solution Tree is produce very high quality professional development products. How we work at Solution Tree is our Mission Statement. To advance the work of our authors. The Why is our Vision Statement. To transform education world wide to ensure learning for all.
It is not what we do, but why we do it.
This blog is about the Why. Stories about our authors, staff, culture, and my observations and insights from the road. Why we do what we do is arguably the most important Why in the world.
What kind of stories are you goin to tell?
Just the “GOOD” ones.
Jeff, there is certainly a wealth of stories for you to draw from! We who work here are definitely inspired by the WHY of the work! Today my 18 year old daughter went to work in her first paid gig as a staff member at the Solution Tree PLC Institute in St. Charles, MO. She was 11, I think, when she went to her first PLC institute; that and just her peripheral knowledge of our work has inspired her interest in education. One small example. I look forward to your posts.
Thanks Jeff. I look forward to reading your insights and how you approach the WHY. Ken and I have also explored this in our upcoming ST book. We’ll need to compare notes!
How did you hear about this blog so quickly? Impressive. Looking forward to your upcoming book with Solution Tree.
That’s what happens when you follow smart people on Twitter! I’m enjoying the blog posts and the insights to the “WHY” of Solution Tree.
I’m really proud of you for doing this, Pal! It’s incredibly cool — and incredibly powerful — to see the leader of a company publicly articulating the whys of the organization through stories. I loved the story of Bob’s book — and the fact that his joy made your day. That’s awesome.
You mention in the last line of this post that “your whys are the most important whys in the world.” That’s another blog post waiting to happen! Can’t wait to see you expand on it.
Rock right on,
Bill
PS: Just put you in my feed reader.
PPS: If you ever want another story, remember that ST has made it possible for me to stay in the classroom and lead all at the same time. I’ll be forever grateful that you guys took a chance on believing in me.
As we march forward into the next decade i think more and more the most successful companies will be the ones that are AUTHENTIC. That means they believe in their mission unflinchingly. It isn’t about personal fame, making buckets of money, or selling products–it will be about the mission, the message, a focus on serving (rather then selling to) the eco-system within which they co-exist and build partnerships. The successful organizations in the coming years (more than ever) will have an authentic message that they live and breath internally and externally. They’ll be innovative, thoughtful, collaborative, and practice what they preach, not just because that is the ideal way to operate, but because it will be the only way to successfully operate. In our digital world where Google algorithms rank company posts, blogs, and pages for “authenticity” and punish companies trying to “black hat” the system, where bad publicity and word of mouth is more powerful than ever, and moves faster than ever, companies who steal, cheat, swindle, browbeat staff, belittle others contributions, or are only in it for personal aggrandizement are bound to be exposed and fail. Good to know Solution Tree is and has been doing it the right way.
Thanks Derek. You knew us when, and hopefully we are completely transparent now. My Dad taught me to determine the difference between right and wrong when I was young, and also enforced the understanding that if you don’t lie you don’t have to remember anything. Wish that over the course of my life I had been 100% true to those lessons, but I do know that at Solution Tree we will do EVERYTHING we can to live up to Dad’s teachings and to our guiding principals, of which one is Integrity….Period!
It can be a hard lesson to learn. Even small little lies can get you (oh the foolishness of youth!). “Givers” don’t have to lie. They thrive on their passion to serve. And you can’t under-estimate the power of integrity at the very top of an organization. Employees emulate what they see. I know I recommended the book “Give and Take” by Adam Grant (Viking) to you a few weeks ago. No other book lays it out so completely for the business world. There are some great educational world examples in there as well. On the conference front in the other post, wasn’t there some crazy PLC event in Illinois you and I attended in 1996 where we rented a U-Haul to transport the books and I drove into the top of the hotel entrance canopy? The muffler fell off later. We delivered office dividers back to Bloomington…. Oh, I just remember be exhausted! The memories!