What, How, and Why

We need to know why we're in business—and talk about it.

This exercise is all about understanding why we’re in business. It’s often helpful to think about this question in three different categories: what, how, and why.

What

A phrase or sentence describing your primary business for the next five years. Examples: “Make toothpaste”, “fix cars”, etc.

How

What’s your secret sauce? What technology or approach sets you apart from the competition? Examples: “Made with all-natural ingredients”, “best-in-class friendly service”, etc.

Why

You can think of the why as the reason you get out of bed in the morning and go to work. The why should reflect the core reason your company exists, and it won’t change much over time. You may pivot the business, launch new products, and enter new markets, but the why remains the same. Examples: “Promote healthy living”, “help people get where they need to go”, etc.

We’ll each write an answer to those questions, vote on the best answers, then review it as a group. Finally, the decision maker will mark the best ideas in each category.

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Start

Mins to discuss

Time Left

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Instructions

Write privately (12 mins) - hide authors & votes

Vote privately (5 mins) - hide authors & votes

Discuss publicly (10 mins) - show authors & votes

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@Decider⁠

chooses the top idea for each category (3 mins)

Ideas

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Add idea

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Clear sample data

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Show authors

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Show & sort by vote count

👉 Next up:
`Company Values`⁠
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What, How, and Why

Instructions

Ideas

👉 Next up: Company Values⁠⁠

👉 Next up:
`Company Values`⁠
⁠