WHAT: Every organization on the planet knows WHAT they do. There are the products they sell, or the services they offer.
HOW: Some organizations know HOW they do it. These are the things that make them special or set them apart from their competition.
WHY: Very few organizations know WHY they do what they do. WHY is not about making money. That’s a result. WHY is a purpose, cause or belief. It’s the very reason your organization exists.
WHY is just a belief (values), HOWs are the actions we take to realize that belief, and WHATs are the results of those actions.
People don’t buy what you do. People buy why you do it.
The School Bus Test is a metaphor that asks, “If a founder or leader of an organization were to be hit by a school bus, would the organization continue to thrive at the same pace without them at the helm?” So many companies are built on the force of a single personality, that if the leader or founder is gone the company can be highly disrupted and even falter. The question is, when the leader or founder departures, how well-prepared is an organization to find effective ways to keep the founding vision alive indefinitely?
