‘Heart Must Be Won,’ Applying the Golden Circle Theory

‘Heart Must Be Won,’ Applying the Golden Circle Theory
(‘inDepth’: a New Product Design)

‘If I only had a heart’ – Tin Woodman, Wizard of Oz

Analogous to the man made of tin, a brand that presents itself with ‘what’ first is like a machine without inspiration. I took a wavelength from Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle theory to brainstorm a presentation of a new product I’d like to create. In a rough interpretation of the theory, an idea or product can jump the chasm in the innovation diffusion curve by a simple principle of belief; send a message from the heart and through all the noise, the right people will believe in it, inciting action. Sometimes people and organizations add on all these layers (i.e. credibility, product superiority, etc), partially to impress but also to develop a hard shell that withstands against competition and judgment. However, consumers today find a genuine glimpse into the essence (why) of a brand appealing. This approach gives the Tin Woodman (a brand or company) a heart.

Below is my presentation of a product idea I had, which I’ll brand ‘inDepth.’

The Why

‘Understand inDepth.’ It’s not just about skimming the surface of new ideas and regurgitating information. In a world that is overflowing with information, inDepth is about seeing the silver-lining or insight amidst all the chaff. And because inDepth helps to alleviate cognitive overload, it gives you room to be creative and follow your heart. If you are a perpetual student of life, this application offers a way to create profound thoughts.

The How

inDepth does all the bookkeeping, repetitive and time-consuming work so that you can understand your work better. It revolutionizes note-taking, the thinking process, and information uptake by upping productivity in a clean process of distilling secondary resources into notes. Comparable to the data-mining software for a research professional, inDepth is a sharp tool for the typical high school, college, or graduate student. It facilitates the research process as you go through ebooks, scholarly articles, and online data. The natural note-taking process is automatized and works at your fingertip, similar to how gestures work in Apple.

(text excerpt above from Leaders Eat Last, by Simon Sinek)

The What

inDepth is a note-taking application that can be used with Apple (iPad, iPhone 6, Mac). Underline an important sentence/idea and it will come up in your notes. Circle a keyword, and it will be highlighted, circle multiple keywords and link them, and they will be linked together in your notes; these help identify your thought process and connections made impromptu in your reading. Underline and draw a star next to a phrase, and it goes to the top in bold as the topic or main idea. If you want a diagram or picture in your notes as well, cross it out and it will be saved in a small resized tab, which you can click to see in original size. Not only all that, but this App automatically pulls bibliographical information from the source, and compiles as a tiny link on the top right. Each time you add new sources, the number of boxes grow in order (top to bottom).

So that sums up how I’d approach a new product idea, in the Golden Circle way. The ‘what’ may be concerned with the physical, concrete product or result, but the ‘why’ is what dreams are made of. Higher placement of brand intangibles lets people see the big picture before focusing on the product details.

‘The mind can be convinced but the heart must be won,” – Simon Sinek