Find your Why

By following a structured approach, this canvas enables individuals and organizations to identify their core values, clarify their mission, and align their actions with their underlying motivations.

What it is for

The Find Your Why Canvas serves as an essential framework for uncovering and defining the purpose of a business. It allows individuals and teams to delve deep into the reasons why they do what they do, providing a clear and compelling foundation for all their strategic decisions and actions.

Why this tool is important

Using the Find Your Why Canvas offers several key benefits:

• Clarity and Focus: By engaging with this tool, businesses can gain clarity on their underlying purpose and create a strong sense of direction. This clarity helps guide decision-making, prioritize actions, and stay focused on what truly matters.
• Alignment and Engagement: The Find Your Why Canvas facilitates alignment among team members and stakeholders by creating a shared understanding of the organization’s purpose. This alignment fosters a sense of belonging, increases motivation, and encourages collaboration towards a common goal.
• Authenticity and Differentiation: By uncovering their unique purpose, businesses can differentiate themselves in the market. The Find Your Why Canvas helps organizations identify their distinct value proposition, enabling them to authentically connect with customers and stand out from competitors.
• Resilience and Adaptability: Understanding the deeper purpose behind a business provides a solid foundation that can withstand challenges and changes in the market. The Find Your Why Canvas helps businesses adapt and evolve while staying true to their core values and mission.

Essential elements of Finding Your Why

• Core Values: Identify the principles and beliefs that guide your actions and define who you are as an individual. These values serve as a compass for decision-making and shape your overall sense of purpose.
• Passions: Reflect on the activities and interests that ignite your enthusiasm and bring you joy. Understanding your passions helps you align your actions with what truly matters to you.
• Skills and Strengths: Evaluate your unique set of skills, both technical and soft, that contribute to your personal and professional growth. Recognize the areas where you excel and can make a meaningful impact.
• Definition of Success: Define what success means to you personally. This involves aligning your goals and aspirations with your own standards, rather than society’s expectations.
• Motivations: Reflect on your motivations for pursuing your goals and dreams. Explore the reasons behind your desire to achieve and understand what drives you to take action.
• Challenges and Risks: Consider the potential obstacles, challenges, and risks that come with following your purpose. Being aware of these factors allows you to develop strategies to overcome them and make informed decisions.
• Vision and Impact: Envision the impact you want to create in the world and the legacy you wish to leave behind. Clarifying your vision helps align your actions with your long-term aspirations.

Steps to complete the canvas

1. Discover Your Why: Reflect on your personal values, passions, and strengths to uncover your individual purpose.
2. Clarify Your Organization’s Why: Engage in meaningful discussions with your team to articulate the collective purpose of your organization.
3. Align Your Actions: Explore how your organization’s purpose can be translated into concrete actions that align with your values and mission.
4. Communicate Your Why: Craft a compelling narrative that communicates your purpose effectively to stakeholders, customers, and employees.

References

• Sinek, Simon. “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.”
• Sinek, Simon, et al. “Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team.”