Pile On Motivation

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Category: Leadership

  • Why should you pick your WORTHY RIVAL?

    In his best selling book The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek makes us aware of the need to pick our worthy rival to stay on course.

    In an finite game e.g. football there are fixed set of players , rules are fixed , duration is fixed. As a result of this “winning” , being the “best” are options.

    In infinite games where duration in unknown , rules are not predefined , players are unknown it is of paramount importance to a player to keep playing with the goal of advancement of a “just cause”.

    In such a game where being the “best” or “winning” does not matter , it is very important to know and pick a “worthy rival” from whom a thing or two can learnt for survival in the long run.

  • When being the best is a fool’s errand

    Infinite game is one where the players are unknown , rules are not defined and the sole purpose is to keep playing.

    An infinite mindset player uses “will” to advance “resources” towards a just cause and by virtue of possessing an “bundance mentality” suffocates a finite mindset player having a “scarcity mentality”.These players eventually drop out.

    Hence in an infinite game there is nothing like “winning” that we associate with finite games.Goes without saying noone is “best” in an infinite game where multiple players can do well.

    This point has been aptly highlighted by Simon Sinek in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

  • Don’t buy this jacket ad

    Patagonia is known to go against the tide when it comes to marketing its products.

    By admitting openly that it is making use of environmental resources , the following ad shows how using such non traditonal means it is indeed being so successful in the infinite game of business.

    Truly a masterclass as cited by Simon Sinek in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

    Source Adweek

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/ad-day-patagonia-136745/amp/

  • When ethics fade and culture erodes

    Short term finite mindset leadership can result in ethical fading as well as erosion of organization culture.People lack trust , feel unsafe and hide information in the hope of benefits.

    Frequent use of such tactics can lead to long lasting detrimental results for the organization as a whole.

    In order to revive an organization back , infinite leadership focused on “trusting teams” is needed to make people feel safe and collaborate freely.

    Thus time and time again we realize that trust based humane leadership is the last resort to revive an organization back from a quagmire.

    Simon Sinek highlights these aspects in his book titled “The Infinite Game”

  • Infinite minded leaders

    These are leaders who exhibit the following characteristics:

    1) Devoted towards advancement of a “just cause” , through hard work and patience

    2) Have the ability to nurture “Trusting Teams” by creating a “Circle of Safety”.

    3) Always put “will” before “resources” to create a great organization culture that avoids “ethical fading”.

    Simon Sinek mentions about this in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

  • Performance over Trust or vice versa ?

    Simon Sinek in his book titled “Infinite Game” has enlightened readers on the enhanced need to trust and hence EQ in the modern day game of business to outwit finite mindset based businesses.

    A look at the comparison between “Performance” & “Trust” brings out that fact as to why Trust is more needed for survival the infinite game of business.

    Performance Trust
    IQ(Intelligence Quotient) EQ(Emotional Quotient)
    High performance & low trust leads to a toxic environment that kills creativity High trust even if performance is low or medium is much desirable since performance can definitely be enhanced
    Various measures and metrics present to gauge performance No proper metric in place to measure trust
    High performance even at the cost of low trust can lead to ethical fading encouraged by finite mindset leaders Low trust has zero tolerance in “trusting teams” part of high performing organization led by infinite mindset visionaries
    High performance without trust can at most work in the short term High trust with low or medium performance is the perfect balance for survival in the infinite game

  • What is Ethical Fading?

    Between 2011 and 2016 , Wells Fargo opened close to three and a half million fake bank accounts.Needless to say this was done by select group of employees to make money by unethical means.Eventually when this scam surfaced up , after being active between 2011 and 2016 , close to 5000 employees were fired.

    This is an example of “ethical fading” which is a condition in organizational culture when employees act in unethical ways to advance their own interests , often at the expense of others , falsely believing that they have not compromised their moral principles.

    This is what happens in an organization led by a leader with finite mindset and overly focused on meeting short term targets.Employees are pitted against each other and often following such unethical practices gives short term gains to such employees.

    This can work in the short term but in the long run can lead to devastating effects to the organizational brand and culture.Simon Sinek makes a mention about this in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

  • Jack Welch’s evaluation criteria

    Simon Sinek’s book titled “The Infinite Game” makes frequent mention of how Jack Welch and his finite mindset mentality instilled a toxic work culture among GE employees.

    Jack Welch’s focus was always on “winning” with short term targets in order to outdo competition.Had it not been for the US government’s bail out in 2008 , GE would have become obsolete by now.

    Jack Welch’s evaluation criteria for an employee was on two parameters:

    1. Performance
    2. Potential – This is nothing but future performance

    As we can clearly see his evaluation criteria was solely based on performance with no focus on trust.This resulted in a “toxic” culture where employees were pitted against one another without feeling the need to collaborate.

    This is a very good case study to showcase the value of trust and collaboration in “trusting teams” which form the basis of infinite mindset nurtured by organizations led by visionaries.

  • Which is more important – Performance or Trust?

    Though both are equally important yet for surviving in an infinite game , organizations need to prioritize “trust” over “performance”.

    Performance relates to IQ whereas trust relates to EQ.

    A low trust environment spoils organization culture and should not be encouraged.Hence even though performance matters , yet since humans are social animals and work best as a group in trustworthy environment hence EQ i.e. trust ultimately dominates.

    Simon Sinek mentions about the same in hos book titled “The Infinite Game”.

  • What is meant by “Circle Of Safety”?

    Based on the foundation of trust , leaders with an infinite mindset create a “Circle of Safety” where the employees feel safe to the extent of being vulnerable to openly admit their weakness in the hope of collaboration.

    In such an environment where trust precedes performance , performance would automatically follow since the employees would feel motivated to give off their best , unconditionally.

    Simon Sinek brings out this point in his book titled “The Infinite Game”