Pile On Motivation

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Category: Motivational

  • “Cause Blindness” is an essential outcome of Motivation 2.0

    Cause Blindness is a term coined by Simon Sinek in his book the Infinite Game to mention about the situation when we are obsessed with our own CAUSE or wrongness in someone else’s CAUSE without being open to feedback.

    Such a mindset is an outcome of an environment wherein performance is given maximum importance at the expense of trust.Such an unhealthy factory model environment encourages unethical behavior , short term mindset and narrow mindedness.

    Hence when intrinsic motivation is made part of an environment driven by Motivation 3.0 as mentioned by Daniel Pink in his book drive , such kind of mindset can be suppressed.Providing autonomy , encouraging mastery and making realize a PURPOSE would encourage an TRUSTING environment which is needed to encourage innovation and creativity.

  • “Cause Blindness” can lead to extinction of an organization

    Cause Blindness is when we become so wrapped up in our Cause or so wrapped up in the wrongness of the other player’s cause that we fail to recognize their strengths or our weaknesses.

    This is what happens when an organization is led by a finite minded leader too focused on short term targets and goals.

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • Finite minded leaders fear disruption

    Leaders playing with a finite mindset often miss the opportunity to use a disruptive event in their industry to clarify their CAUSE.

    Instead they double down on the finite game and simply start copying what the other players are doing with the hope that it will work for them too.

    Think about Blackberry and how the company capsized when tried to copy Apple.

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • This example mentions the benefit of having “Worthy Rivals”

    Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova dominated the game of tennis from 1970’s till the 1980’s.

    They considered each other as Worthy Rivals and because of the intense competition were inspired to elevate their games to the next level.

    Chris Evert had to learn playing more at the net than the baseline.The intense but healthy competition that existed helped push each other to the limits , to something where their individual coaches also could not.

    This is what a Worthy Rival does in business as well.It inspires an organization to outperform itself driven towards its JUST CAUSE.

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • Realizing this truth on “Ethical Decisions”

    Ethical decisions are NOT based on WHAT’s BEST for the SHORT TERM.

    They are based on the RIGHT THING TO DO.

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • What happens when leaders exercise their bias towards Resources before Will

    Short sighted , performance focused , finite minded leaders exercise their bias towards Resources before Will and are WILLING to adjust their CULTURES to meet their PRIORITIES.

    Such an infinite mindset where people are pitted against each other to meet short term targets , lacks trust and gives rise to unethical practices followed by individuals to meet targets.

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • These are the ways to arrest “Ethical Fading”

    Time is witness to the fact that after the departure of a revolutionary leader , there have been multiple scenarios wherein advent of a finite minded leader has spoiled a company’s culture.

    Take the case of John Sculley for Apple , Steve Ballmer for Microsoft , Kevin Rollins for Dell —– examples galore.

    The infinite minded leaders have come back and done the following three major things to arrest ethical fading:

    1. Devotion towards a JUST CAUSE
    2. BIAS for WILL before RESOURCES
    3. Nurture TRUSTING TEAMS

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • This is how Great Leaders arrest ethical fading

    Ethical Fading is a term that relates to ethical lapses that individuals resort to when pitted against each other in a culture that promotes short term thinking and goals.

    It is an irony that when we resort to a finite mindset in an environment where already “Ethical Fading” exists , we get more of it.

    Hence the need of an infinite mindset to handle such situations.These are leaders who believe that creating a conducive culture to reverse effects of “Ethical Fading” need huge patience and hard work.

    They acknowledge the fact that this requires a devotion to a JUST CAUSE , a bias for WILL over RESOURCES and the ability to nurture TRUSTING TEAMS.

    Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game

  • This is a very harmful byproduct of Motivation 2.0

    Motivation 2.0 , a term coined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive , based on Carrot and Stick motivational technique has had its origin right from the age of Industrial revolution and worked wonders.

    The rationale behind this model was : “Reward good behavior and compliance to produce more of the same.Punish undesirable behavior and non-compliance to ensure compliance.”

    This risk-reward kind of a mindset has very harmful side effects.People in the mad rush of being compliant become short term oriented , have a narrow focus and start concealing facts to indulge in unethical behavior.

    “Ethical Fading” is a term coined by Simon Sinek in his book Infinite Game to mention the unethical short sighted behavior that individuals resort to in order to meet short term performance targets.This is the situation that results when people are pitted against each other.

    Thus the need of a new motivational model in the modern day of the knowledge worker

  • This comparison makes us realize why “Succession Planning” comes naturally to Great Leaders

    The ability of a plant or tree to produce seeds is the MOST necessary pre-requisite to ensure that their generation thrives for ages….

    Similarly an organization envisioned by a Great Leader can stand the test of time ONLY IF the succession planning is done meticulously and the environment encourages nurturing of leaders who can take the vision forward to ensure that the organization stands the test of time.

    Concept adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game