Storytelling tips for the day from the book “Long Story Short” by Margot Leitman.
1) Revealing Vulnerable Moments from our Everyday lives almost always pays off
2)Find the Recurring Theme in your life , use it and go deeper
3) Take a close look at your QUIRKS , take a close look , they may be the key to a great story
Referring to the below mentioned URL , Jim Collin’s BHAG as mentioned in his book “Built to Last” has been cited here for the purpose of illustrating its similarity with a “Moonshot”.
https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/bhag.html
“A BHAG (pronounced “Bee Hag,” short for “Big Hairy Audacious Goal”) is a powerful way to stimulate progress. A BHAG is clear and compelling, needing little explanation; people get it right away. Think of the NASA moon mission of the 1960s. The best BHAGs require both building for the long term AND exuding a relentless sense of urgency: What do we need to do today, with monomaniacal focus, and tomorrow, and the next day, to defy the probabilities and ultimately achieve our BHAG?”
Though a moonshot and BHAG both apparently do not look like finite goals yet they are possible to achieve which does not make them a suitable fit in an infinite game where the vision should be one which is impossible to attain , yet entice followers to be part of the same for leaving behind a legacy.
Thus this makes both BHAG and “Monnshot” different from a “Just Cause”.This point has been mentioned by Simon Sinek in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.
“Moonshot” associates Kennedy’s inspirational arousal of his countrymen towards the audacious vision of human landing on moon.This Apollo mission was thought of as something that would be a new beginning for mankind and seemed like a then impossible mission.This is what inspired Neil Armstrong and fellow astronauts in making this as reality.
Though this was indeed a game changer and a very proud moment for mankind , the effort was short lived and could not stand the test of time.This is where “moonshot” is different from a “just cause”.
A just cause on the other hand is infinite in nature.It articulates an inspirational vision that seems attainable but the more we move towards the target the destination seems further & further away.It is the vision that keeps the followers engaged to continue playing the infinite game from generation to generation thus helping to leave a legacy behind at each phase.
So while drafting a mission statement having a “just cause” we should not confuse a “moonshot” for a “just cause” and clearly realize the differences to inspire more and more people.
Visual aids when used judiciously makes storytelling very impactful.
Margot Leitman in her book titled “Long Story Short” very aptly compares “visual aids” with “nude scenes” in movies.
Too much is overkill.Can’t agree more.
When we play an infinite game with a finite mindset often we try to achieve quick wins by trying to meeting short term targets and goals.
Though this is good in the short term , trying to win a rat race has its own set of shortcomings.It results in huge amount of stress and fatigue as a result of which the finite mindset player who is obsessed with meeting short term targets gets mentally drained out.
This has been termed as “finite exhaustion” by Simon Sinek , in his book titled “The Infinite Game” to warn us of the ill effects of trying to play with a finite mindset in the Infinite game of life or business.
Sweetgreen has a huge base of loyal customers who choose the brand for delivering its promise on “simple , seasonal and healthy” food.
The mission statement of Sweetgreen unearthed from its website is worth having a look.
https://www.sweetgreen.com/our-story/
“Our mission is to inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We know that sweetgreen is a critical link between growers and consumers, and we feel a responsibility to protect the future of real food. To that end, we’re committed to supporting small and mid-size growers who are farming sustainably, to creating transparency around what’s in your food and where it came from, and to creating more accessibility to healthy, real food for more people. Because here at sweetgreen, impact is not an arm of our business, it is our business, and it permeates everything we do, from what we source to who we hire and how we support local communities. We want to make an impact and leave people better than we found them, and we tailor our approach in each market to reflect the needs of the community.”
This is a perfect example of a “Just Cause” with an infinite mindset to inspire and lead people to become its followers.
Simon Sinek makes a mention of the same in his book named “The Infinite Game”.
Simon Sinek in his book titled “The Infinite Game” mentions the need of having a “Just cause” as one of the necessary prerequisites for playing an infinite game with an infinite mindset.
Since a “just cause” needs to be long term oriented to inspire people to be part of it hence Simon Sinek has provided a 5 point guideline that would qualify a “cause” as a truly “just cause”.
The 5 guiding principles are:
Finally as aptly mentioned by the author , very often visionaries realize “just causes” to drive the audience but forget to jot them down and hence these vision get lost.Hence it is our responsibility to properly articulate and jot down the “juts cause” once we arrive at one.
A “Just Cause” is defined as the futuristic vision aimed towards engaging employees of an organization for achievement of fulfillment in their lives.This is solely driven by the sense of meaning in the vision that makes monetary short term benefits insignificant to an employee of an organization.
Needlessly to say taking baby steps towards that vision gives us a sense of fulfillment.This is why the company mission and vision statements should be oriented more towards alignment with a “Just Cause” rather than benefits which can be felt only in the short term.
All great organizations orient their vision and mission statements keeping the long term perspective in mind.Simon Sinek mentions about the same in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.
Simon Sinek who introduced the concept of WHY , has very aptly mentioned the difference between WHY and “Just Cause”(One of the pre-requisite for Infinite mindset) in his wonderful book titled “The Infinite Game”.
WHY gives a sense of purpose in our lives whereas a “Just Cause” is the vision which we move towards to achieve fulfillment in our lives.
Please find below some the biggest differences..
| WHY | Just Cause |
| WHY can be only one | There can be multiple “just causes” an individual is attracted towards |
| Is the foundation built from past deeds | Is the futuristic vision |
| Gives us a sense of purpose in our lives | IS the vision which we move towards to attain a sense of fulfillment |