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  • What is the mission statement of Sweetgreen?

    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”.

  • What are the five factors that qualify a “cause” as a “just cause” ?

    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:

    1. For something – The cause should be “for” something that should truly inspire people to be part of it.
    2. All inclusive – The cause should be strong enough to embrace all who would want to be part of the cause by giving them a sense of “belonging”.The true intention of the “cause” would in turn help bring people who are truly passionate towards the cause.
    3. Service Orientation – The cause should engage at least two parties.One contributors & the other receivers.The contributors should be the “go givers” to ensure that the greatest benefit they provide is for the receivers and not themselves.This avoids any selfish motive.
    4. Resilient – The “just cause” should be robust enough to transcend all political & technological barriers.Kodak , MP3 players all became history because their “cause” was for the short term without thinking about the long term.
    5. Big , bold and un-achievable –  The “cause” should be a vision that would apparently seem achievable but with easy step would bring in a new challenge so that the participants would be able to realize that they are trying to achieve something larger than themselves.

    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.

  • Ever heard about Svalbard Global Seed Vault?

    Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the biggest and most secure seed bank in Norway.This bears ample testimony to the vision of the iconic botanist . agronomist , geneticist Nikolai Vavilov from the Soviet Union.

    Vavilov had an infinite mindset that inspired his followers to follow his vision & just cause of creating a seed back for most common species of flora.This would be able to guard against futuristic famines in the event of any exceptional situations and circumstances.

    This is mention worthy for the plain and simple fact that an Infinite mindset stands the test of time and transcends all barriers to come out beneficial for society at large.Vavilov and his followers played a stellar role in safeguarding the seed bank even during inhuman crisis and emergency situations during Nazi rule and seize of cities like Leningrad where people were made to lead inhuman lives out of starvation.

    Simon Sinek salutes this very spirit of infinite mindset in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

  • Why a “Just Cause” makes sense for every organization

    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”.

     

  • How “WHY” is different from “Just Cause”

    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

     

     

  • Organizations working towards a “just cause”

    Organizations that work for the advancement of a just cause , work towards a vision that is expected to be realized in future which if realized can advance society at large.

    Such kind of vision makes monetary & short term benefits irrelevant.In such organizations people like their work but most importantly love their jobs since they feel part of a larger futuristic goal.

    Needless to say “just cause” gives a sense of true fulfillment as mentioned by Simon Sinek in “The Infinite Game”.

  • Nikolai Vavilov and his just cause

    Nikolai Vavilov was a renowned Soviet agronomist , botanist & geneticist who had a vision of creating a bank of plant seeds to protect the world from famine and similar disasters due to the unavailability of crops and plant seeds.

    His vision became the “just cause” which got his fellow doctors so engaged that even during the emergency situation in Leningrad they were prepared to protect the seed bank at the cost of their lives.

    At a time wherein during the Nazi invasion in Leningrad , starvation forced people consume zoo animals , cats , dogs these followers of Vavilov gave their lives trying to protect the seed bank because they were drawn by the larger vision of Vavilov.

    By means of this example , Simon Sinek very aptly proves why “just cause” is a cornerstone of playing infinite games.

  • Importance of a just cause in an infinite game

    Just cause is a vision which has not been realized but a cause that is worthy enough for believers to even be ready to sacrifice their lives.

    The goal of an infinite fame is not to win but to keep playing for the future realization of something bigger than ourselves.

    Hence the importance of the just cause especially to a leader to keep the followers engaged.

    Thus an organization which enables the employees to work for a just cause are ones where employees end up loving their jobs.

    Simon Sinek makes a mention of this in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

  • What are the Five principles to lead with an Infinite Mindset?

    To lead an organization with an infinite mindset , in the infinite game of business , a leader needs to adhere to the below mentioned five principles to lead with an infinite mindset.

    The five principles to lead with an infinite mindset have been summarized below:

    1) Advance a just cause

    2) Build trusting teams

    3)Study worthy rivals

    4)Demonstrate existential flexibility

    5)Have the courage to lead

    Simon Sinek very aptly makes a mention of this framework in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

  • Why a finite leadership mindset is addictive?

    Though the game of business is infinite , there has been a rise of leaders with a finite mindset trying to run the show in the game of business.

    A finite mindset which results in quick short term gains often comes at the sacrifice of employee benefits and empathy.

    Terms such as “Number one in the industry” seem very flashy & saleable to the board as well as shareholders.For this simple reason we see CEO’s of modern day organizations obsessed with competition always trying to outwit them rather than wanting to be a better version of their ownselves.

    This is addictive like gambling and such short term benefits increase the flow of “dopamine” thus make these short term tactics seductive.In the long run though , these have very detrimental effects for an organization as a whole.

    Simon Sinek makes a mention of this in “The Infinite Game”.

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