Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book titled “Together is Better”
Innovative workplaces are nurtured by visionary infinite minded leaders.
These are made up of “trusting teams” where employees trust each other and feel safe in each other’s company.The collaborative atmosphere emanating out of the safe environment encourages members to gel together as a team and make innovation happen getting rid of the feeling of failure.
A finite game is one where players are fixed , rules are fixed and time is limited.
“Winning” matters in a finite game and as a result finite games are played by players led by finite minded leaders.Winning is for the short term and is hardly able to stand the test of time.The effect is temporary wherein a win results in a “dopamine” flow.
On the other hand guided by a long term vision an infinite minded leader enables a player to play an infinite game wherein the respective players guided by the vision attain fulfillment instead of just a temporary “dopamine” shot.
Simon Sinek touches upon these aspects in “The Infinite Game”
Doug Mcmillon has revived Walmart with his infinite mindset after the dismal period from 2009 and 2013 under Mike Duke.
Main reason of revival under Doug Mcmillion is attributed to his infinite mindset and vision of putting people over numbers.
Please read below one such great post(source Fortune.com) that talks about why he is indeed an infinite minded leader.
https://fortune.com/2015/06/04/walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon/
Simon Sinek makes a mention of Doug Mcmillon in “The Infinite Game”
There are three factors to consider as a leader of a team participating in a game.
1) The leader cannot choose whether the game is finite or infinite
2) The leader has to decide whether to take part in the game or not
3) Once the leader decides to join the fame , he/she has to decide whether to play with a finite mindset or an infinite mindset.
Depending on the mindset the corresponding game would be played.
Simon Sinek mentions this in “The Infinite Game”
An infinite mindset always thinks of the long run rather than focusing on “low hanging fruits” in the short term.
Since this relates to a vision , of something currently non-existential , it comes with its own set of risks.
History is witness to the fact that visionary leaders who have adopted an “infinite mindset” have created and envisioned things beyond the realm of the ordinary finite minded leaders.Examples include Apple , COSTCO , Barry Wehmiller , CVS etc.
An example which is mention worthy in this context would be CVS Health.
When CVS embarked on its journey of nurturing good health for one and all , the giant step that it decided to take was abandoning sale of cigarettes across all its stores.The decision to change its name from CVS Caremark to CVS Health was in line with this vision as well.Though met with a lot of resistance in the long run the “just cause” did serve the company very well and helped it stand out from its competitors namely Walgreens and Rite Aid where the “finite mindset” obsessed leaders could not make up their mind to follow suit.
Simon Sinek’s “The infinite Game” makes a mention of the same.
Doug Parker the CEO of American Airlines wanted to rejuvenate its employees.
The mid contract raise of flight attendants and pilots was finally approved.
This received a lot of flak from shareholders and Wall Street pundits who were worried that such a strategy would erode the company bottomline.
This is an example of an infinite minded decision keeping employees ahead of numbers.Such decisions are bound to bear fruit in the long term and emanate out of a “courage to lead”.
The following link mentions this infinite mindedness in more details.
(Souce bizjournals)
Simon Sinek makes a mention of Doug Parker in his book titled “The Infinite Game”
When Steve Jobs and his team at Apple visited Xerox PARC , Palo Alto CA in 1979 they were introduced to the new GUI based concept.
Though Apple had made significant investments in command based interface for its Apple PCs , being an infinite minded leader he exercised “Existential Flex” and decided to adopt GUI for its Macintosh to be released in the next 4 years.
Needless to say he faced quite a lot of resistance from his own employees who were not comfortable with disruption.
The fact that the risk paid off is ample testimony to the fact that an infinite minded leader can preempt disruption in enabling an organization to reach great heights in an infinite game.
Simon Sinek makes a mention of this in “The Infinite Game”
Refer the link below to know more about Alan Mulally and how making use of a infinite mindset revived Ford Motors from bankruptcy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Mulally
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”.