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Tag: Simon Sinek

  • Nothing can be more infinite minded than this Apple ad

    This ad of Steve Jobs dates back to as early as August 1981.This was a time when IBM was about to enter the PC industry being dominated by Apple.

    Instead of trying to downplay a big name like IBM , Apple’s approach was to welcone its Worthy Rival in order to get better by the day.

    Please have a look at the ad , link below(source http://www.inc.com)and spare sone time to admire the infinite mindedness of Apple.These are qualities that has made Apple the company it is today.

    https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/37-years-ago-steve-jobs-ran-apples-most-amazing-ad-heres-story-its-almost-been-forgotten.html

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

  • “Disruption” is for the infinite minded , “Adoption” is for the finite minded

    There are numerous business examples that showcase this fact.

    Let us take the case of the mobile phone market.Apple took the industry by storm with its disruptive iPhone.Neither did it copy anyone but came up with a disruptive design aimed at relieving the pain point of a mobile phone user.

    On the contrary if we look at the then market leader, Blackberry instead of focusing on its iconic QWERTY to build a separate niche , its finite mindset made it panicky and eventually forced it to copy Apple.

    Needless to say it led to the demise of the once iconic brand.

    Simon Sinek points this out in “The Infinite Game” to highlight the fact that in an infinite game disruption by means of an infinite mindset is the way forward.Adoption led by a finite mindset will be shortlived and eventually will force the player to quit the game.

  • “Cause Blindness” – What is it?

    When an individual is selfishly engrossed in his/her cause/motive , without any care for others around , he/she suffers from “Cause Blindness”.

    This is very harmful for an individual wherein he/she loses sight of own “weaknesses” & others “strengths”.

    More often than not this kind of mentality is driven by a finite mindset and can be very detrimental in the long run.

    Simon Sinek mentions this in “The Infinite Game”.

  • How the “infinite minded” Alan Mulally turned around “Ford”

    In 2006 when Alan Mulally joined as CEO of Ford , the once iconic automobile company was staring at bankruptcy.The occassion demanded the infinite minded leader to look beyond balance sheets.

    Sone of his visionary steps , mentioned below , highlighted in Simon Sinek’s , “The Infinite Game” enabled Ford to get back on track.

    1) Encouraged Ford employees responsible for design of cars , to take test ride in cars of “Worthy Rivals” like Toyota to understand what was missing in Ford cars.

    2) Spun off Jaguar , Landrover , Volvo to focus on a specific segment and hence advance the “Just Cause” of the founder Henry Ford.

    3)Identied “Worthy Rivals” and was willing to collaborate and learn from them to continue playing the infinite game.

  • 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”

  • 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”.