Existential flexibility as defined below is equivalent to RUN TIME DISRUPTION and hence is not for the faint-hearted.
Existential flexibility is the CAPACITY to INITIATE and EXTREME DISRUPTION to a BUSINESS MODEL or STRATEGIC COURSE in order to more effectively advance a JUST CAUSE.
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game
Walt Disney had a JUST CAUSE in mind while envisioning Disney World.
The following theme was the basis of the JUST CAUSE that has lived on for time memorial and makes Disney Land such a memorable place to visit.
“You leave TODAY….
and enter the World of YESTERDAY and TOMORROW.”
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game
Simon Sinek in his book The Infinite Game , mentions the need of having an Worthy Rival to keep motivating another player to play better in an Infinite Game.
Frequently we come across scenarios like the case of Kodak , Blockbuster , Myspace where they found themselves playing the Infinite Game without an Worthy Rival.
This is when they took their dropped their focus and intensity and became complacent.
This is the reason all the three are now extinct.
This is why a WORTHY RIVAL always keeps us on our toes and inspires us to keep innovating by the day.
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 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
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
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
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
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
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:
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game