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Tag: The infinite game

  • Respecting a “Worthy Rival”

    A worthy rival can often help us get better at what we do.

    Often when a business is doing very well , the absence of a worthy rival can lead to complacency.As a result of this , if the business is not led with an infinite mindset it can lose focus and stands a chance of extinction in the near future when a new rival enters the market with a disruptive mindset.

    As against this it is always better to admire “worthy rivals” who can keep a business on its toes.A matured leader and organization knows the need to appreciate the good qualities in a “worthy rival” to learn from the rival and cover up its existing deficiencies.

    When arrogance sets in with no respect for a rival’s positive qualities , the organization loses out on key insights which can be very detrimental in the long run.

    Simon Sinek highlights the importance of appreciating the good qualities in a “worthy rival” in order to be better equipped to play the infinite game.

  • When Doug Parker exhibited the “Courage to Lead”

    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.

    https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2017/07/28/pay-raises-pave-way-for-profits-american-airlines.html

    (Souce bizjournals)

    Simon Sinek makes a mention of Doug Parker in his book titled “The Infinite Game”

  • When does a player drop out of the “infinite game”?

    An infinite game is one where there are no clearly defined rules , no fixed set of players , no preset time limits.The world of business is indeed an infinite business where there is nothing like “winning”.

    The two most important tools that help play the game are 1) Will & 2) Resources.

    Whereas “will” relates to human metrics for e.g. motivation , willpower , inspiration , “resources” relate to profit , revenue etc.

    The goal of a player should be to keep playing the game.A player drops out of the game when its “will” is suffocated and “resources” are exhausted.

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

  • Don’t confuse “Integrity” with “Damage Control”

    Very frequently we associate integrity with “speaking the truth”.

    There are sitiuations for e.g. the Facebook data breach saga wherein Mark Zuckerberg confessed before one and all admitting the mistake.

    Acts such as these should not be confused with “integrity”.These are more of damage control.

    True integrity is when the leader has the guts to admit an act of wrongdoing before a public outcry or scandal surfaces up.

    Simon Sinek highlights this in his book titled “The Infinite Game”.

  • The infinite minded leader – Bob Chapman

    Bob Chapman the CEO of Barry Wehmiller is widely renowned as a person who always puts his people over numbers.

    To know more about his people focused leadership, please read below:

    https://www.trulyhumanleadership.com/?page_id=36

    (Source Barry Wehmiller blog)

    One of those rare courageous infinite minded leaders who believes the goal of management is not just boosting the bottom line but fostering a better world.

    The following article from inc.com is truly illuminating in highlighting the role of the infinite minded leader , Bob Chapman.

    https://www.inc.com/audacious-companies/scott-leibs/barry-wehmiller.html

    (Source inc.com)

    Simon Sinek makes frequent mention of his style of leadership in his book titled “The Infinite Game”

  • What makes “CVS” an infinite minded player?

    CVS Caremark in Feb 2014 , declared that it would stop selling cigarettes in all its stores.This was in line with the broader health care commitment it had embarked on.

    For many Wall street pundits this seemed a suicidal move  that would cost it revenues to the tune of billions of dollars.

    But what transpired was magical.All those who predicted that cigarette sales from CVS would shift to other local stores were taken by surprise.

    The move by the infinite minded player CVS had a lasting impact on the population who started reducing cigarette consumption and hence instead of shift in revenue due to sale of cigarettes the cigarette consumption itself drastically reduced.

    After a initial setback due to fall in share prices , as a result of this move , the share prices of CVS recovered since this was taken in a very positive manner  by the employees and population in general.

    In line with its infinite minded vision CVS Caremark changed its named to CVS Health in Sep 2014.This proves beyond doubt that an infinite minded vision is always for the long run and the risk taken proves its worth in the long run.

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

  • How to “win” an infinite game

    An infinite game is one where the players are not fixed , there are no clearly defined rules and no fixed timelines.Any number of players can enter or exit at any stage.

    In such a scenario the two important factors are 1) will & 2) resources

    An infinite player’s goal is to use the “will”(motivation , will power , inspiration etc. other human aspects) to advance the resources(would mean profit , money) in order to frustrate others who lose the will and drain out their resources & hence finally quit the game.

    Thus at one time one player may be ahead and at another time the same player may be behind.Tbus an infinite player understands the fact that there is nothing like “winning” in an infinite game.The sole goal should be self advancement to keep playing.

    Simon Sibek’s book titled “The Infinite Games” touches upon these aspects and extends these concepts to business and life.

  • What happened when Steve Jobs visited XEROX PARC?

    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”

  • What if Kodak had listened to Steve Sasson?

    Steve Sasson is an American engineer who in as early as 1974 is believed to have invented the first digital camera.

    Kodak the pioneer of film photography had made huge investments in vertical integration involving “film based” analog photography.

    Steve Sasson had put forward the idea of embracing digital photography to Kodak leadership.Unfortunately since Kodak was being led by finite minded leaders at that time, noone was willing to exercise existential flex.

    Kodak knowingly turned deaf ear to technology disruption and paid a heavy price when Nikon dominated digital photography and made Kodak bankrupt by 2012.

    Indeed a pity and classical case of what happens when finite minded leaders are blinded by unknowns in the infinite game.

    Simon Sinek’s book titled “The Infinite Game” makes a mention of the same.

  • What is “shiny object syndrome”?

    Whenever a new idea arises , need not always mean it has merit.

    Frequently followers of leaders who need a group of “yes” men around , feel the need to say “yes” to a new thought or idea espoused by a finite minded leader.

    More often than not since these ideas do advance a “just cause” , these lead to distraction and the followers enticed by such ideas are eventually flummoxed and exhausted.

    Hence the need to be judicious to stay away from them.

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

    For more details on this , please refer to tge following link:(Source personalexcellence)

    https://personalexcellence.co/blog/shiny-object-syndrome/