Adopted from the following quote of Dan Ariely , book name Predictably Irrational….
“MONEY, AS IT turns out, is very often the most expensive way to motivate people. Social norms are not only cheaper, but often more effective as well.”
The same has been highlighted in details by Simon Sinek in his book The Infinite Game
By Resources we mean the financial metrics associated with any organization.This would mean EBITDA , EPS , Cash flow , resources from customers and investors etc.
Hence though these are external to an organization these have a huge bearing on the quarterly targets of an organization.
Whereas “Will” is related to inspiration , motivation and other humanitarian aspects related to the employees of an organization.
Since resources are the low hanging fruits hence finite minded leaders who are driven by short cuts show a bias for Resources over will.
Hence as a result of this work cultures where they are predominant are characterized by finite mindset where people are pitted against one another.
On the other hand , iconic and visionary leaders who put Will over Resources take the requisite risks to invest in motivation of manpower to ensure that in the long term they can take care of the resources to keep the organization active in the infinite game of business.
Hence focusing on Will over Resources takes a risk appetite , patience and an infinite mindset.
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game
Motivation 3.0 is a term coined by Daniel Pink in his book Drive to state that the modern day knowledge worker needs a different motivational technique than the carrot and stick approach.
Motivation 3.0 centers around “Intrinsic Motivation” which is so visible in the rise and rise of Open Source Community , software and for that matter Wikipedia which has made MSN Encarta irrelevant.
Simon Sinek says the following when trying to differentiate Will from Resources , in his book The Infinite Game
“Money CANNOT BUY TRUE WILL.”
Great leaders who possess an infinite mindset focus on the long term instead of quick wins in the short term.
Investing in Resources over Will seems the most appropriate strategy for a short term oriented finite minded leader in order to show quick wins.
A long term oriented mindset focusing on “Will” or people , inspires them so that they feel motivated to take care of “resources” in the long run.
This is by no means easy and takes risk taking ability on behalf of the visionary leader.
Needless to say long term oriented mindset results in fulfillment and satisfied employees who in turn make customers happy.
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game.
Will is intangible and entails motivating and inspiring the feelings of people so that they give off their best at the workplace.
Resources or profits on the other hand is easier to measure , tangible and relates to the financial metrics that contribute to the health of an organization.
Focusing on Resources leads to benefits in the short term and hence finite minded short sighted leaders sacrifice people for resources to show profitability to shareholders.
The harder aspect wherein focus on people leads to satisfied customers and hence profits is not something for the faint hearted. This is why the true visionaries focus on this for realization of long term benefits and the benefit of the entire ecosystem.
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game
Infinite minded leaders invest in the “will” of trustworthy people , high in emotional quotient by motivating and inspiring them to be part of the “Just Cause”.
Money cannot buy true will and once the investment in people pay off , high performance teams result which leads to employees putting the “Just Cause” before themselves.
Thus focus on long term goals creates the magic that motivates people towards the vision of the organization.
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book titled “The Infinite Game”
“Resources” generally come from outside resources like customers or investors and represent the sum of all the financial metrics that contribute to the health of the organization.
“Will” in contrast is intangible and harder to measure.When we talk about will we take about feelings of people when they come to work.
Thus though investing in resources and prioritizing them over people is an easier solution to show short term gains , in the infinite game of business an infinite leader does just the opposite.That is invests in “will” or people who in turn once inspired and motivated generate the resources for running the business ensuring its longevity.
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book titled “The Infinite Game”
Adopted from Simon Sinek’s book titled “Great by Choice”
The three goals for any business , in that order , should be:
The difference between companies with a “finite” and “infinite” mindset depends on which factor the organization gives emphasis to.
In an ideal world , with an infinite mindset , 1 and 2 should influence the “Will” of people who in turn would be motivated enough to generate the resource(3)
In an infinite game of business “will” relates to human metrices for e.g inspiration , motivation , trust etc.
Whereas “resources” refer to profit , revenues etc.
Needlessly to say “resources” depend on external factors like customers , shareholders and are not in the control of a leader.
What is internal to an organization and can be controlled as well as nurtured is “will” of employees to drive revenues.
This is exactly what an infinite ninded leader does as very aptly mentioned by Simon Sinek in “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”.