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| How to have the mindset of successful people that we must have in life |
How to have the mindset of successful people that we must have in life. In life, we will come across many different games.
This time I will discuss the book The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. This book discusses the mindset that we must have in living life.
Simon explained that basically there are two types of games, namely limited games or called finite games and endless games or infinite games.
Limited games like football, chess, tennis, we know who the players are, the rules of the game, the beginning and the end. In a limited game, winners and losers can be easily distinguished.
However, it is different from endless games, such as business, career or life itself. The rules of the endless game are not clearly stated, there are no winners and losers, only those who are in front and behind.
Then, we might ask, how can we win the endless game? In playing endless games, we also have to have a different mindset, Simon calls it an infinite mindset.
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I summarize it into three important points from the book The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek:
First, Have an Infinite Game mindset
In January 1968, troops from North Vietnam and the Vietcong carried out their largest military campaign with the United States. This war became known as the Vietnam war. In every battle, the United States always won and North Vietnam often suffered heavy casualties.
During January to August, North Vietnam lost more than 100,000 troops. However, at the end of the war, it was the United States who withdrew. So, the United States wins every battle, but loses the war. Why is this happening?
Simon explains this phenomenon because the United States and Vietnam have different mindsets. The United States has the Limited mindset while Vietnam has the Infinity mindset.
For Vietnam, their main goal is not to beat the United States, but to be the last one standing. This mindset is difficult for many people to understand.
We use a finite mindset in an infinite game. For example like the United States in the Vietnam War, they don't think about the last one standing, but how to win the battle, although war is an Infinity game, nothing is certain and there is no end.
The game only stops when one of the parties loses the enthusiasm and resources to continue playing.
Simon provides an interesting fact. Business is not like a game with clear rules and endings. Business is an endless game where an organization has to stay in the game as long as possible.
Therefore, Simon feels it is irrelevant if many leaders in big companies claim to be business winners or number one.
When you become a business winner, there must be a loser. In fact, nothing is certain because it is part of the journey, not the end.
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| How to have the mindset of successful people that we must have in life |
Many companies are too focused on short-term profits, the next quarter how much profit. In fact, the leaders in a company must look beyond the horizon, how their business can survive in the decades to come.
According to research from McKinsey, the average lifespan of companies in the S&P 500 has declined 40 years since the 1950s. The average company age is only 18 years, compared to the 1950s, the average company age is 61 years.
Second, infinite game in business
When Apple launched the iPod, Microsoft responded by making the Zune, a product similar to the iPod. Back then, Microsoft was obsessed with Apple.
However, Apple under the leadership of Steve Jobs at that time had an unlimited mindset. Apple is not competing with Microsoft, but Apple is focused on thinking about the future.
A year later after the Zune was launched, Apple took out the smartphone and made the Zune and Ipod irrelevant. This is the difference between a person who has a finite mindset and an unlimited mindset.
People with an infinite mindset see the world with endless possibilities. Playing with a limited mindset in an unlimited game like in the business world will make companies take decisions that are detrimental to their future.
Companies with a limited mindset focus on how the next quarter or semester should be profitable. They create products for the short term/ This mindset also makes companies cut costs to the extreme, for example cutting employees, cutting budgets for innovation, and so on.
The company does whatever it takes to have good quarterly and annual financial reports. However, in the long run, companies can lose.
We must realize that we live in uncertain, uncertain, complicated, and ambiguous conditions. Therefore, we must be prepared with a different mindset.
In the infinite game, there are two most important things, namely passion and resources. Resources in the form of money usually come from investors and customers while passion is the motivation in an organization.
In difficult conditions, leaders with limited mindsets see employees as a burden and prioritize short-term gains. However, leaders with an unlimited mindset see things differently.
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| How to have the mindset of successful people that we must have in life |
Victorinox is a company that manufactures the famous Swiss Army knife. However, after 9/11, his business immediately went awry because knives were banned from being carried on planes. People stopped carrying knives everywhere anymore, whereas in the past Swiss Army knives were often used as gifts for people who are retiring or graduating.
In difficult conditions, Victorinox took a different step. They don't fire employees, instead they increase the budget for product innovation, and inspire their employees to lift the Victorinox brand into new markets.
There's a reason Victorinox can do this. When business is doing well, Victorinox sets up an emergency fund for unexpected difficult times. CEO says if we look at history, bad things are bound to happen, that's why we don't think on the spot, but we think on future generations.
Third, How to Apply the Infinite Mindset
Simon provides tips on how a leader can adopt an infinite mindset.
First, just cause. It's more than what your reasons or goals are. The cause is a clear vision of the future that has not yet emerged.
This future is so exciting that it encourages employees in the organization to dare to sacrifice something to achieve it. This could mean taking overtime, taking more business trips, or turning down more attractive offers from other companies.
Second, team trust. The focus is not only on getting everyone to work together in a team, but that they trust each other.
These are two different things. Trust is a feeling and it takes time for that feeling to grow and make every team member feel safe on the team.
Third, worthy rivals. In an endless game like the business world, we must treat our competitors with respect, but our success or failure does not depend on them.
Our competitors contribute to pushing us to be better, be it in terms of products, services, marketing, and so on.
Fourth, Existential Flexibility. There are times when we must dare to decide to change, if what we are doing is no longer in accordance with our true goals.
An example in this case is Walt Disney. In 1937, Walt successfully launched Snow White and was a huge success. However, this success made the company's focus change, from Walt's idealism to a focus on profit.
This made Walt feel that Disney was no longer in line with his vision, he decided to leave and 15 years after Snow White was released, he still remembers its main cause, which was to make people run away from the pressures of life.
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That's what made Walt create Disney Land. Walt wanted Disney Land to be the happiest place on earth, where both adults and children could experience the beauty of life, experience it, and feel better after.
Fifth, Courage to Lead. Leading requires courage. Would a leader dare to focus on long-term profits rather than quarterly or semester earnings? Especially in the midst of a lot of pressure such as from shareholders.
This is not easy, but a leader must dare to take measured risks so that his company can survive in the long term. Different games require different mindsets.
Closing
That's my writing about How to have the mindset of successful people that we must have in life, In an infinite game like life, there are no winners and losers, only who is in front and who is behind.
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