MILITARY MINDSET – MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH BY SIMON SINEK – [ MOTIVATION 2017 ]
in the military they give medals to
people who are willing to sacrifice
themselves so that others may gain in
business we are willing to give bonuses
to people who will sacrifice others so
that we may gain we have it backwards
and then we complain about how we don’t
love our jobs and we complain about how
the work is suffering and we complain
about how budgets are being cut and we
can complain complain complain and the
first thing we do is blame each other
and become more selfish and worry about
my pay and my benefits in my this and
this is what happens when we are
unfulfilled we look at the metrics and
we say they’re not good enough when we
are fulfilled we don’t care about the
metrics this is why when you have a job
you love and you get a call that says
I’ll offer you tons more money and great
benefits you like I’m not interested I’m
not interested I I’m not interested I’m
very happy here
but we’ll give you more that’s not the
reason I’m here I’m here because I love
it I’m here because I care for the
people I work with and I’m here because
the people I work with care for me this
is the world I imagine this is the world
I imagine and here’s the great thing if
you take little risks I’m not talking
about big things little things if you
start doing little things for each other
the amazing anthropological response is
other people will start doing little
things for others too I was walking down
the street two days ago and a guy’s
backpack was open and a whole bunch of
paper fell out as he was walking down
the street and I happened to be behind
him and so my friend and I just sort of
we were in mid conversation and in mid
conversation we never even stopped
talking we just bent down sort of helped
him gather his papers and them back to
him sort of pointed out that his that
book bag was his you know his backpack
was unzipped and he said thanks when we
walked out it was like no big deal right
we get to the end of the the street we
stand at that we’re waiting it to cross
the street we’re still talking we
haven’t stopped talking and the guy in
front of us turns to us and says I saw
you help that guy
that was really cool but here’s what’s
great about that the guy will go do
something for someone else simply
because he saw us bend down and pick up
paper for someone else he will actually
go do something for someone else because
of it right he won’t give to charity
because he sees me put a dollar in a cup
if he will actually help someone because
he saw someone also helps him little
things hold the door open for someone
say thank you to the person hold the
door open for you smile to the barista
little little things you’re you know put
your foot in the subway when the door is
closing so someone who’s running will
make it hit the open at the elevator
don’t go
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do it a little time and a little energy
and you’ll find a round work that people
give a little time and a little energy
back to you and you’ll give a little
more time and a little more energy you
go for a coffee with someone then you go
for a two-hour coffee and you go for a
coffee and a lunch then you go for a
lunch and a dinner then you go for a
dinner in a movie and then you sleep
over and then you sleep over two nights
and then you go on holiday together and
eventually you get married right it’s
slow it takes time and we can’t rush it
you know if when we rush it it’s all
fake do things for others and watch
watch how much others do for you but you
know go you go get yourself a cup of
coffee from the coffee sheet machine in
the morning make one for someone else it
takes a little extra time it takes a
little extra energy that’s the point
that’s the point and here’s the best
part you will feel so good at the end of
the day so good
so here’s a little issue we have in
America today there are currently about
250,000 people a year who are dying in
our hospitals due to due to preventable
deaths and I’m not talking about
negligence I’m talking about little
accidents right I’m talking about the
doctor in the morning not properly
briefing the doctor for the evening you
know I’m talking about things that you
know we can’t sue anybody there’s
nothing there’s nothing that we can see
that’s wrong but there’s 250,000
preventable deaths every year that’s
about 20 747s going down every single
week that’s what’s the equivalent to and
the confusing thing is that we have the
best doctors in the world we have the
most advanced technology in the world
some of the medical equipment we have is
the best in the world the medicines we
have are the best in the world so you
start asking yourselves why are these
things happening and the reason is not
because of any of those things the
reasons are actually something vastly
more simple something very very human
five percent of hospital administrators
are doctors most of them are number
crunchers hospitals are run like
businesses hospitals are run by the
numbers and the problem isn’t the people
who are giving the care they’re very
highly trained the problem is the way
those people are cared for because what
we’ve done is we’ve created cultures and
hospitals where the people who are doing
the caring aren’t cared for and so all
of these little preventable deaths are
happening because they don’t feel like
they’re a part of anything they’re just
doing their jobs and they don’t get
along that well and there’s not a lot of
camaraderie and the impact is death
right now I use this example because
it’s exaggerated because the impact is
so powerful but the problem is the same
in our own companies right which is we
come to work and we’re told you must
care for your clients you must care for
your customers you must make them the
focus of all you do and yet why aren’t
the people who are managing us from the
top caring about us so yes in a hospital
the impact is worse but the impact that
we’re having on the outside world is
just as bad in other words we’re not
working at our best we don’t care for
the things we’re doing we’re not helping
each other is the most important part
and the residual impact is that we are
unfulfilled by the work that we do and
when we run fulfilled by the work that
we do we focus on the details and when
we focus on the details we retract from
each other when we track from each other
we feel lonely and when we feel lonely
cancer goes up heart disease goes up
diabetes goes up in other words by going
to work we’re killing ourselves
literally there’s another study that was
released not that long ago that says
that parents who work late the negative
impact that it has on their children is
little to none they may feel guilty as
parents but the negative impact that it
has on the raising of their children is
little to none however parents who come
home from jobs they hate or don’t love
their kids are more likely to be bullies
at school and now you think about the
bullying epidemic we have in America
right where there’s this disturbing
number of young children who are killing
themselves suicides because of bullies
the problem is not the schools and the
problem isn’t even the parenting the
problem is the jobs the parents have
this is the importance and this is the
power of the work that we do in the
places we go to work right most of us
mean like we listen to the the
unemployment statistics they say you
know we’re all-time high record high 9
to 10 percent unemployment right and
people go Mike oh that’s terrible and I
hear that number and I go well that
means 91 percent still have a job right
now granted we want to get that
employment number up but that means
ninety-one percent are still going to
work the question is how many of them Oh
coming
fulfilled by the work that they do and
how many of them awaking up inspired to
go back to work the next day if we don’t
love our works we don’t look out for
each other if we don’t look out for each
other we feel lonely if we don’t feel
lonely all these negative things happen
so what example can I share with a
creative audience about how to change
this the United States Marine Corps I
had the great honor last week of
spending a week with the Marines I spent
a couple days at Camp Lejeune and then I
went for a few days to Parris Island to
watch them go through boot camp and this
isn’t a remarkable remarkable human
experiment that they’re doing and even
though they know what works they don’t
know why it works but they don’t need to
know why because they know that it works
right but what’s happening is they’re
taking a group of strangers people who
don’t know each other who were showing
up and within a very very short period
of time learn to trust each other so
much that they would give their lives
for each other right and we know
everyone sort of anyone who’s ever worn
a human reformed knows that no one runs
into battle forgotten country it doesn’t
happen it’s with a guy to the left of me
and the guy to the right of me that’s
the reason they do what they do right
and these sort of remarkable stories of
heroism where people rush into very very
dangerous situations to save others and
they always ask the question why did you
do it why would you risk your life why
would you put yourself at risk for them
and the answer is always the same
because they would do it for me in other
words what gives them the confidence to
put themselves at great risk is the
knowledge that someone would do the same
for them we would put ourselves a great
risk for our companies if we knew that
our companies would put themselves a
great risk for us but they don’t so we
don’t
now one of the things that’s remarkable
about the Marines and if you go read and
you know this is the most I asked these
young and they’re 21 22 years old some
of these of these lance corporals the
grunts you know the guys the infantry I
mean this is the lowest of the low the
ones we actually send into battle for
frontlines and I asked them are you
misunderstood in America and they said
yes unanimously they all nodded I said
what what do people think of you and one
stood up and says they think we’re baby
killers I said how does it feel he says
it hurts
and when I say we’ll tell me a story
then that captures to you what it means
to be a Marine the feeling you have of
being a Marine
tell me a story that captures it and I
expect it to hear stories of I took a
hit and somebody save me or I ran into a
firefight and pulled something I
expected these stories of heroism not a
single story like that came out and I’m
sure those stories exist but those
aren’t the talk the stories they told me
to capture what it means to be a Marine
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one of the stories they told me was a
young boy in Afghanistan who would come
around every morning and sell kebabs to
the Marines and then one day he showed
up and he was all beaten up and he
didn’t go to his parents for help and he
didn’t go to his friends to help he came
to the Marines for help because he
trusted them more than anyone else they
told me a story that captured how they
feel of a Sevilla CH that had been
overrun by the Taliban and the residents
of the village could couldn’t go home
because they would be killed by the
Taliban and so they were just living by
the river the problem was winter was
coming and one of the the elders came to
the Marines knocked on the door and said
I need you to come down to the river and
kill us and the Marine said what are you
talking about he says if we go back home
we’ll be killed by the Taliban and if we
stay out there we’re gonna die slow
deaths this winter it’s easier if you
just come and kill us please
the Marines overran the Taliban village
pushed the Taliban out a year later they
went back to this village and people
were playing volleyball these were the
stories they told me that capture what
it means to be a Marine they believed in
doing good for others and the
fulfillment they get when they put
themselves at risk so that others may
prevail is overwhelming this is not
unique to the Marine Corps this is all
human beings the feeling of fulfillment
comes from doing something for another
the feeling from fulfillment comes from
the exertion of time and energy for
someone else if you are walking to work
and you throw a few pennies in a cup and
you come to work and you say to your
friends hey guys I gave a dollar to
somebody homeless this morning
what are you friends gonna to say yeah
good right I gave 20 bucks to somebody
homeless they’d be like yeah good for
you right what have you coming in the
morning you say hey I gave up my
Saturday and I went and paid missus
painted a school in the inner city
people go whoa cool wow cool and all of
a sudden not only are they inspired to
do something good themselves but the
feeling that that you have persists the
amazing thing is that when we do good
for others it actually inspires others
to do good
others this is provided for us
primatology Klee anthropologically it’s
a all part of the survival of the
species you know sex feels good so that
will do it so we can procreate and
perpetuate the species but we’re social
animals and so we have to provide for
the fact that we’ll maintain strong
bonds and build cultures right because
that’s what humans do we’re cultural
animals and so when we do good for
others and we look out for those in our
tribe we look out for those in our group
it actually feels good
biologically releases oxytocin this
chemical that’s released when you do
good for others is released and it makes
you feel good the amazing thing is the
more oxytocin and you have in your body
the more you want to do good for others
the problem is we’ve replaced this
feeling the exertion of time and energy
with digital communications we’ve
replaced it with headphones we’ve
replaced it with money right think about
the invention of money right it used to
be money you know used to be like you go
to someone’s house you cook them dinner
and the deal was they’ll do the dishes
time and energy exchange for time and
energy and someone said I’ll give you an
IOU right someone says I don’t feel like
doing the dishes so I’m gonna give you
an IOU that I promise to do them another
day right and that’s what money is it is
the promise for future goods or services
the promise of future goods and services
in other words we’ve replaced our own
time and energy with promises for
someone else to do it another day right
in other words there’s no exertion of
time and energy and so the feeling
people get is that I did something for
you and you did nothing for me you
replaced it with a piece of paper with
an eye are you with a promise for future
goods and services the way we find
fulfillment is by doing good for others
so how do the marine zoo how do you get
people to do good for others we all know
this intellectually we know that it’s
good to do good for others but why don’t
we do it then why don’t we do it and
what the Marines learned is something
that I completely did not expect they
can’t just yell at these guys to help
each other that’s not what happens
there’s a few things that they have to
do first so we all heard of the obstacle
course right the Marines have a thing
called the obstacle course and this is
where they they build an aerobic
strength and aerobic strength muscle
strength and it’s timed and all of this
good stuff they have another course
called the confidence course and it’s
never timed and most of the obstacles on
this course cannot be completed by
yourself
they must be completed in teams you have
no choice that’s just how it’s designed
and what they say is the first two weeks
of boot camp everybody’s there to outdo
each other and prove that they’re strong
just kind of like when we start in a job
would prove we want to show how great we
are we’ll work a little harder we’ll do
good work look how good my design is
right it’s all about us and how good we
are right but they keep putting them in
situations where they can’t do things by
themselves and what starts to happen
very slowly they said after about two
weeks they start cheering for each other
now they get in trouble when they do but
they start cheering for each other and
then before too long you see them
organically start helping each other and
what happens is if there’s one person
who’s weak and refuses to help each
other the others well even if there’s
one person who’s strong who’s you know I
was the star college athlete and they
get to every the end of every obstacle
they just stand there and wait for
everybody to finish and they don’t help
each other what starts to happen as
organically the group starts to
ostracize that person organically they
get ostracized until they learn that the
only way that they will get through this
thing the only way they will survive
boot camp is if they ask for help
because they have no option the problem
is no one will help them until they’re
willing to help another it’s the deal we
have to make it’s called vulnerability
and risk we have to take the risk to
make ourselves vulnerable yes you might
do something for someone else and they
may not do something back for you that’s
the risk you run that’s the risk you run
it’s not about it’s not about giving
everything to them and sort of huge big
overwhelming risk it’s about little
things and little things it’s like going
on a date right it’s like if I went on a
date with somebody I came home and I
said after one date I said I’m marrying
her they’d be like what are you nuts
I’d be like
they’re like what your this is crazy I’m
like I know I’m in love yeah she feels
the same way we both know it’s nuts
right now you know that you’re gonna be
like go on a couple more dates right we
know instinctively that the strong bond
that’s create that that needs to be
created first takes more than a week
right we know that right but if I’ve
been dating somebody for seven years and
we haven’t you know married you’ll be
like dude what is wrong right in other
words we know that it takes more than
seven days and we know that it takes
less than seven years the problem is we
don’t know how long it takes somewhere
in the middle all human buns are the
same like when you show up at work when
you show for the first time when you’re
new don’t expect that people will look
out for you and they won’t expect you to
look out for them in seven days it won’t
happen but if you’ve been working in a
job for a few years and you don’t have
the uh this little bit the absolute
confidence that if you turn your back
you will not get stabbed you can rely on
somebody you can give them something
nothing will go wrong you will share the
credit no one will throw you under the
bus if you don’t have that in a few
years something’s wrong something’s
wrong I don’t know how long it takes but
I know that’s more than a week and I
know it’s less than seven years and the
Marines fundamentally understand that
before anyone is willing to put
themselves out for another they have to
have self-confidence real
self-confidence you have to be confident
in yourself and your own ability before
you’re willing to help another if you’re
insecure at all about your own ability
it’s anoxia it’s sort of a paradox right
how am I can I overcome my confidence
you know my self-confidence and we all
have ego issues at all times you know we
all do right but if I’m not confident
myself I won’t help another it’s a
paradox because then we need someone to
look out for us before we’re willing to
help our peers right this is what
management is supposed to do the drill
instructors the school they are there
are parents they are there for one
reason and one reason only to help us
feel strong and good about ourselves but
look at the way we talk to each other
look look look a budgets been cut and so
what do you get told I need you guys to
do more with less right that’s what
we’re told hey guys I need you guys to
do more with
less that’s we’re told by our clients by
our bosses by our parents this is what
we’re told right that’s like your
parents telling you when you’re young I
know you’re stupid figure it out right
you’re not as smart as the other kids
what do you want me to do right it’s the
exact same thing I need you to do more
with less right what we need to be
telling people is I need you I need you
to do more with what you have right you
have capacity you have strength you have
talent you have kapap ability I need you
to do more with what you have we don’t
celebrate what we’ve got we criticize
for what we don’t have this is the
responsibility of management to take us
under their wing and help us understand
our own value to ourselves
close your eyes and think back to high
school and think of that one teacher who
took you under their wing and cared for
you and looked after you and helped you
realize that you are capable of more
than you thought you were and you and
you you probably are the person you are
today in some part because of that
person right you have that name what’s
the name tell me the name tell me the
name of the teacher okay give me the
name okay I can point to anybody and you
can tell me that name now tell me the
names of all the other teachers you had
that day can’t remember them Kenyon this
is the power of those who teaches
confidence we will literally carry their
names around with us for the rest of our
life wouldn’t you want to be that person
wouldn’t you want to be the person that
20 years from now 30 years from now 40
years from now I can do this exercise
with somebody and they will tell me
joining this is the power of helping
others realize their only strengths this
is what management leadership is
supposed to be doing they’re supposed to
be caring for us and helping us realize
our own value and by the way if you have
anybody who reports to your works for
you your responsibility is not to make
them meet the deadline your
responsibility is not to make sure that
they do as you say your responsibility
is to make sure that they understand
their own strengths their own value and
that they are way way more talented than
they think they are and the only way
they will learn that is if you put them
in situations in which they can fail and
you hold them and you support them and
you give them talent and you give them
skills and you give them education and
you watch their backs and if they fall
over you encourage them to get back up
and if they follow that you Carriger
them to get back up and if they fall
over you encourage them to get back up
until they figure it out themselves
it’s called confidence it’s your
responsibility to help others find it
into others responsibility to help you
find yours and the amazing thing is as
soon as you start feeling confident in
your own ability you naturally help each
other that’s what happens it’s called
trust
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you can’t twist anybody’s arm to do
something that they don’t want to do and
you know the law of diffusion which I
obey you know as hard as as much as I
can which is you don’t need the majority
you need those people who believe what
you believe in other words if you buy if
you you know when you go sort of when
you do some nice things for people they
may not do something nice back because
they may be you know we live in a world
in which you do something for somebody
they think you want something from them
right that’s unfortunately the society
we have created but but that’s the risk
that we keep taking I’m not saying you
should keep doing it for somebody who
keeps doing nothing and keeps sort of
you know crapping on you because of it
then at some point you have to be like
alright my bad my bad
right and you back off you know I don’t
believe in helping everyone I do not
believe in it right this is not you know
let’s do good for everyone in the on the
planet that’s not what I’m talking about
mother Teresa who’s the poster child for
giving selflessly to all who need at the
end of her life started question the
existence of God and by the way hated
her life
serious okay in other words giving to
others unabashedly is actually
self-destructive it doesn’t help right
and it’s just like going on dates with
people you don’t like doesn’t mean
you’ll eventually click and Matt right
the there’s there’s only one machine
that I found that really accurately
measures trust better than any other
sort of metric it’s called a human being
it’s really good at it right and so
those feelings you get trust them in one
way or the other you know it’s it’s the
little risks it’s the butterflies it’s
the unsure you know it’s the it’s the
backwards in for the dance
it’s dating it’s the dance it’s the
nerves like I you know it’s that so if
there if there are cynical bastards at
your office who or who don’t get it
ignore ignore him don’t worry about it
because eventually you’ll get enough and
those people either come along or leave
or be pushed out you know ostracized
remember when the group starts helping
each other they ostracize the ones who
refuse to help whether they’re strong or
whether they’re weak they get ostracized
until they learn until they learn that
they cannot survive without the help of
and they learn that the only way others
will help them is if they if they help
the others right
the order matters the order matters I’ll
just I just thought of something that
that’s sort of we is pervasive in our
sort of you know digital world the order
matters you know so to speak honestly
about what you want right if you are
doing don’t do things for people when
you want something from them just ask
them what you want from them and I’ll
give you one little example it’s a funny
little example we’ve all received emails
that go like this dear Simon well you
wouldn’t get an email to do something
but I dear
insert your name right dear Simon
haven’t seen you in years
hope you’re well congratulations on all
you’ve been doing it’s really amazing we
should get coffee sometime if you could
do me a favor I’m if you could vote for
me on this website I’m hoping to win you
know some thousand dollar prize for my
design blah blah blah
hope you’re well talk to you soon Kenny
right we’ve all received an email like
that and how do we respond to it right
now what happens if you get the same
email that goes like this dear Simon um
hoping you could vote for me on this
website I’m trying to win some thousand
dollar prize for my design I haven’t
seen you in years
I hope you really well congratulations
and all that you’ve been doing we should
get a coffee sometime
thanks Kenny totally different in other
words when we know why you’re emailing
and it comes first it has a remarkable
impact we know that all those
pleasantries are just buttering us up to
get to what they want right but if you
come right out with what you want we’re
actually very grateful for the
pleasantries right it’s the same thing
in human interaction don’t give someone
a cup of coffee if you need a favor back
just ask them for the favor it builds
trust I can’t trust you every time you
do something nice for me I think you
just something what you want something
from me
I won’t trust you and this is what
companies do to us right well we did
this for you why won’t you do this for
us that’s not how it works
generosity bending down to pick up the
papers holding the door open for someone
is expecting nothing in return
ever you do not give
you know this is what happens in new
business right we new business is built
on relationships and so we build the
relationship build the relationship
build the relationship until we’re
comfortable to ask for the business in
other words you were only befriending me
till the point you felt that I would let
down my guard and you could ask me for
something the whole time you were just
waiting for that time it doesn’t work
that way
if you actually want to build
relationships you build relationships
without wanting anything and that’s how
you build trust you want to know why the
Marines gave me this incredible access I
mean literally they said Simon anything
you want to see you got it anything you
want to do you got it you can go it we
went past sign that said no observers no
civilians beyond this point I’m like can
I take pictures like go ahead you should
see some of the pictures they’re
unbelievable right I’m like right in
there Marines coming at me we went out
to the crucible and role like you know
they’re like rolling in the dirt and
like you know going onto barbed wire and
I’m like I’m not joking either they’re
like you know unprecedented access
access that journalists would be jealous
of do you know why they gave it to me
because in all the time that I’ve been
visiting with Marines and having
meetings with them I’ve never asked for
anything I don’t want anything and I
don’t have anything to sell I just keep
showing up and say what do you need how
can I help and at some point they said
when I called and said I need a little
favor because they know I haven’t been
waiting for the favor it’s the time now
that I have a little favor they go
absolutely whatever you need it’s called
human relationships companies don’t do
business with companies people do
business with people
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the more we give the more inspires
others to give but the more selfish we
are the more others become selfish
around us and so those are organizations
in which selfish behavior perfect
prevails and so we see the residual
effect which is they make decisions that
ultimately screw us they destroy our
economy because of their selfish
behavior right we know this is what what
what happens same in politics right and
the answer is don’t worry about it I
know it sounds silly and use it you out
you mean your first question is do I
talk about these things to them I will
talk to anyone who will listen you know
but I don’t talk to people who don’t
want to listen the good news is there
are some good eggs and there are some of
them who’ve had conversions where they
were the bastards who believed in firing
people and screwing people to advance
their careers and something happens I
just met a guy recently who’s a very
senior executive a very very large
company and something happened and he
like you got like hit in the head or
something and he realized holy cow I
have to look after people right and they
become obsessed with it and they start
sticking their necks out and and we just
need those champions scattered around
and this is what I do the more I spread
this message the more it’s sort of it’s
it’s kind of like um you know in the in
the cartoons is sort of the whole of
justice you know that the message goes
out they all sort of like you know
wherever they are like you know that
they poked their heads up it’s that kind
of thing the more we talk about it the
more we put it in our work the you know
because don’t forget you’re gonna help
someone who goes home feeling good and
their husband or their wife works in the
bank and they’re gonna talk how much
about they’d love to and that might
inspire that / you know it’s it has all
of these residual impacts that we don’t
really know this is the funny thing
about the internet which is we’re so
proud of the internet that we can
measure everything no you can’t you can
only measure one layer right so for
example you say Simon what’s the impact
you’re having I don’t know is the answer
right I know it’s it’s I know that it’ll
take more than a week and I will take
seven years but I don’t know when it’s
gonna happen and I don’t know how it’s
gonna get there right all I can do is is
do it right but I have no clue how we’ll
win and so for example I can measure
book sales and I can measure how many
hits and I can measure how many people
have watched a TED talk and all of this
but I can’t measure you know
that TED talk being shown to a room of
50 people and one of those 50 people
doesn’t buy a book doesn’t watch a TED
talk doesn’t do anything but goes out
and does something good for somebody
else I have no way of measuring that and
so we’re so proud of the internet and
its ability to measure everything but
we’re measuring one layer where we used
to measure no layers it’s like you know
this is how people work it’s it’s it’s
gossamer you know it’s networked and so
the answer is don’t worry about them
don’t worry about them worry about the
people who you can care for who you can
give to and when we reach a critical
mass in society it will tip right and if
you don’t believe me the reason it is
the way it is now is because it tipped
the wrong way there was no such thing as
massive layoffs as as business strategy
prior tonight in the 1980s it just
wasn’t done it was done here and there
but it wasn’t strategy the idea of using
layoffs to balance the books is a
relatively new phenomenon that came for
the increase of selfishness in the
Gordon Gekko greed is good 1980s boom
right and this was also the same exact
period the 1980s where the theory the
theory of shareholder value was put
forward right because they had all do
these people buying large companies and
installing professional managers to run
the companies that they bought that they
invested in and they had a problem which
is those professional managers were paid
for by the company and those
professional managers cared for the
employees and the customers and so the
investor said how do we protect our
investments we’ve got an idea
we’re going to give them equity in the
company and bonus them based on the
performance right and so the shift
happened where the CEOs started caring
more about the investors and stopped
caring about the customers and employees
those with theories introduced by some
Harvard professor in the 1980s we can
push it back the other way right we can
push it back the other way
but we just have and there’s just a
loser
there was a just the other day which
company was it one of the large banks
where the share hold is citibank
citibank yeah citibank the shareholders
voted majority shareholders voted
against a fat pay package that’s
unprecedented it has never happened even
in hard times even when the company’s
doing this the shareholders just it’s
just sort of a cursory thing where they
approve the fifteen million dollar bonus
but a CEO they voted against it it’s
non-binding but it sends a shot across
the bow saying shareholders now want you
to be bonus if you do something good for
others even if the others is up
right the point is is that it’s it’s
starting to crack and so let’s just
stick our finger in the crack you know
make sure that it keeps cracking it’s
one one way we can swing it back
they took the gifted kids who are
constantly told you’re so good oh thanks
but I knew you’d do well uh you’re the
you’re our best employee you know you’re
our best student you’re awesome
right and what happens is later in life
they actually suffer because they’re
very afraid of taking risk because
they’re very afraid of losing their
position on the mantle okay kids who are
sort of more average who constantly are
rewarded not for their accomplishment
but for their effort
great effort really proud of the
improvement you made what they find is
they do very well in life because
there’s no shelf there’s always more
there’s more effort right and so you
want to reward and acknowledge effort
even if they don’t hit the goal it’s
that the Delta but at the same time if
it goes backwards you’d be like dude
what’s going on like we don’t get we
shouldn’t be giving ribbons for everyone
who competes right because what we’re
teaching people is if you do nothing you
get a medal right and the funny thing is
is we start with creating a generation
that’s feeling very Hollow and feeling
you know this sense of entitlement that
people complain about gen-y the
entitlement is I don’t feel like I’ve
accomplished anything and the funny
thing is about human beings is we we the
way we feel accomplished is when we
exert energy and time and reach a
destination right and the more energy
and time that we have to suffer through
especially if we suffer together and we
get somewhere it is overwhelming think
about the best jobs you’ve ever worked
on was it the best design was it the
best results that the company had
because of your your project or was it
an absolute hell project that you work
together and you came out of the other
end and that you got it done at the
deadline and you’re like that was
amazing
it was the hell projects it was the
things that we had to go out of our ways
more do things for each other right
things we weren’t thinking of doing I
was wrapping packages I was doing stuff
that aren’t designers aren’t supposed to
do going you know this is what produces
that right and so the the the thing is
about measurement and destination reward
imagine we’re standing
in a big empty room right and we’re
standing in one corner and I give you a
simple instruction I want you to go to
that corner in a straight line right
laughs you got no big deal right
without telling you I slip a chair in
front of you what do you do you go
around the chair
now you just disobeyed what I told you
to do I told you to go to that corner
straight line but this is the amazing
thing as back human being which is when
we’re given a clear destination we use
our own creativity and our own sense of
innovation and our own problem-solving
abilities to overcome obstacles to get
to the destination in other words the
destination is more important in the
route right we are flexible about the
route we’re obsessed with the
destination reset we’re standing in the
corner together and I give you a simple
instruction go somewhere in this room in
a straight line and you say to me well
where do you want me to go I’m like I
don’t know
you smart figure it out go in a straight
line and so you pick a point and you
start walking and without telling you I
put a chair in front of you and what do
you do you come to a grinding halt I say
what do you stop for you go will you put
a chair in front of me or you’ll make a
sudden turn and go in another direction
right and this is the problem it’s the
same obstacle the difference is when you
have a clear set a clear destination the
obstacles become easy to overcome when
you don’t have a clear destination you
keep coming to a grinding halt and what
we do in our companies is we’re counting
the steps we’re taking along the route
but we’re never looking at the
destination right so companies has made
a million dollars this year we were only
planning on making eight hundred
thousand like we took ten steps were
only planning on taking eight where’re
you going no clue right we count the
steps and so the point is is that people
want to feel that the effort that
they’re exerting actually are moving
somewhere and so successful measurement
successful recognition is not just for
the steps you take it’s not just for the
effort it’s that the effort you exert it
moved us closer to where we’re trying to
get to and that get to should be some
crazy ideal my ideal is to live in a
world in which the vast majority of
people wake up every single morning you
know inspired to go to work and
fulfilled by the work that they do and
the the couple of measurements that I
use are if the book is selling and I by
the way people ask me how many have you
sold I have no clue I’ve never asked the
publisher because they don’t care I
really don’t care how many I’ve sold
what I care about is the Amazon rankings
and that those are going steady or up
and not plummeting because that means
other people
right because I don’t have a publicist I
don’t have a marketing strategy on
purpose I didn’t hire one of those
companies to sell the book for me and
the reason is is because I’m not
interested in book sales I’m interested
in the spreading of an idea and so I
just use that as a metric to help me
understand am I sort of marching in that
because the more I preach is it
resonating you know and so you have a
couple of these imperfect measurements
that help you understand are you going
along the way so it’s not just great
effort look what you achieved because
that’s what we’re doing now right our
goal is to increase top-line revenues by
50 million dollars for what reason right
which is we have to know the destination
and then we say amazing you took us that
much closer if we go to the right it’s
because we were overcoming an obstacle
if we hadn’t gone to the right we would
have been stuck forever thank you you
know it’s not always straight lines it’s
not always straight lines
[Music]
so I thought I’d share with you some new
stuff that I’m working on because it’s
fun and then we’ll spend most the time
just doing carrying a knife because
that’s also fun so I’m working on a new
book and I’ve recently become completely
smitten by game theory specifically
finite and infinite games in game theory
there are two types of games finite and
infinite games a finite game is defined
as known players fixed rules and an
agreed upon objective like baseball we
all agree to the rules we all agree that
whoever has more runs at the end of nine
innings as the winner and the game ends
we all go home nobody ever says that we
can just play three more innings I know
we can come back from this deficit it
doesn’t happen that way an infinite game
is defined as known and unknown players
the rules are changeable and the
objective is to keep the game and play
to perpetuate the game when you pit a
finite player versus a finite player the
system is stable baseball is stable when
you pit an infinite player versus an
infinite player the system is also
stable like the Cold War it was stable
because there cannot be a winner and
there cannot be a loser so we just try
and keep the game in play and in
infinite games because there are no
winners and losers what happens is
players drop out of the game when they
run out of the will or the resources to
continue to play right so technically
the United States didn’t win the Cold
War the Soviets dropped out because they
ran
what problems arise however when you hit
a finite player versus an infinite
player because one is playing to win and
the other one is playing to keep playing
right so invariably what happens is the
finite player will always find
themselves in quagmire so this was the
United States in Vietnam the United
States was fighting to win and the North
Vietnamese were fighting to survive very
different set of standards this was the
Soviet Union in Afghanistan the Soviets
were fighting to beat the Mujahideen and
the Mujahideen would fight for as long
as is necessary and invariably what
happens is the finite player will find
themself in quagmire until they drop out
of the game and leave the game because
they run out of the will or the
resources to stay in the game so this
gets me thinking let’s look at business
the game of business is an infinite game
right it Bay’s all the rules there are
known and unknown players you don’t know
all the competitors necessarily in one
industry to another the rules are
changeable we haven’t all agreed what
the rules are and there is no winning
the game of business right the game just
perpetuates in fact the game of business
has existed longer than every single
company on the planet today and it will
outlast every single coming up company
on the planet today if you look at the
Dow index of 30 something odd companies
that make up the Dow X something like 70
or 80 percent of those companies are 35
years or younger right so it gets me
thinking if you listen to the language
that companies use they don’t know what
game they’re in they talk about being
number one talk about beating their
competition based on what agreed upon
criteria based on what agreed-upon
timeframe is that market share is it
profits is it revenues square footage
number of employees over what one month
five months six months a year five years
ten years the life of the company I
haven’t agreed to those rules and so
companies can arbitrarily declare
themselves number one and anything they
want if they set the standards in the
time frames and the only reason we do
these things on annualized basis we tell
you we tend to compare ourselves to
other
Asians annually is only because we pay
taxes annually if we pay taxes every 18
months that would be sort of the
standard but again we still haven’t
agreed what the metrics are to be number
one that means the companies that are
playing the infinite game are playing
against most of the others were playing
the finite game means those finite
companies find themselves in quagmire
almost every single bankruptcy not
almost every every single bankruptcy is
a company that’s run out of the will or
the resources to play they drop out of
the game the game will persist another
company will fill their space it’s not
like it’s not like the business stops of
the industry ends and the companies that
are playing the infinite game will
frustrate those finite players which I
absolutely adore so I spoke at an
education summit for Microsoft I also
spoke in an education summit for Apple
now I would say about 70 to 80 percent
of the executives at Microsoft spent
about 70 to 80 percent of their
powerpoints talking about how to beat
Apple at the Apple Summit a hundred
percent of the executives spent a
hundred percent of their presentations
talking about how to help teachers teach
and how to help students learn one was
obsessed with their journey with their
vision with their cause the other one
was obsessed with their competition
guess who’s stuck in quagmire
guess who’s frustrated by their
competition so at the end of my talk in
Microsoft they gave me a gift they gave
me the new Zune when it was a thing and
I have to tell you this was one of the
most remarkable beautiful pieces of
technology I’d ever use the UI was
gorgeous the design of the the actual
hardware was beautiful it was logical in
the way I could use it it was intuitive
it was absolutely fantastic now I didn’t
work with iTunes which means I couldn’t
use it that’s a different problem
altogether but this was a magical piece
of technology so at the end of my talk
at Apple I’m sharing a cab with one of
the senior Apple executives or but sort
of an employee number 12 gunner guy and
I decide to stir the pot so I turned to
him and I say you know I spoke at
Microsoft and they gave me the new Zune
and it is so much better than your iPod
touch and he turns to me and he says I
have no doubt conversation over because
the infinite player understands
sometimes your product is better and
sometimes it’s not sometimes you’re
ahead and sometimes you’re behind the
goal is not to beat your competitor the
goal is to outlast your competitor what
you find is that the infinite players
don’t actually compete against their
competition they compete against
themselves the finite players the ones
who wake up every day trying to beat
somebody else the infinite players the
ones who say how can we be a better
version of ourselves how can we advance
our metrics how can we make our products
more refined more beautiful than they
were last week it’s totally fine to
study our competition tactically it’s
nothing wrong with knowing what our
competitors are doing but the number of
companies that study their competition
strategically blows my mind they look at
what their competition is doing and they
make sudden sharp left and right turns
to change the course of their company
based on the movement of their
competition that’s the point
that’s what rate wait wastes resources
the constant changing of your mind the
constant going in this direction in that
direction
based on the wind of your competition
assuming that they know what they’re
doing I find that fascinating and the
number of companies that play finite is
the vast vast vast majority
[Music]
