Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action – Simon Sinek

December 3, 2011

Devon Sampson Business, Social Dynamics , , , , , , Leave a comment

There are two ways to affect the behavior of others: to manipulate and to inspire.

Price is an example of manipulation. It is a great way to stimulate demand and support in the short term but a singular focus on it has devastating effects in the long run.

People are comfortable buying all kinds of different products from Apple. This is because of their ”clarity of WHY”; even though the what’s are different (phones, computers, tablets, etc.), the WHY is consistent among all products underneath the Apple umbrella (challenging the status quo, zen-like simplicity).

Conversely, Dell’s MP3 player was a flop because Dell has always identified themselves based on their WHAT: computers.

The what should only be the logical stuff that the brain uses to rationalize the WHY. This is because WHY’s are difficult to articulate.

Early adopters, that is, those consumers on the left side on the innovation diffusion curve, purchase things based on feel, based on WHY. Don’t blindly sell to the majority, seek out the early adopters on the left side of the curve that believe what you believe and will be loyal to you. These loyal early adopters will “tip” the majority in the middle of the curve (see The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell).

Charisma is clarity of WHY.

Energy excites, charisma inspires.

Charisma breeds loyalty.

As a company grows, its CEO becomes farther removed from its what. It can, and it must, however, maintain control over its WHY.

The best example of brand loyalty is this: there are many people that have tattooed the Harley Davidson logo on their body. And a portion of these people don’t even have Harley Davidson motorcycles.

Products or whats are simply megaphones for the WHY.

There is a difference between achievement and success. Achievement is a something to be reached for, a tangible, measurable goal. Success, on the other hand, is a feeling, a state of being. Achievement is getting what you want, success is clarity and expression of WHY.

The tendency is to become preoccupied with tangible results – achievements – the WHATs, at the expense of the WHY. This is what causes “selling out” and ultimately, the demise of even industry-leading companies.

The Prince – Niccolò Machiavelli

November 29, 2011

Devon Sampson Philosophy, Social Dynamics , , , , Leave a comment

 

“Machiavelli made his name notorious for centuries with The Prince, his clever and cynical work about power relationships. The key themes of this influential, and ever timely, writer are that adaptability is the key to success and that effective leadership is sometimes only possible at the expense of moral standards.”

-Amazon.com description

 

“But a blunder ought never to be perpetrated to avoid war because war is not to be avoided but to be deferred at your own disadvantage.“

“Benefits ought to be conceded gradually, so that the flavor of them may last longer.”

“If the necessity for change comes in troubled times, it is too late for harsh measures and mild measures will not work because they will be seen as being forced out of you, and therefore, others will not be obliged to obey.”

“Men, when they receive kindness from those whom they were expecting the worst, feel more closely bound to their benefactor.”

“Men are always adverse to tackling things where difficulties are evident.”

“Nothing can be so uncertain or unstable as fame or power not based on its own strength”

Drive – Daniel Pink

November 28, 2011

Devon Sampson Business, Human Psychology, Motivational Psychology, Social Dynamics , , , , , Leave a comment

 

“According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential.”

-Amazon.com description

 

RSA Animate:

 

“When money is used as an external reward for some activity, subjects lose intrinsic interest in the activity.”

Human beings have an “inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise their capacities, to explore, and to learn.” But this third drive is more fragile than the other two; it needs the right environment to survive.

“An algorithmic task is one in which you follow a set of established instructions down a single pathway to one conclusion. That is, there’s an algorithm for solving it. A heuristic task is the opposite. Precisely because no algorithm exists for it, you have to experiment with possibilities and devise a novel solution.”

“The consulting firm McKinsey & Co. estimates that in the United States, only 30 percent of job growth now comes from algorithmic work, while 70 percent comes from heuristic work. A key reason: Routine work can be outsourced or automated; artistic, empathic, nonroutine work generally cannot.”

“External rewards and punishments—both carrots and sticks—can work nicely for algorithmic tasks. But they can be devastating for heuristic ones.”

Stuff like salary, etc., are called “baseline rewards” and are mandatory, otherwise they’ll just focus on the unfairness of their situation and they won’t be extrinsically or intrinsically motivated.

“Rewards can perform a weird sort of behavioral alchemy: They can transform an interesting task into a drudge.”

Functional fixedness = seeing an object in a certain problem as only having one function, instead of thinking outside the box and seeing that the object can have many functions.

When your only motivation is intrinsic motivation, you’ll always reach your goal via ethical means. Extrinsic rewards encourage people to take shortcuts and act unethically (ie: sales quotas for Sears car repair people, Enron)

“Using extrinsic rewards can cause the presence of such an award seem like the status quo, thus requiring larger awards to be offered to achieve the same effect. In this way, this phenomenon resembles addiction.”

“The very presence of goals may lead employees to focus myopically on short-term gains and to lose sight of the potential devastating long-term effects on the organization.”

CARROTS AND STICKS: The Seven Deadly Flaws
1. They can extinguish intrinsic motivation.
2. They can diminish performance.
3. They can crush creativity.
4. They can crowd out good behavior.
5. They can encourage cheating, shortcuts, and unethical behavior.
6. They can become addictive.
7. They can foster short-term thinking.