Excellence Foresight with Nancy Nouaimeh
Welcome to Excellence Foresight, the podcast that guides you on the journey to building top-performing, sustainable, and future-ready teams and organizations. We explore how to plan for excellence, dive into the latest trends, and share practical insights for achieving success in today’s rapidly changing world.
Our mission? To fast-track your journey to excellence. It's a challenge, but with the right strategies and understanding of unique organizational cultures, it's achievable.
In each episode, I’ll share insights from my 24 years of experience in diverse, multicultural settings. Plus, we’ll have inspiring guests sharing their stories and the lessons they've learned in their own quests for excellence. Whether you’re a leader or a team member, this podcast is your roadmap to success, helping you and your organization thrive by embracing best practices and future-focused thinking.
Excellence Foresight with Nancy Nouaimeh
'The Infinite Game: A Visionary Lens for Excellence
Ever wondered why certain leaders and organizations thrive across generations, leaving behind legacies that resonate for decades? Join me, Nancy Nouaimeh, as we delve into the transformative power of the 'Infinite Game' mindset. Together, we will explore the realm of visionary and successful leadership, focusing on two interconnected principles: Leading with Humility and Systems Thinking. These principles play a pivotal role in helping organizations and leaders create a lasting impact.
In this episode, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your own leadership style and its potential to cultivate trust, humility, and innovation within your teams.
Tune in to uncover the ways in which adopting an infinite game approach can yield enduring value and support organizations long after their current leaders have moved on.
This journey redefines the meaning of success, placing emphasis on the growth and well-being of both individuals and businesses. Are you prepared to engage in a game that never truly ends? Join us for this podcast episode, which promises to inspire you in your quest for leadership excellence.
Hello and welcome to the Excellence Foresight podcast. I'm your host, Nancy Nouaimeh, a culture transformation and organizational excellence consultant, leadership coach and a youth mentor. My passion is to make excellence an everyday habit. Whether you're striving for organizational excellence or pursuing excellence on a personal level, this podcast will bring you practices that matter now and for the future, and you might want to stay connected with us to make excellence one of your new habits. In this episode, titled the Infinite Game, a visionary lens for excellence, we zoom in on the excellence of a visionary and successful leadership. As you tune in, I invite you to contemplate your own leadership approach and how it aligns with the insights that I'll be sharing in this podcast.
Nancy Nouaimeh:Throwing inspiration from Simon Sinek, the Infinite Game, in today's episode, we'll untangle the Infinite Game mindset. The name itself carries a visionary connotation, don't you think? In addition to the infinite game itself, we will dive into two interconnected excellence principles: the first one leading with humility and the second one system thinking. You might not be familiar with what principles are, so let me pause and share that. The gravity is the easiest example to understand the principle concept. A principle is universal, timeless and specially governs consequences. If you put your leg in the air and step forward on a rooftop, you will fall. This is the truth behind the gravity principle. Dr Stephen Coffey, author of the bestselling book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, once said there are three constants in life change, choice and principles. These three are the core of our episode today. So let's first delve deeper into the infinite game to grasp this concept.
Nancy Nouaimeh:I think it's very helpful to begin with the definition of what finite games are. The contrary of infinite games, of course. Think of preparing for a football game, for example. In a football game, the rules are well defined, there's a clear winner and rules are at the end. The players are familiar and sometimes even the outcomes are predictable. Finite games revolve around the pursuit of victory, outperforming others, striving to be the best or claiming the top spot. This is a scenario that often resonates in various aspects for our business world today. In contrast, infinite games involve both known and unknown players, as opposed to finite games, which typically involve only known players. In an infinite game, there are no precise or universally agreed upon rules, no definitive finish line and no practical end to the game. The concept of winning simply doesn't apply to infinite game.
Nancy Nouaimeh:I would like us to consider this concept from both an individual perspective and a professional one. Let us look at marriage or friendship as examples of the infinite game concept. From a personal perspective, when we enter marriage or form close relationships, we often anticipate facing numerous challenges as we navigate the journey of building a life together, raising a family or simply fostering deep connections. These relationships are indeed journeys and not one time off events. The happiest and most successful marriages are often those approached with an infinite mindset, where the focus is on the team's enduring happiness and the lifelong journey together, and you definitely can ask my husband about this. In groups or teams where individuals embrace an infinite mindset, you will likely observe significantly higher levels of trust, cooperation and innovation among team members. It's not about competition or striving to be the best and winning. Instead, it's about supporting and lifting each other with a collective focus on the betterment of everyone in the group.
Nancy Nouaimeh:Now you might be wondering how does this translate for you leaders and your organizations? This is the same in the professional business world, but definitely more complex than what you see in personal lives. Someone said once business, like life, isn't about ending at the finish line. It's about the resilience of continuing the race. Infinite players in business. They aim for two main things. They play to continue the game and construct organizations that can thrive beyond their leadership and can flourish across generations. They also utilize their careers to enhance the long-term value of the company and its impact on its people, the community, the economy, the country and even the world. Value for them is not just monetary. The true value of an organization in this context is measured by the desire others have to contribute to that organization's ability to keep succeeding, not just during the time the leaders are there, but well beyond their own tenure.
Nancy Nouaimeh:The infinite dimension is an ideal situation that might not frequently be observed and we all experience in the real business world more finite mindset players rather than infinite mindset players, and I think you might be agreeing with me on this. Now I will share three characteristics for each of the finite and infinite mindset that you could use as a quick self-assessment as you go through this podcast. When it comes to finite mindset players do not like surprises. They fear any kind of disruption. They cannot predict or cannot control situations, and these could be upsetting for their plans and increasing their chances of losing. Finite mindset players place unbalanced focus on near-term results, often employing any strategy or tactic that helps them make the numbers, for example, layoffs, cutting corners in manufacturing or even quality control. In contrast, the infinite mindset players expect surprises, even revels in them, and are prepared to be transformed by them. They focus on making their teams and organizations more resilient and they focus on long-term results and impact. In other terms, they ensure their business is sustainable in the future.
Nancy Nouaimeh:Now, having heard this, which mindset do you have? As we move on, I would like you to remember that an infinite perspective frees companies from fixating on what other companies are doing, which allows them to focus on a larger vision. Usually, they embrace business as a journey, like what we say about excellence Excellence is a journey. This is the magic of thinking big and seeing opportunities in the big picture. The story of Victoria Knox, the Swiss company, is an amazing example to learn from, so let me share it with you.
Nancy Nouaimeh:Victoria Knox faced a significant transformation in response to bands related to increased security measures in airports and other public spaces after 2001. These bands affected the company's core product, the Swiss Army Knife, which we all know, which had been a popular travel accessories for many years. This caused a major challenge for the company and they had to adapt their business model and product offerings. So how did they do that? They redesigned their knives to be more travel-friendly and compliant with security rules. They focused on diversification and expanded their product range into various categories, such as watches, luggage, fragrances, clothing, allowing them to tap into new markets and leverage innovation to do so. They remained committed to their brand values of quality, precision and reliability. They assured in customers that their product line was evolving, while their commitment to excellence and craftsmanship remained unchanged. The company also focused on expanding its global footprint, reaching new customers in emerging markets and establishing its strong online presence. This helped them mitigate the impact of regional bands and market fluctuations. While the Swiss Army knife remains a symbol of the brand, victorinox had strong values, standards and processes that helped it adapt quickly without impacting its quality and reputation in the process. It focused on the long term and not just immediate and quick fixes to a challenging situation they faced. They thrived.
Nancy Nouaimeh:Now, how can this help you as a leader? One of the five things listed by Simon Sinek for a leader to adopt an infinite mindset, and the most interesting and unique one, in my opinion, is demonstrate the courage to lead, and I've been teaching this in my workshops lately. This is where, I think the other two concepts that I've mentioned in the beginning of the podcast lead with the humility and system thinking. The two excellent principles we teach in the Shingo model, strongly intersect with the infinite leader mindset traits. So let us start with the first one leading with humility. What does this mean? Humble leaders prioritize the needs and growth of all their stakeholders. They cherish partnerships, build connections and collaboration. They look beyond the short term wins and help people achieve wonderful things to positively impact others. Humble leaders have the courage to lead right, stop and think, challenge the status quo and take a longer but better road if need be, rather than quick wins to challenging situations.
Nancy Nouaimeh:System thinking a very impactful principle for both organizations and individuals when applied, whether in planning or daily management of activities. It provides you with the capabilities to have a holistic view and encourages looking at the big picture and understanding how different parts of a system are interconnected, like the human body. This perspective helps in making more informed decisions and often involves a long term perspective, considering the long term consequences of actions and decisions that are then focusing solely on short term gains. At the end of this episode, I would like to share three practical actions that integrate humility, system thinking and the infinite game mindset to promote a more holistic and forward thinking approach to leadership, decision making and personal development. First, focus on relationships and collaboration within a systemic context. Cultivate strong relationships with colleagues, partners and stakeholders, understanding that success often depends on the collective efforts of a team or network. When making decisions, think beyond short term gains or wins, aligning your actions with the principles of an infinite game. Apply system thinking to evaluate how your choices contribute positively to the long term while being of the system, and strive for excellence in creating sustainable and meaningful impact.
Nancy Nouaimeh:Number two embrace a learning mindset and pursue excellence. Adopt a mindset that values continuous learning, growth and excellence. Be open to feedback, acknowledge your limitations and actively seek opportunities to expand your knowledge and skills, while striving for excellence in your endeavors. This will take some strong commitment and dedication to change not necessarily an easy one, though. Adapt wise due to challenges. Be courageous to make tough decisions when necessary. Refocus on your core priorities and your true north, and maintain a people-centered approach, even during difficult times. Be authentic and transparent. It makes impact on people and increases their trust in your leadership.
Nancy Nouaimeh:By combining humility, system thinking and the infinite game mindset in your approach to leadership and personal development, you can definitely create a more holistic and forward thinking perspective that values growth, collaboration and sustainable impact and multiplied advantages. In conclusion, and at the end of this episode, these principles are far more than buzzwords. They form the very foundation of a flourishing leadership mindset and a compelling leadership fabric that, in my perspective, serve as catalyst for sustainable success in leadership. Let me leave you with this question to reflect on Again are you a leader with a finite or an infinite game player mindset? Thank you for listening and stay tuned for our next episode addressing the habit of change. Engage with us, be part of the excellence foresight community and subscribe to our newsletter on LinkedIn. Thank you for joining us and let's be the change we want to see in the world. Let's shape a brighter future together.
