Risk & Progress

Playing to Win is not the same as Playing Not to Lose.

The difference between these two approaches is a shift in mindset. One allows you to act fearlessly, and one is based on the fear of something happening. At times, I wonder why we aren’t progressing faster – in both big industry issues and small, day-to-day issues. As I dig into this problem, I inevitably come across “risk” as a reason things aren’t progressing as I’d hoped. I often find that people hang on to the way things have always been done. It’s safer. They are Playing Not to Lose.

Our job as leaders is to inspire our teams to Play to Win. To do that, we need to shoulder the risk with them. We need to encourage them to leave the status quo behind. To not hold back. To be ambitious and go after what they want. We can build confidence in them to try new things, to get out there and experiment, and to dream of something better.

If you are leading, how can you encourage your team to Play to Win?