These are two entirely different mindsets, each of which leads to significant differences in how companies think about themselves and their business. Playing To Stay Safe:

By definition this is the mindset of a company lacking in confidence.

Events and developments that are interpreted as threats are scary. They’re to be avoided.

These companies try to stay below the radar of bigger, and presumably more effective competitors.

The leadership assumes that the company doesn’t have what it takes to win:

• The knowledge

• The skills and talent

• The resources, or

• The motivation

As a result, those companies look for a safe niche to hide in, while still managing to eke out a living.

They tend to hoard their resources – always saving for the rainy days that they know are coming.

They settle for just good enough. They look to reduce costs and are stingy with the expenditure of resources.

They tend to avoid new things for they require extra effort to acquire, adopt, and then master, and --- “we need to avoid frivolous efforts.”

These assumptions and practices set the tone for everyone in the company. Decisions are colored by an over abundance of caution. This mindset is contagious and self-fulfilling.

Playing To Win:

This mindset arises within companies from having a fundamental sense of confidence in themselves and in the worthiness of their purpose.

Threats are sought out and met head on. They are seen as opportunities against which to test themselves. They are seen as opportunities to grow.

They believe that what they are trying to accomplish is worth the risk.

These companies believe in their resourcefulness. That is, they believe they can find ways to:

• Apply their knowledge, skillfully---even if unconventionally---and

• That they can leverage the resources they have - (through their skills and knowledge) because

they are committed to an outcome that is bigger than the individuals involved.

It took George Washington years to win a battle.

The British army continuously complained about how the colonial rebels wouldn’t “fight fairly.”

It was silly, if not suicidal, for the rebels to take on the most sophisticated, skilled, best-equipped army in the world. Silly that is, until they took the British out of their element.

The rebels introduced a game-changing style of fighting that fundamentally altered the nature of the competition.

They leveraged their fewer strengths in ways that neutralized their enemy’s superiority. Then they won.

How many businesses today are ready to take on the corporate equivalent of the British army?

If you aren’t, then you will eventually adopt a playing to survive mindset. Think of Famous Amos taking on Nabisco, or Starbucks taking on Folgers.

They found a path to success by creating value that the “big guys” couldn’t or wouldn’t match.

Think of the first people making compact discs who took on the audiotape and record industries.

Your advantage lies in the belief and confidence you have in your ability to think. The advantage must be more than just the ability to think---everyone, every company has that ability, it’s how well it’s done, how strongly it’s believed.

Your company has the ability to choose how well it thinks. It’s the quality of the thinking that makes a difference, and the choices you make as a company regarding how you develop that choice.

The Joshua Feinberg Story: Here is a guy who’s thinking like a winner. His mission is to assist family businesses that also want to think like winners. His clients are playing to win by reclaiming tasks they formerly outsourced, even though they still use external help (his information) to accomplish the tasks. When using outside help creates a net profit for you – in money realized and opportunities captured – it may be the smartest way to go. But, there may be many options for using outside help, and having confidence in your ability to ferret them out and select the best options (and best though partners) is a winning attitude. [Read Now]