Status Games: Different games we play

A status game is a battle to have superiority over the other person. Status games are played to feed ego. It feels good to be right. It provides for a dopamine rush. The following are the various status games we play: 1. The Money Status Game - The easiest example of a status game is…

Status Games: Who are the winners?

Life is a game. We play games for status incessantly and automatically. Some people play this game consciously, others not conscious. As a tribal animal, our survival has always depended on our being accepted into a supportive community. But once inside any group, we are not happy with settling for the bottom of the group..…

Status Games: Are Everywhere

Person A: [enters room] What are you reading? Person B: War and Peace This straightforward, factual response implies a small status boost for Person B, since reading such a famously long and difficult book implies studiousness, persistence, and cultural sophistication. But look what happens when A responds: A: Oh, that is my favourite book A…

Status games: Colourful stairs

We all play games. Some of these are games of wealth. Others are games of status. We play these games in different ways. For different rewards. Who is moving up? Who is moving down the colours stairs of status? Who is accumulating status? How can I accumulate more status than them? It's all games. We…

Status Games: We love to play games

Life is a game. Human beings love playing games, status games. Consciously or unconsciously, humans love playing games. Everyone alive is playing a game. A game who's hidden rules are built into us and it silently directs our thoughts, beliefs and actions. This game is inside us, this game is us, we cannot help but…

The Legendary Trane

Happy birthday to the Legendary John Coltrane. Born on this day, September 23, 1926. Coltrane was only 40 years old when he died of liver cancer. When you consider his short career; Starting with Dizzy in 1949His apprenticeship with Miles through the mid 1950’s to Kind of Blue, His first solo album in 1957, His…

Learn by doing

Entrepreneurship requires more guts and application, than just knowledge. Being smart is great, but the courage to build is importanter. The application of knowledge is power. We learn how to build a business, by building it. We learn what is next by making a start, with a leap of faith, by taking that first step.…

Stories make us stronger

In my work with entrepreneurs and companies who want to get better developing entrepreneurs, I see patterns emerging. The startups and companies who have a mechanism for finding, owning and sharing their stories, build strong cultures. I believe there are parallels between what I have witnessed in organisations and research into how stories make individuals…

Peacetime CEO / Wartime CEO

In talking about successful leadership styles, venture Capitalist Ben Horowitz makes the distinction between peacetime leaders and wartime leaders. He explains the distinction as follows: ________________________________________ In peacetime, leaders must maximize and broaden the current opportunity. As a result, peacetime leaders employ techniques to encourage broad-based creativity and contribution across a diverse set of possible objectives.…

Solitude and Books

Yesterday I watched Susan Cain's TED talk on The Power of Introverts. I have watched this talk a couple of times before, but this time, I was struck by the story she shares of her grandfather. Towards the end of the talk she says the following about her grandfather: _____________________________________________________ My grandfather was a rabbi and…

Walking and mindfulness

“Walking quietens the mind without silencing it completely.” | Eric Weiner, Geography of Genius __________________________________________________ This note beautifully articulates why walking manages to be both meditative and productive.