What would have to be true for me to win?
In the strategy book Playing to Win, one of the core practices is to brainstorm many different ways to win in a specific market, with a specific customer, toward a specific goal.
And then you ask one filtering question:
“What would have to be true for this to actually play out?”
This helps to see clearly the odds of any strategies to succeed.
I use a version of this with my clients who want to change careers, shift businesses, or start something new.
First, I ask them to brainstorm everything:
All the things they might do.
All the projects.
All the gigs.
All the business ideas.
Then we slow it down, we ground it.
We write criteria.
Boundaries.
Their life's reality checks.
What would have to be true for this idea to have a real chance of winning in your REAL life?
Income requirements.
Skills you already have, or would need to build.
Connections you’d need access to.
Market dynamics.
Actual customers, not imagined ones.
Where can you realistically win, instead of where you hope you’ll win if luck happens?
This is usually when something clicks.
Not everything that’s a “great idea” has a high chance of success for you.
Especially if you care about certain lifestyle.
Energy.
Health.
Freedom. People to take care of.
Or you have a very specific definition of success.
This principle worked at scale.
Procter & Gamble is the flagship case in the book.
And I keep seeing it work in the micro, too.
I’m currently listening to a 5-hour podcast with Alex Hormozi, where he walks through how he got to where he is today. From $1000 in the bank to over $100 000 000 of revenue in a weekend.
One detail caught my attention.
He used to keep a small trampoline next to him and bounce on it between sales calls.
(Tony Robbins does something similar before going on stage.)
Why?
To get his energy light, bouncy, playful.
Because energy transfers.
And high energy increases YES-rates.
So Alex asked, consciously or not:
What would have to be true for me to win?
One of those things was consistent high energy (which he's not naturally at).
So he didn’t “hope” for it.
He built a system that made it more likely.
Over and over again, when I look closely at success, of people, teams, companies, it’s rarely random.
It’s clarity about how you want to win.
Honesty about what must be true.
And then designing systems that shorten the odds.
Not motivation.
Not willpower. Or luck.
Design.
So, over to you, dear reader,
Have you thought through your winning strategy?
And more importantly, have you set up your life so winning is the default, not a struck of luck?
