Journal Entry : My Lessons in Entrepreneurial Wisdom from the Game of Thrones Characters

Game of Thrones, the HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin's series of books – A Song of Ice and Fire, is nothing short of a cult, THE revolution of our times. The impeccable screenplay backed by impressive storytelling that is carefully crafted with extraordinary British acting is a potent mixture that makes it worthy of the world-wide acclaim and following. Every season takes it bigger and better – the show engulfs the grandeur of a limitless vision and an impeachable attention to detail of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

As a lifelong student with cross functional interest in music, design, engineering and business, I have had the opportunity to expand experiences from one domain to another and along the way do many thought experiments. Extrapolating the influence of culture, art and human behavior to business settings has helped me improve self and social awareness. This interest was further fueled by reaffirmation of many business leaders (who came to Wharton to share their success stories), who believe that Great from Good leaders can be differentiated by their unabashed pursuit and openness for diverse experiences. Implementing learnings from one context to another makes them powerful and creative business-problem-solver-juggernauts, indispensable skill for the fast-changing world.

In the spirit of cross domain learning application, I tend to absorb drama with a business-learning objective in the corner of my eye. Many TV shows like House of Cards, Westworld, the OA, Black Mirror, The Americans etc. have had their aha moments, but Game of Thrones was a league apart. Innumerable times during GoT, I found myself forging deep entrepreneurial wisdom from the protagonists’ actions. I journal my life reflections regularly (a practice I picked up during my MBA) and this post is an attempt to share my journal entry on some of my learnings from the Game of Thrones characters that I extrapolated to business and am taking away with me. I have included my comprehension of each character's motivation, a key takeaway along with a few dialogues that left a lasting impact on me.

Note that this is written at a point when Season 8, episode 5 is awaited. Hope this is useful and you enjoy reading this.

Daenerys Targaryen

Daenerys exemplifies the unshakable entrepreneurial spirit. As a woman in the male-dominated medieval times and as the only surviving Targaryen, she had no resources or support. She created an empire using a dwindling last name and three Dragon Eggs (a product with a great product-market fit for those times!). Clever utilization of limited resources, top-notch stakeholder management, commendable people management and authentic appeal motivated a dysfunctional team of first timers and appealed to the sensibilities of the oppressed populace that made her increasingly victorious.

Dany's Motivation - Power

Key Takeaway

An entrepreneur with a Palpable Passion, deep-rooted Purpose and a well-articulated Vision can forge an unstoppable phenomenon

Jon Snow

Jon didn't want titles or recognition but nevertheless got them through his incomparable, commendable and consistence performances. He led by example, whether it was as Commander at the Night’s Watch defeating the Wildlings or as King in the North against the Night King. This resulted in sustainable and reverential following that was beyond cultural differences, religion and faith. Effectively leading diverse teams is a leadership quality important in today’s flattening world. Jon Snow was arguably the ray of empathetic hope that was missing in all GoT leaders. In business, empathy can help employee retention in troubled times that can make or break an entrepreneurial venture.  

Snow's Motivation - Intrinsic Honor and Equity Theory of Motivation

Key Takeaway

Leading by example is a sustainable way to yield legitimate power. Get your hands dirty and show the way.

Arya Stark

Since a child, Arya identified that she wasn’t cut out for status quo (sewing, knitting, matrimony, child bearing) and only wanted to be a warrior. Despite push-back from family and friends, she continued to invest in up-skilling herself with persistence and determination. She found mentors along the way and focused solely on learning with a long-term goal (her list!) in her head. She was not afraid "to ask" for mentorship (she said to Brienne of Tarth – “I want to learn from you, because you are the best”). She embraced failure without judgement and exemplified a fighter spirit which culminated in her heroic and poetic justice of the Night King. I believe if you truly want something the universe conspires to make it possible for you. Identifying passion, taking risks and finding great mentors can serve as differentiation especially for young entrepreneurs.

Arya's Motivation - Expectancy Theory of Motivation

Key Takeaway

Knowing your passion early and investing in it with all your heart and determination can help differentiate and shine

Sansa Stark

Sansa was a late bloomer unlike her sister, Arya. She went with the flow, had her own experiences that progressively shaped her. She was tossed from one context to another and people underestimated her. She lived in her fantasy world with a ‘just world’ hypothesis until she faced a dire situation at Ramsey’s behest that compelled her to transform (“innovate or die”). With enough experiences under her belt, Sansa’s escape was metaphoric of leaving her past self for a better future. Had she not escaped, she would have perished. A parallel can be drawn for aspiring entrepreneurs who are struggling with an unbearable company or manager. While switching might be a clear answer, knowing when to do it is equally important, for some unpleasant experiences might be important to forge a better future self. Go with the flow, they say.

Sansa's Motivation - Fear and Affiliation

Key Takeaway

Sometimes being a tumbleweed and going with the flow is important but one should know when to turn the wave

Lord Baelish aka Littlefinger

"Chaos isn’t a pit, Chaos is a ladder"

Baelish found opportunity in every dire situation. He stepped into the darkest places, took risks and emerged victorious. I do not endorse his malicious non-alignment and non-committal philosophies, but I can see how a version of it could be argued as diplomatic wisdom. Putting a positive spin for the sake of learning, I have come to call Baelish an Entrepreneurial Opportunist, a formidable strength if cultivated appropriately can help entrepreneurs survive especially in times when everything seems to be going haywire.

Another Baelish quote that I loved

“All desires are valid to a man with a full purse”

In this capitalistic, global world, money in many situations could mean power. Positive Cash flows in a business can give the entrepreneur/ leader leeway to pursue alternative experiments, quell creative desires and take risks. But first : cash. full purse. profitability.

Baelish's Motivation - Fear and Power

Key Takeaway

A certain degree of Entrepreneurial Opportunism can help find solutions in areas where only problems exist

Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion was my favorite character with his sharp, witty one-liners that are easily applicable/ relevant to business. What I loved about Tyrion was that he was a survivor (against all odds) because he had deep self-awareness. He identified and doubled down on his strengths in strategy and negotiations.

One of his dialogues I loved

“The true history of the world is a history of great conversations in elegant rooms”

It is a fact that many big deals between powerful individuals are done on dinner tables, golf courses and long walks. The importance of network, charisma and influence cannot be emphasized enough. That’s where I believe good pedigree and brands, that can give unprecedented access, come into play.

Tyrion's motivation - Fear, Power and Expectancy

Key Takeaway

Identify and double down on your strengths to differentiate through a clear value add

Cersei Lannister

“That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” - Friedrich Nietzsche

I wrote off Cersei a few times and it was beyond me on how she could emerge victorious after a clear checkmate by her enemies. She is the most vicious character but her win at all costs, never-say-die attitude and clarity of fundamental value system (it is debatable whether it is good/ bad) was impressive.

"In the Game of Thrones you either win or you die"

Lessons from Cersei’s survival story are most relevant to entrepreneurs in the winner-takes-all markets. If you know that scale is the answer to a lot of your problems, an {ethical} Cersei might be the way to go.

Cersei's Motivation - Power. Power. Power through Fear

Key Takeaways

Enemy of the enemy can be a friend

Know your competitors

Have a clear value system

Varys

“The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work.” – Robert Kiyosaki

Vary’s clear value addition was his network of whisperers. This meant he could know the future i.e. things that have not yet happened (competitor moves, funding rounds?) or clarify/correct the past (intelligent competitor growth hack?). Getting someone like this on the team can immensely help a startup in creative problem solving.

Another quote from him that I loved

"A very small man can cast a very large shadow"

is relevant for disruptors. We know that Hotel chains were disrupted by Airbnb, Taxi nexus by Uber and so on. It is important for incumbent market leaders to realize that today's harmless startups might cast a large shadow/impact on your customer’s minds, solve real problems and might pose formidable competition in the future. It is important to have a healthy sense of insecurity about your market position especially when information is democratized.

Varys' motivation - Power and Influence

Key Takeaway

Have a Varys on your team!

In the end ..

All opinions are my own. Blog Picture Credits : Getty Images, HBO and Pinterest

Reference - https://www.evantarver.com/types-of-motivation/