Is your social media also flooded with memes of the iconic green tracksuits, as Squid Game rides its wave of popularity worldwide? Well then, we are on the same page.
Squid Game took Netflix by storm, ranking number 1 in 81 of 83 countries where Netflix operates. This is not the first time Korean dramas are making headlines globally. In 2020, shows like Crash Landing on You boasted their popularity, nudging Netflix to invest more heavily in the Korean entertainment industry. The value of Netflix’s investment in Korean Dramas reached 550 billion won in 2021, a massive leap from its 15 billion won investment in 2016. According to Statista, a survey of over 8500 respondents worldwide showed that 33% of people thought k-dramas were widely known and even popular to the general public in their countries.
So, how did the K-Drama industry achieve such accelerated growth? And what can we take away for applying to our own organizations? One answer that we can come up with is Moonshot Thinking. This mindset, further developed by Google, helps us to see beyond the status quo. When launching a rocket sounded ridiculous, this type of Moonshot Thinking helped to challenge the impossible. Here are some examples of how Squid Game used some of these Moonshot Mindsets to achieve an unprecedented milestone:
🚀 Aim for 10X, not 10%
The director of this hit, Hwang Dong Hyuk, had the passion to aim for something larger than life. He had gone in with the expectations of creating a masterpiece creating a masterpiece (if not a complete tragedy).
Although aiming for a 10% growth in your firm sounds reasonable, aiming for 10X growth fuels a new passion inside of you that can drive you to achieve something greater than you could have imagined. This also means freeing yourself from existing assumptions and setting yourself apart from the status quo.
🚀 Embrace Failure, Embrace Learning
Did you know that Squid Game’s script was rejected for 10 years before getting on track to become one of Netflix’s biggest shows ever?
Director Hwang had expected it to either be a huge hit or become a 'quirky flop'. While his bizarre idea would not have worked in the past, Hwang learnt from that and saw the opportunity of today’s backdrop as the right environment for releasing his work.
One of the main components of Moonshot Thinking is to embrace failure as part of the journey and to learn from those mistakes. It is important for even organisations to cultivate such a culture of seeing how your idea would fair in the real world, accepting when it fails and learning from it.
🚀 Dealing with Uncertainties
Hwang saw the current context of uncertainty as the perfect backdrop for this film. When the pandemic hit and survival became a central motivation in chaos, Hwang noticed how the survival games in his piece could actually become a relatable analogy of today’s context.
So, instead of being shaken by the chaos, if you can ride it, the unknown might become a source of creative energy for you. Instead of shying away from uncertainty, looking it in the face and embracing it might just be what your organization needs.
How Can You Transform Your Organization with Moonshot Mindsets?
Confused on how to get started with Moonshot Thinking? Fret not.
Our founder, Vivien Koh, Xoogler and Sales & Marketing veteran of 20 years in the tech industry, has been helping organizations to shift their mindsets towards 10X growth with an assortment of transformational training programmes. As a Google Certified Partner, VK Transformation is passionate in helping B2B and B2C businesses accelerate their business model, brand and marketing transformation with our experience and proven track record EDG programmes, grants available up to 80% for SMEs & 60% for non-SMEs. Join us for a virtual coffee chat to learn more: