I'm very late to watch Squid Game. In fact, I felt the hype has already died down and now I just watched it over the weekend. As a viewer, I like the storyline and the plot, but found the games (which makes up the bulk of the show) pretty boring.

Why would anyone enjoy watching a bunch of boorish men and women play life-threatening childhood games with no strategy puzzles me. In any case, I managed to gain some valuable takeaways which is applicable to the financial planning career and would love to share my learning points with readers.

*Spoiler alert if you haven't watched the show. You probably can't make head or tail of the article also.

Game 1: Red Light, Green Light

Learning Point: Accept the rules of the game & you can thrive.

I found this to be fairly relatable to the game of life. Essentially, every thing we do in life has a framework. There will always be perimeters in terms of what is acceptable and what is not. If you think about it, accepting game rules is applicable to everything we do. This includes following Covid19 restrictions. In the game Red Light, Green Light, mass panic ensued when the players assumed elimination meant stopping the game but they ran for the exit when they found out they can be killed.

In real life, nobody will mass run for the exit but there will be a lot of voices of dissent and complains. In extreme cases, people resist the rules (like wearing masks and small group gatherings) and some got fined, others got repatriated. In other like for like scenarios, locals who lost jobs or cannot find jobs want the government to enforce protectionist laws to cut out foreigners. This is a good example of when instead of learning how to play the game, we want the rules to bend for us.

Learning how to game the system and finding creative ways around the rules is alright, but wanting to invent your own rules is really wishful thinking (in Squid Game, those who moved during Red Light in the mass panic obviously died). This is akin to how sometimes financial consultants or similar career types (the closest I can think of is property agents) sometimes function in denial when they signed up for a self employed role but expect to enjoy the perks of an employee like being provided clients (leads) and marketing resources. Then struggle when they realise this is ultimately an entrepreneurial role. On the other hand, if they behave like Oh Il-nam who is the old man with the tumour, simply accept the game as it is, listen to instructions and move, the game is fairly easy.

Game 2: Sugar Honeycomb Game

Learning Point: You need to gather intel to make smarter decisions

The part of this game which stood out the most for me was before the game started. Sang Woo, the SNU graduate coax Sae-Byeok to reveal what she saw when she sneaked out. From the information she provided him which was the use of sugar for childhood games, Sang Woo managed to guess the next game, thereby putting himself in the queue for triangle and having a pretty easy route to clear the game. As for the rest of the players, they left it to random and thus had no control over their game difficulty.

This is a good life lesson. In most things we do, the more information we have to make informed choices the better. Especially in business, it is essential to gather information from the right sources to make smarter decisions. This is why, even as a MDRT advisor, I bother to meet other MDRT advisors to cross learn. Through various cross sharing of information, I manage to make better business decisions and cut short a lot of potentially erroneous decisions by tapping on the experience of others who have been there done that.

Game 3: Tug of War

Learning Point: Strategy trumps brainless effort

I enjoyed this game episode quite a bit. Unlike most of the other games where I felt there's no strategy among the people fighting for their lives, this game started off with the assumption that an all strong men team would triumph over those with a mixture of men and women as well as those with older folks. In the show, a team comprising of an old man, a mixture of women and men won over a team of strong men. They did this because the old man shared a strategy on how to win. He detailed this strategy step by step and the team followed.

Initially, even I thought that tug of war is a game of brute force. Which is similar to how many simple-minded people perceive that running a business is as simple as working hard. Take for instance, within the financial services sector, we've seen people achieve decent success with sheer hard work from door-knocking, roadshows and cold calling simply by law of large numbers. Many don't even bother with policy reviews because there's a constant flow of new clients as long as you are willing to prospect. However, many suddenly couldn't sustain their business during Covid19 due to stay home and social distancing measures. On the flip side, advisors who ran their businesses with more mental finesse by making themselves referrable or started to build a personal brand to attract enquiries online, saw their business doubled.

In my opinion, old school strategies that is based on sweat equity only works to a certain extent when your competition also only knows how to compete on sweat equity. However, every sustainable approach have a more well defined methodology behind the method. This is why mentorship is important. If sweat equity is the sole formula, why do we need a mentor? The key is to find the mentor (like the old man) to teach you a proven method that works. Then you can rise up against the seemingly stronger opponents.

Game 4: Marbles

Learning Point: You need to be prepared to face all the curveballs life throws you

What struck me during the game of Marbles is not during the sparing off itself but during the selection of team partner process. Granted that nobody knew what game they would be playing, everyone chose themselves the strongest pairing or someone they felt most comfortable to work with. In the end, they ended up in the firing line and against each other while Han Mi-nyeo was given a free pass to the next round because she's unwanted.

What do you think would happen if the players knew they would be sparing against each other? They would try to pick a partner weaker than them. Now my question is, how would you choose a weaker player? In terms of strength or in terms of wits? Also, how would the 'weaker' players choose their partners? If the players knew the odd one would be given a free pass, would people volunteer to play the game or try to be the odd one out?

In my opinion, it doesn't matter. In any competition, you are bound to get easier opponents and harder opponents. In business, you definitely face competing situations where you vie for the same business with someone else. You just need to be up to it or you will be out of that deal. Sometimes though, it might be worthwhile to sit out of certain competitions. For instance, a business deal worth a sizeable 6 figure lump sum might appear highly desirable. However, if this is an unreasonable client who expects red carpet treatment, is that 6 figure business still worth it? It's not like there's no other 6 figure business available right? This would be like Han Mi-nyeo, living to fight another day.

Game 5: Glass Bridge

Learning point: The fastest route to success is to learn from the mistakes of others

This is my favourite game. At the beginning of the game, I felt those who started first are really unlucky as they would have to trial and error in order to survive the bridge. However, I noted that the more the rest progressed on the bridge, the easier it is for the last few players to make it across as the path to success will become obvious.

This is an excellent reflection of life. For a lot of new businesses, it takes a luck element to avoid pitfalls and get it right on the first attempt. Alternatively, you need to have an edge like the player who works as a glass maker. However, for businesses with a proven model that can be replicated like being a self employed financial advisor, a good mentor and simply following the proven approach is all that is needed. Essentially, the ones who started earlier took the falls and very often, the later entrants benefit from the now lighted path. This is why a lot of business books advocate the importance to find a mentor who has done what we want to do and just learn from them.

Game 6: Squid Game

Learning lesson: How you make money matters as much as how much money you make

This is a particularly impactful lesson for me partly because of the profession I'm in. Gi Hun won but instead of going for the win and killing Sang Woo, he wanted to end the game. Sang Woo on the other hand is the total opposite. All he thought of was the money. He even killed Sae-byeok to ensure that there's no majority to end the game.

I think there's a lot of ways to make money. Some ways are extremely legitimate and we can sleep soundly at night. Other ways are grey and debatable. Some is blatantly a win-lose situation. In my opinion, Squid Game is a grey area. Technically, all the players who chose to play came back after ending the game the first time. They knew they were gambling with their lives. There's consent which legitimizes the right to the prize money. However, it's still earning money at the expense of peoples' lives. Are we really okay to earn money in this manner? That's Gi Hun's struggle.

As a financial consultant, I'm very aware of the stigma this industry carries. It is also true there are consultants who joined this industry purely for the money and are alright earning money at the expense of people's trust. There's no smoke without fire. Thankfully, this industry has more and more consultants who join for the right reasons. Increasingly, people are savvier and more well informed. In the long run, I genuinely hope that this industry can transform itself to be on par with law and medicine. Ultimately, we may not fall seriously ill in our lifetimes and may not need legal advice, but we will definitely retire and die one day. Financial planning is necessary for both retirement planning and estate planning. When financial planning is done properly, it can change peoples' lives for the better.

Closing

In closing, I wrote this article for fun. I just kept seeing Squid Game content springing out and I wanted to share a different perspective to what I otherwise felt was a boring show.

After reading this article, you might be keen to have a discussion to explore a career as an intellectually capable financial consultant. You can reach me by dropping me a message.

Be sure to share the article if you feel this information is helpful. You will enable a lot more people to learn a different perspective about Squid Game.

About Janice

I specialize in portfolio optimization (ensuring you get maximum value for every dollar you put in) and retirement planning. I am also building a team of financial advisors who are committed to help responsible individuals attain their goals without misallocating their resources. Do reach out if you would like to explore a career with me.

Clients look for me primarily to outsource their retirement planning needs so that they can focus on other aspects of life that interests them. Many of whom are very good in earning their incomes in their respective professions and wish to ensure their monies continue to work harder while they focus on what they are good at. Refer to client testimonials here.

I've helped many clients who are referred to me reduce the costs they are paying for their insurance or help provide solutions when they deem they are stuck with huge commitments bought when they were younger but unsuitable for their present life stages. You can reach me at 94313076 or my social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

Disclaimer: The content created are based on my personal opinions and may not be representative to everyone or any organisation. If you have any doubts or queries pertaining to insurance or investment, please seek professional advice from a trusted adviser in an official setting. You may also reach out to me if you do not have a present adviser using the message box under 'Let's Talk'.