The Infinite Game

by Simon Sinek

In an infinite game, the primary objective is to keep playing, to perpetuate the game.

When we lead with a finite mindset in an infinite game, it leads to all kinds of problems, the most common of which include the decline of trust, cooperation and innovation. Leading with an infinite mindset in an infinite game, in contrast, really does move us in a better direction.

We call it “vision” because it must be something we can “see.”

Infinite-minded leaders actively seek out employees, customers and investors who share a passion for the Just Cause.

To keep us in the Infinite Game, our Cause must be durable, resilient and timeless.

A true Just Cause is deeply personal to those who hear it, and it must be deeply personal to those who espouse it. The more personal it is for people, the more likely our passions will be stoked to help advance it.

It’s easy to mistake a BHAG for a Just Cause because they can indeed be incredibly inspiring and can often take many years to achieve. But after the moon shot has been achieved the game continues. Simply choosing another big, audacious goal is not infinite play, it’s just another finite pursuit.

Being the Best Is Not a Just Cause

Growth Is Not a Just Cause

To offer growth as a cause, growth for its own sake, is like eating just to get fat.

Growth is a result, not a Cause. It’s an output, not a reason for being.

It’s a strange quirk of human nature. The order in which a person presents information more often than not reveals their actual priorities and the focus of their strategies.

Martin Luther King Jr. gave the “I have a dream” speech, for example. He didn’t give the “I have a plan” speech. There is no doubt he needed a plan.

That is the primary job of the person who sits at the pointy end of the spear. They are the holder, communicator and protector of the vision. Their job is to ensure that all clearly understand the Just Cause and that all other C-level executives direct their efforts to advancing the Cause inside the organization.

Companies exist to advance something—technology, quality of life or anything else with the potential to ease or enhance our lives in some way, shape or form.

We all want to feel a part of something bigger than ourselves.

We are all entitled to feel psychologically protected at work, be fairly compensated for our effort and contribute to something bigger than ourselves.

It’s not the people doing the job, it’s the people who lead the people doing the job who can make the greater difference.

There is a difference between a group of people who work together and a group of people who trust each other. In a group of people who simply work together, relationships are mostly transactional, based on a mutual desire to get things done. This doesn’t preclude us from liking the people we work with or even enjoying our jobs. But those things do not add up to a Trusting Team. Trust is a feeling. Just as it is impossible for a leader to demand that we be happy or inspired, a leader cannot order us to trust them or each other.

“Trust is the stacking and layering of small moments and reciprocal vulnerability over time,”

“Trust and vulnerability grow together, and to betray one is to destroy both.”

we get the behavior we reward,

Culture = Values + Behavior

In strong cultures, people find safety in relationships. Strong relationships are the foundation of high-performing teams. And all high-performing teams start with trust.

The ability to succeed is not what makes someone a leader. Exhibiting the qualities of leadership is what makes someone an effective leader.

One of the primary jobs of any leader is to make new leaders.

When leaders are willing to prioritize trust over performance, performance almost always follows. However, when leaders have laser-focus on performance above all else, the culture inevitably suffers.

Lazy Leadership chooses to put their efforts into building processes to fix the problems rather than building support for their people.

It’s easier to trust a process than to trust people. Or so we think. In reality, “process will always tell us what we want to hear,”

When we feel part of a group that cares about us, we want to do right by that group and make our leaders proud. Our standards naturally rise.

Patagonia is not driven to be the best, they are driven to be better.

They imagined a time in which, thanks to the personal computer, individuals would have the power to stand up to a corporation, maybe even compete with them.

The people who loved working at Apple loved that Jobs pushed them to do things that neither they nor anyone else had done before.

The Courage to Lead is a willingness to take risks for the good of an unknown future. And the risks are real. For it is much easier to tinker with the month, the quarter or the year, but to make decisions with an eye to the distant future is much more difficult.

Courageous Leaders are strong because they know they don’t have all the answers and they don’t have total control. They do, however, have each other and a Just Cause to guide them.

Like children who mirror their parents, so too do employees mirror their leaders. Leaders who prioritizes themselves over the group breed cultures of employees who prioritize their own advancement over the health of the company.

no matter how much money we make, no matter how much power we accumulate, no matter how many promotions we’re given, none of us will ever be declared the winner of life.

To parent with an infinite mindset, in contrast, means helping our kids discover their talents, pointing them to find their own passions and encouraging they take that path. It means teaching our children the value of service, teaching them how to make friends and play well with others. It means teaching our kids that their education will continue for long after they graduate school.