The Infinite Game

Players with an infinite mindset want to leave their organizations in better shape than they found them.

A Just Cause is a specific vision of a future state that does not yet exist; a future state so appealing that people are willing to make sacrifices in order to help advance toward that vision.

The true value of an organization is measured by the desire others have to contribute to that organization’s ability to keep succeeding, not just during the time they are there, but well beyond their own tenure.

Any leader who wants to adopt an infinite mindset must follow five essential practices: Advance a Just Cause Build Trusting Teams Study your Worthy Rivals Prepare for Existential Flexibility Demonstrate the Courage to Lead

To live our lives with an infinite mindset is to live a life of service.

There is no such thing as 'winning' an infinite game. In an infinite game, the primary objective is to keep playing.

Finite players play to win; infinite players play to keep playing.

Great leaders set up their organizations to succeed beyond their own lifetimes.

The goal is not to win, but to keep playing. It is to advance something bigger than ourselves or our organizations.

A Just Cause is about the future. It defines where we are going. It describes the world we hope to live in and will commit to help build.

Money is the fuel to advance a Cause, it is not a Cause itself.

Infinite-minded leaders understand that 'best' is not a permanent state. Instead, they strive to be 'better.

It is not technology that explains failure; it is less about technology, per se, and more about the leaders' failure to envision the future.

The responsibility of business is to advance a cause greater than itself, protect the people and places in which it operates, and generate more resources so that it can continue doing all those things for as long as possible.

Money can't buy true will.

Trust is the stacking and layering of small moments and reciprocal vulnerability over time.

To build high-performing teams, trust comes before the performance.

Leaders are not responsible for the results; leaders are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results.

Ethical fading is not an event... it's more like an infection that festers over time.

If ethical fading is powered by self-deception, maintaining ethical behavior demands complete honesty and constant self-assessment.

Competitors compete for customers. Rivals look for followers.

Without a Worthy Rival, we risk losing our humility and our agility.

Finite strategies never last.

When an Existential Flex happens, it is clear to all those who believe in the Cause why it has to happen.