The Infinite Game - How can it help at this time?
In his latest book, the Infinite Game, Simon Sinek attempts to offer a framework to help us better navigate the game in which we are all players: The Infinite Game.
In a finite game*, the players are known, the rules are fixed and the end point is clear. Like a game of football or chess. In infinite games, like business or politics or life itself, the players come and go, the rules are changeable and there is no defined end point. The infinite player plays to keep playing. In business that means building an organisation that can survive its leaders.
*the terms were first coined by James P. Carse.
The choice to lead with an infinite mindset is less like preparing for a football game and more like the decision to get into shape. Consistency becomes more important than intensity. The lifestyle we adopt matters more than whether or not we hit our goal on the arbitrary dates we set. With any health regime, there are certain things we have to do: eat more vegetables; work out on a regular basis; get more sleep etc. Adopting an infinite mindset is exactly the same.
Sinek maintains that these essential practices are as follows:
advance a Just Cause;
build trusting teams;
study your worthy rivals;
prepare for existential flexibility; and
demonstrate the courage to lead.
Let’s take a look at each of these, and see what light they shed on the current situation for many businesses and organisations.
Just Cause
Sinek’s contention is that any leader who wishes to lead in the infinite game must have a crystal clear Just Cause (JC). A JC is a specific vision of a future state that does not yet exist. One that is so appealing that people are willing to make sacrifices in order to help advance towards that vision. . It describes the world we hope to live in and will commit to help build.
A JC is the context for all our other goals, big and small, and all of our finite achievements must help to advance the JC. Being the best is not a JC; even if we are, this is only temporary. Equally a JC should direct the business model, not the other way round. When a statement of vision or mission is grounded in the product, it can have adverse effects on the corporate culture as well.
How can it help now?
Will businesses and organisations with a clear sense of their Just Cause get through this period more successfully than others? And how might this situation prompt organisations to re-evaluate their purpose, their Just Cause?
Trusting Teams
Sinek tells stories of teams from oil rigs through to navy seals, and the time they take to build trust.
Much of this section highlights the concept of psychological safety, building on the work by Amy Edmondson (for more insight and practical tips on this, see https://www.sportandbeyond.co.uk/blog/2020/4/9/leadership-teams-under-pressure)
Sinek emphasises consistently how trust trumps everything else, pointing to the Navy Seals approach to this: they use a graph which reflects trust and performance. Performance is about technical competence: how good someone is at their job; do they have grit; can they remain cool under pressure? Trust is about character: their humility and sense of accountability; how much they have the backs of their teammates when not in combat; and whether they are a positive influence on other team members. Trust beats performance for the Navy Seals. High trust and medium performance is always for them preferable to high performance and medium trust, in terms of driving overall team performance.
How can this help now?
Leadership teams, now working remotely, are having to take huge decisions. This makes the issue of trust critical. These 5 trust boosters can really help: ensuring clarity on what you are trying to achieve; telling people why you need their help, and recognising everyone’s contribution; ensuring public commitment from the team for their contributions; demonstrating empathy - checking in with each team member’s circumstances and how they are feeling; and showing vulnerability - as leader you don’t have all the answers.
Worthy Rival
A worthy rival is another player in the game worthy of comparison. The main point is that they do something (or many things) as well as or better than us. We don’t need to admire everything about them, agree with them, or even like them. We simply acknowledge that they have strengths and abilities from which we could learn a thing or two. Think Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. Worthy rivals can not just help us get better at WHAT we do, they can also help us get clearer on WHY we do it.
How can this help now?
The natural tendency in times of crisis and stress is to look inwards. To focus internally and narrow perception. But are you making time to look up and out as well? In order to drive your response and your activities. Can you learn something, no matter how small, from a rival’s response at this time or even from an organisation you respect or admire outside your sector?
Existential Flexibility
Like Walt Disney moving from animations to Disneyland, when everyone thought he was mad…existential flexibility is the capacity to initiate an extreme disruption to a business model or strategic course in order to more effectively advance a Just Cause. It is an infinite minded player’s appreciation for the unpredictable that allows them to make these kinds of changes. It’s bigger than the normal day-to-day flexibility.
What can help now?
Obviously many organisations are having this requirement for existential flexibility thrust upon them currently in order to survive. For those with a clear Just Cause, might this be easier?
The Courage to Lead
The final part of Sinek’s puzzle is the Courage to Lead. Sinek uses the often-told example of CVS Caremark, and their decision to stop selling any tobacco-related products in all of their 2800 stores in February 2014. In the lobby of their head office they had a huge sign setting out their Just Cause: Helping People on their Path to Better Health. Interestingly, the impact of their decision was just that. Rather than people buying their tobacco elsewhere, in general they just stopped buying tobacco! Clear Purpose, together with courageous leadership, ensured a successful continuation of the business whilst doing the ‘right thing’.
What can help now?
With normal ‘trading’ suspended for many of your organisations, can you use this platform to instigate changes that in the usual run of things would have been much more difficult to drive? You may never get such another opportunity like it. Are you courageous enough to take it?
These summaries are in no way a substitute for the books themselves, and when you have time, we would urge you to read the Infinite Game. In the meantime, for further advice and support for yourself or your leadership team, do get in touch here