Do You Want to Play a Game?

Intro

We love playing games here at home, board games mostly. My son and I will also play video games from time to time.

But watching the movie Jigsaw?

Only me. If you are like my family and don't know what it is about... there is this character who keeps chasing people and getting them to play sick games, mostly leading to extremely violent deaths.

There is more to the plot than this, and the original movie has something for offer (but I would stay away from the sequels).

It makes one think how we are always playing games in the end. Don't we say:

• making a "move"
• anticipating "competitors"
• "playing" to "win"

That's game language. And if you ever played any, you know... the first thing you need to learn...

The rules.

Otherwise, how will you know how to win?

That's much what this book "The Infinite Game", by Simon Sinek, is about. It will tell you that you have been playing the wrong game all this time.

An Infinite Game?

Yes, compared to finite games, meaning the ones which have a clear end. But there is more that characterizes infinite games:

• there are both known and unknown players
• the rules are not clear and fixed
• players will break conventions when they choose to
• each player will play the game in their own way
• there is no winning, because there is no end
• and therefore the goal of the game is to continue playing

That's right. Your goal in an infinite game is to perpetuate your participation in it, which means, for the author, that your goal in business should be to continue running it for indefinite time.

What About the WHY?

If you know the work of Simon Sinek, you know he is most known because of his "Start with the Why". If you don't know, copy that into YouTube and watch it, it is really worth it.

Therefore, it was to be expected that in this most recent book, he would connect the dots, and he does, right on the first chapter.

You play the infinite game based on a just cause (the why!), and that's what allow you to continue playing. By doing that, you get inspired associates who feel fulfilled with the work they do, mostly because they understand why they do it.

When you see your business as an infinite game, you apply a different mindset that will change the way you approach, strategize and even evaluate your business.

While growth, development and dominance are probable outcomes, they are not the goals of the company. That changes completely how you think about product development, for example.

In the book, Simon mentioned the example of Zune, by Microsoft.

Don't know it? That's the point.

Despite being a company with tons of money, with some of the best engineers in the world, plenty access to information and technology, and means to run massive marketing campaigns... the product never developed.

From the perspective of the author, that happened because unlike it's competitor, Apple's iPod, Microsoft had only one goal: to "win". Against the competition.

But if it is an infinite game, that's just not enough. Think now about the approach from Apple to design the iPod, and even the siblings iPhone and iPad, and how they have kept the user experience in the center.

Funny, Microsoft has been doing the same now, when you look at their growing dominance in the fields of Cloud and AI.

But How do You Play?

Having an Infinite Game mindset, based on:

1. Advancing a Just Cause (WHY!!!) ??
2. Building Trusting Teams (psychologically safe environment, anyone?) ?
3. Study Your Worthy Rivals (a.k.a. learning, not fighting, with them) ??
4. Preparing for Existential Flexibility ??
5. Demonstrating Courage to Lead ??

The first three ones should be more obvious, and yet the book does a great job going a level deeper and providing a plethora of examples.

The work done on explaining what a Just Cause is, for example, listing non-examples (growth is NOT a just cause!) and providing a checklist to test your cause make the reading really worth it.

The last two may cause some confusion though, so let me explain.

By preparing for Existential Flexibility, Simon wants to stimulate you to go offence. To think about what threatens your just cause and to take action, even if everything looks brilliant.

Maybe your company is growing, it is profitable, organized and looking great on the outside. But you know, deep inside, it is off track.

And because of that, you take bold action and change everything, if you have to. The story about how Disneyland came to be illustrated well what we are talking about here, as Walt Disney resigned from his own company (Disney Studio Productions) to get back to the just cause he believed in.

And Xerox illustrating well why you must have such flexibility.

By Demonstrating Courage to Lead, the last pillar of the mindset, Simon invites you to be a role model. As a company, and as an individual.

His example around CVS, and how they decided to ban tobacco products - without any laws or demands for them to do so, and contrary to the wishes of the shareholders - is not only interesting but will inspire you to research more.

Observations

I love playing and felt like discovering a completely new game by reading this book. And yes, it is about business, but it is also about life. Your life.

About leaving a legacy and extending your positive impact in this world beyond the barriers of your physical body.

It is inspiring and thought-provoking, even if it is in many ways simple and even superficial. But how does it rate?

• Easy of reading: 4 stars. Easy, like reading Internet stories, if not a bit repetitive at times.
• Learning something new: 3 stars. The stories are not completely new, but the perspective is, and that makes a huge difference.
• Interesting and Engaging: 4 stars. The kind of book you will read all at once because you are engaged understanding the concept while going through the stories at the same time.

It was a pleasant experience, and certainly a book I would recommend.

What about you - do you want to play a game?