Bestselling author Simon Sinek’s gift is his ability to repackage logic in a way that gets us thinking differently about common sense issues. His most recent book, The Infinite Game
Sinek’s thesis is that true success comes from a mindset of contributing to something bigger than ourselves. The Infinite Game he writes about is one where there is no finish line and thus no binary win-lose result. The primary intention is to keep playing. Not to maximise the short term score, but concentrating instead on staying in the game indefinitely.
Business, he writes, “fits the very definition of the infinite game”. It’s a game that has been around longer than any of today’s companies and will be here after all companies now in existence have gone. Yet, “despite the fact that companies are playing in a game that cannot be won, too many business leaders keep playing as if they can.”
It’s a superb book whose frequently referenced inversion point is the Milton Friedman doctrine that justifies any executive behaviour on the altar of maximising profit. Among those who “get” the Infinite Game are MultiChoice, whose recently announced partnership with Netflix and Amazon Prime is an excellent example of such infinite thinking. Keep a lookout for others. Infinite Game companies will reward investors long after the others have gone.
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