{"id":9665,"date":"2020-09-28T12:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/?p=9665"},"modified":"2020-09-30T17:58:56","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T17:58:56","slug":"infinite-vs-finite-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Infinite vs. Finite Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">I just finished reading Simon Sinek\u2019s new book The Infinite Game. I like this book a lot and think it is better than his previous books though it suffers from some of the same limitations as his other work. It is more a book about a business philosophy than a practical guide to organizational success \u2013 but the model it presents is philosophically compelling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">This book discusses the differences between the \u201cInfinite Game\u201d and the \u201cFinite Game.\u201d In simplistic terms, the Infinite Game is a long-term, value-adding approach to leading a company (and living a life). The Finite Game is a very transactional, short-term approach to everything. In the Finite Game, you make the quarterly numbers, and do better than your competition, and this \u201cwinning\u201d is all that matters. His argument is that a Finite Game may produce short-term \u201cwins\u201d but is ultimately destructive of corporate value. In contrast, the Infinite Game does not focus on winning or losing at all but on creating something that generates sustained social value. He cites much evidence that the Infinite Game is much better for organizations because, over the long-term it generates much better financial and social results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">He goes on to describe many aspects of this model that I found to be quite interesting. I found his descriptions of Trusting Teams, Ethical Fading and Worthy Rival provocative though flawed in certain aspects. For example, the section on the negative impact of competition on performance is great. On the other hand, the focus on using a sort of encounter group to build a Trusting Team is very outdated and inappropriate. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">Overall, the framework was powerful enough to get me thinking of how I conceptualize Cerebyte\u2019s business. I believe that I and Cerebyte are playing the Infinite Game and that all companies should think that way as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">However, the tone of the book is somewhat \u201cpreachy\u201d and his minimal guidance for implementation, like in his other books, shows a lack of real leadership experience. His guidance for implementing the Infinite Game is mostly be courageous enough to be infinite \u2013 which is not much help \u2013 and he alludes to but does not resolve some of the profound conflicts between the models.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">For instance, he frequently alludes to the differences in the perceptions of time but does not discuss in depth the importance of these conflicting views or how to resolve the conflict. The Finite Game is short term and the Infinite Game is longer term but he only states that the pressures of the Finite Game are extreme and that few leaders understand why or how to play the Infinite Game in the face of these demands. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">Similarly, in the Infinite Game, Just Cause is a critical driver of motivation and ultimately success (as compelling purpose is critical on the Cerebyte model) but he hardly says anything about how you create a Just Cause or on how to align an organization on the cause. Great concept \u2013 not much meat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">I reacted negatively to the preachy quality and to the lack of practical guidance and was close to putting the book down several times. I suspect that he would see my concern for practicality as a finite mindset being applied to an Infinite Game book \u2013 but effectively blending these two competing views is a critical issue he barely discusses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">Nonetheless, this book provides a lot of support for Cerebyte\u2019s approach to change. His description of infinitive vs. finite is like our chart of transactional excellence vs. transformational leadership. His focus on the Just Cause is like our notion of compelling purpose. Overall, this book aligns quite well with for our methodology and the Sofia NeuroMentor technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text\"><span style=\"font-size: 12.0pt;\">If a leader took this book and combined it with our work on using the Sofia NeuroMentor to change an organization, the leader would have both a great conceptual framework and a methodology for making an Infinite Game a reality in a complex world. Which game do you want to play \u2013 finite or infinite?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I just finished reading Simon Sinek\u2019s new book The Infinite Game. I like this book a lot and think it is better than his previous books though it suffers from some of the same limitations as his other work. It is more a book about a business philosophy than a practical guide to organizational success&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[471],"tags":[497],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Infinite vs. Finite Game - Cerebyte<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Infinite vs. Finite Game - Cerebyte\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I just finished reading Simon Sinek\u2019s new book The Infinite Game. I like this book a lot and think it is better than his previous books though it suffers from some of the same limitations as his other work. It is more a book about a business philosophy than a practical guide to organizational success&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cerebyte\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-28T12:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-30T17:58:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Infinite-Game_flat_Oct2019.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2162\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. William Seidman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr. William Seidman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/\",\"name\":\"Infinite vs. Finite Game - Cerebyte\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Infinite-Game_flat_Oct2019.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-28T12:00:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-30T17:58:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bcd543c2ba6d7a564a69e7986c50c91d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Infinite-Game_flat_Oct2019.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Infinite-Game_flat_Oct2019.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":2162},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Infinite vs. Finite Game\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/\",\"name\":\"Cerebyte\",\"description\":\"It&#039;s All About High Performance\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bcd543c2ba6d7a564a69e7986c50c91d\",\"name\":\"Dr. William Seidman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27658bfd84c16ba37bf9cb5c7fb11ff4?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27658bfd84c16ba37bf9cb5c7fb11ff4?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dr. William Seidman\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Infinite vs. Finite Game - Cerebyte","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Infinite vs. Finite Game - Cerebyte","og_description":"I just finished reading Simon Sinek\u2019s new book The Infinite Game. I like this book a lot and think it is better than his previous books though it suffers from some of the same limitations as his other work. It is more a book about a business philosophy than a practical guide to organizational success&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/","og_site_name":"Cerebyte","article_published_time":"2020-09-28T12:00:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-30T17:58:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":2162,"url":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Infinite-Game_flat_Oct2019.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dr. William Seidman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr. William Seidman","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/","url":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/","name":"Infinite vs. Finite Game - Cerebyte","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Infinite-Game_flat_Oct2019.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-28T12:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-30T17:58:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bcd543c2ba6d7a564a69e7986c50c91d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Infinite-Game_flat_Oct2019.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/The-Infinite-Game_flat_Oct2019.jpg","width":1280,"height":2162},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/2020\/09\/28\/infinite-vs-finite-game\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Infinite vs. Finite Game"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/","name":"Cerebyte","description":"It&#039;s All About High Performance","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bcd543c2ba6d7a564a69e7986c50c91d","name":"Dr. William Seidman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27658bfd84c16ba37bf9cb5c7fb11ff4?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27658bfd84c16ba37bf9cb5c7fb11ff4?s=96&r=g","caption":"Dr. William Seidman"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebyte.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}