The Infinite Game

Below are some of the quotes that resonated with me from this book.

Where a finite-minded player makes products they think they can sell to people, the infinite-minded player makes products people want to buy.

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To ask, “what’s best for me?” is finite thinking. To ask, “what’s best for us?” is infinite thinking.

Infinite-minded leaders understand that “best” is not a permanent state. Instead, they strive to be better. Better suggests a journey of constant improvement and makes us feel like we are being invited to contribute our talents and energies to make progress in that journey.

Money is the fuel to advance a cause; it is not a cause itself. The reason to grow is so we can have more fuel to advance the cause. Just like we don’t buy a car simply so we can buy more gas, so too must companies offer more value than their ability to make money.

Even well-minded finite leaders often have the perspective of making money to do good. An infinite perspective on service, however, looks somewhat different—do good to make money.

It’s a strange quirk of human nature—the order someone presents information more often than not reveals their actual priorities and the focus of their strategies.

The art of good leadership is the ability to look beyond the growth plan and the willingness to act prudently when something is not right, even if it means slowing things down.

When leaders use process to replace judgment, the conditions for ethical fading persist, even in cultures that hold themselves to higher moral and ethical standards.

When we view the other players as worthy rivals, it removes the pressure of being in a win-at-any-cost struggle. And so, by default, we feel less need to act unethically or illegally. Upholding the values by which we operate becomes more important than the score, which actually motivates us to be more honest.

An infinite mindset embraces abundance, whereas a finite mindset operates with a scarcity mentality. In the infinite game, we accept that bringing the best is a fool’s errand and that multiple players can do well at the same time.

Where the finite-minded player fears things that are disruptive, the infinite-minded player revels in them.