What Game Are You Playing?
Leadership
What if you discovered you had signed up to run a race with no finish line? Your questions about the length – “5K?”, “10k?”, “40 yards?” are all met with silence. You are simply told that once the whistle blows, you should just keep running. You also discover there is no explicit reward for winning or even finishing the race. Most likely, you would decide this is not what you signed up for, it sounds incredibly stupid, and decide to withdraw. Unfortunately, you discover that is not an option.
While this may sound like some version of The Hunger Games, according to Simon Sinek, this is a pretty accurate description of life. In The Infinite Game he contrasts games that you can win like a 5K race or market share in the fourth quarter with games that never end like global politics, marriage, and business. He writes, “No matter how successful we are in life, when we die, none of us will be declared the winner in life.”
Sinek argues most leaders and organizations are driven by short-term considerations and the thrill of experiencing victory. They don’t see they are missing the larger purpose that makes our lives meaningful and enables us to be a part of causes that create lasting impact for good.
All this focus on winning in the short term naturally turns our attention to ourselves. In a world that always asks, “What have you done for me lately?” it is natural to feel insecure with a need to promote ourselves around a recent victory. Even healthy concepts like legacy can lead us to become inwardly focused as we ask, “What will others remember me for?”
One of Sinek’s core practices to have an “infinite” game mindset is to pursue a “just cause”, which he defines as “a future state so appealing that people are willing to make sacrifices to help advance toward that vision.” Because just causes are always about a future state they can never be fully realized. You alleviate a disease or hunger among children in a country, but you will see there is still more to do so that all the children flourish and reach their potential. You can introduce a new technology to the market but that will only help you see the next opportunity to use technology to make people’s lives better.
When we center ourselves around causes, we take the focus off ourselves and put it on the people we desire to serve and the problems we want to solve. Our legacy is not so much about us but how we enable the next generation to continue the cause.
Stewardship, which Webster defines as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care”, helps us choose to play the infinite game. When I see myself as a steward of resources belonging to others, I naturally seek to invest in something that produces a return that is not specifically tied to my own benefit.
Our earthly life is finite. The well-told truth that “you can’t take it with you” causes us to either selfishly hoard or generously give. When legacy is properly tied to stewardship we are only satisfied when our lives are attached to causes bigger than ourselves. Short-term victories unattached to an enduring purpose see us crossing finish lines only to discover we are not sure why we ran the race.
However, pursuing a just cause is often much more challenging than competing for short-term victories. Truly worthy causes are never low-hanging fruit. Enduring problems are enduring because they are difficult to solve. Often, they take years just to “clear the land and prepare the soil.” Generations can pass with little progress. If our focus is on a personal legacy, it becomes easy to hear the tempting voice to find another cause with a greater likelihood of success. We all want to see the harvest.
To stay the course often requires an eternal perspective and the encouragement of others. Stewarding the resources under our care with an understanding we will never be able to declare victory is not a solo endeavor. One of the great benefits of committing to a just cause is the opportunity to serve with others who share an infinite perspective. Unlike colleagues and competitors competing to win today’s race, your fellow travelers playing the infinite game are not looking for the next opportunity to win. They are willing to do hard things for the right reasons and recognize they are surrounded by people with the same willingness.
In the book and TV series, Band of Brothers, we follow the true story of a company of soldiers in WWII as they fight their way across Europe. One of the most compelling individuals is Major Dick Winters. He demonstrates servant leadership, courage, and a commitment to the cause. His leadership keeps his men moving forward through the brutal challenges of war. It is easy to see Major Winters as a hero and one who would take great pride in his personal legacy of playing an important role in a great cause.
However, he didn’t see his experience as revolving around his actions but rather what was accomplished with others. He said, “I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, ‘Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?’ I said, ‘No, but I served in a company of heroes.”
While the infinite game may seem to offer fewer rewards than the opportunity to win races with well-defined finish lines, pursuing worthy causes with people who share your passion and perspective creates a legacy that echoes beyond this life.