The Infinite Game

In The Infinite Game (2019), Simon Sinek argues that corporations’ obsession with short-term goals, like sales and stock prices, impairs their true goals. The practices produced by short-term thinking manifest as The Dangers of a Finite Mindset, wherein profit over people becomes the norm. Sinek contends that leaders and their organizations need to shift their mindsets from finite to infinite. Focusing on ethical causes empowers leaders to enact change and a better future. The Infinite Game adopts theories from Dr. James P. Carse’s Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility (1986) and applies them to the world of business. Overall, Sinek believes there are two games to consider, Finite and Infinite. Players of infinite games play to keep playing, with Sinek outlining five practices key to Fostering an Infinite Mindset: just cause, trusting teams, worthy rivals, existential flexibility, and courage to lead.

This study guide refers to the 2019 Penguin edition of the text.

Summary

The Preface, the Introduction, and Chapter 1: “Finite and Infinite Games” introduce key differences between finite games and infinite games.