How to Win an Infinite Game (Not Sinek's Version)

Last week I lectured on sustainability in sport during a Philosophical Questions in Sport seminar at the UniBern. The general premise of the session titled “The Record Dilemma” was that while most people think of sustainability in sport as a cost-benefit analysis between emissions and resources, some philosophers argue that this is a “shallow” approach to sustainability and that there are some fundamental issues we need to consider first.

Specifically, the sport philosopher Sigmund Loland suggests that in order for something to be sustainable it must be able to continue indefinitely and that “record” sports which are measured in mathematical entities (like time and weight) are inherently non-sustainable. Since time is a non-renewable performance resource, every new record represents using up that resource in the sport to which it belongs AND every record that is broken means a missed opportunity for performance for future athletes. Think of time in sport like a pizza where the more someone performs, the less pizza that is left for everyone else. Basically, Loland says because record sports require unlimited growth in limited systems, they are doomed.

Take, for example, [the estimate](https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/current/press-releases/ultimate-100-meter-records-how-fast-can-we-run#:~:text=According to a study by mathematical statisticians,by elite athletes between 1991 and 2023.) that the fastest possible time for a human to run the 100-meter dash is 9.49 seconds. That means Usain Bolt’s current world record of 9.58 seconds is only 0.09 seconds away from that theoretical ceiling. In the world of pizza slices, well… let’s just say that there’s not much left for anyone else at this point!

Now, if you’re like me, this immediately brings to mind Simon Sinek and his references to the Infinite Game, where he critiques many leaders as playing infinite games with finite mindsets. He uses the metaphor of a round of baseball as a finite game with known players, a clear end point (a clear winner) and fixed rules. He says (roughly) that playing business like you’d play baseball is killing your business.

Interestingly, Loland suggests that unlike record sports, ball sport games like baseball and football are much more sustainable (or infinite) because in playing them, players don’t “use up” future game possibilities for future athletes. Infinity for Loland rests in future opportunity to play and win, not in rejecting winning, rules and key players.

Ultimately, I think embracing Loland’s version over Sinek’s is the more realistic way to play the infinite game. I think that in focusing on mindset alone, Sinek is neglecting a “deeper” ecological view on what resources we engage with as metrics of our success.

Consider, for example, your organization’s mission. Let’s say it’s to bring the best user experience to customers through innovative hardware, software, and services (bonus points if you recognize whose mission this actually is). There’s no beginning and end; this is your play on infinity. Your vision then, is to make the best products on earth and to leave the world better than you found it. Again, infinite. But how do you take this big mission and apply it to your daily practice which has a finite life cycle: people clock-in to work, deadlines are real, projects end? Beyond that, how do you measure whether you are living up to your vision? Are your KPIs made up of mathematical entities, do those entities, like time, like Moore’s law, have limits?

Sadly, I don’t have a perfect alternative on how to shift those metrics to a renewable resource just yet, but I encourage you to think about it and challenge your teams to think about it during the next mission meeting. What I can offer you, my quick n’ dirty takeaway for you is this…

Sinek says don’t focus on winning —> focus on being better because this is infinite. I say, you can still play an infinite game and focus on winning as long as you’re measuring it using infinite metrics. Loland proposes an alternative to breaking records at the 100m sprint and suggests making it about who crosses the finish line first rather than fastest. Maybe make sales and growth relative to who crosses finish lines first in a more diverse scope of scenarios. Running uphills, running through storms, and structure finish lines like tournaments over a season rather than absolute. If you want to play the infinite game, build out the way you play to be executed in a more sustainable way.