We can’t choose the game. We can’t choose the rules. We can only choose how we play.

During finite games, like football or chess, the players are known, the rules are fixed, and the endpoint is clear. The winners and losers are easily identified.

In infinite games, like business or politics or life itself, the players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers in an infinite game; there is only ahead and behind.

The more we begin to understand the difference between finite and infinite games, the more we can see that infinite games are all around us. We will realize that many of the struggles that organizations face exist because their leaders are playing an infinite game with a finite mindset. These organizations tend to lag in innovation, effort, morale, and overall performance.

In stark contrast, the leaders who embrace an infinite mindset build stronger, more innovative, more inspiring organizations. Their people trust each other and their leaders. With an infinite mindset, leaders have the resilience to thrive in an ever-changing world while their competitors fall by the wayside.

Ultimately, they are the ones who lead the rest of us into the future.

Key takeaways:

• See that we are all players in both finite and infinite games and be able to distinguish the difference between the two
• Learn the five practices that are required to lead in an infinite game
• Explore a new way of looking at your leadership, your organization, and the environment in which it operates
• Explore the characteristics of a Just Cause and relate it to your organization
• Examine the practices that are building trust and those that may be breaking trust, and how to maintain and rebuild trust
• Define and study your Worthy Rivals to identify areas of strength and areas to improve
• Gain a deeper understanding of Existential Flexibility, explore case studies and evaluate your current capacity for Existential Flexibility
• Learn how to build stronger relationships, which are the basis for the The Courage to Lead