The Infinite Game Quotes
"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
"All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
"We shall go into the pyre, we shall burn, but we shall not retreat from our convictions."
"It was hard to walk. It was unbearably hard to get up every morning, to move your hands and feet, but it was not in the least difficult to refrain from eating up the collection."
"It’s easy to mistake a BHAG for a Just Cause because they can indeed be incredibly inspiring and can often take many years to achieve. But after the moon shot has been achieved the game continues."
"Being the best simply cannot be a Just Cause, because even if we are the best, the position is only temporary."
"Money is the fuel to advance a Cause, it is not a Cause itself."
"A company, like a car, is more valuable to all constituents when it takes us somewhere to which we would otherwise be unable to go."
"A strong culture and the ability to fund its own existence is how a company actually stays in the game for the long term."
"To offer growth as a cause, growth for its own sake, is like eating just to get fat."
"Growth is a result, not a Cause. It’s an output, not a reason for being."
"The CSR program must be part of the broader strategy to advance the Just Cause."
"Service is not an ornament. It is a touchstone."
"Our strategy is sound and our management team is extremely capable."
"The responsibility of every C-level executive is baked into their title."
"Words matter. They give direction and meaning to things."
"Capitalism is about more than prosperity; it’s also about progress."
"The constant abuse since the late 1970s has left us with a form of capitalism that is now, in fact, broken."
"The responsibility of business is to use its will and resources to advance a cause greater than itself."
"Will and resources are always two currencies required to play."
"Trust is the stacking and layering of small moments and reciprocal vulnerability over time."
"Leaders can exert only limited control over resources, but they have near total control over the source of will."
"The SEALs would rather have a medium performer of high trust on their team than the high performer of low trust."
"If the SEALs, who are some of the highest-performing teams in the world, prioritize trust before performance, then why do we still think performance matters first in business?"
"Asking for help is an example of an act that reveals vulnerability."
"Trust and vulnerability grow together, and to betray one is to destroy both."
"Without a Circle of Safety, nothing else he needed to do would work."
"A Circle of Safety is a necessary condition for trust to exist."
"True trusting relationships require both parties to take a risk."
"Trust must be continuously and actively cultivated."
"Human beings are hardwired to protect ourselves."
"Ethical fading is a condition in a culture that allows people to act in unethical ways."
"We try to make sense of the world around us."
"Ethical fading can be extremely difficult to reverse."
"Leaders are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results."
"A Worthy Rival is another player in the game worthy of comparison."
"A Worthy Rival inspires us to take on an attitude of improvement."
"Ethical decisions are not based on what’s best for the short-term."
"Patagonia is not driven to be the best, they are driven to be better."
"Cause Blindness is when we become so wrapped up in our Cause."
"Blindness blunts humility and exaggerates arrogance, which in turn stunts innovation and reduces the flexibility we need to play the long game."
"Having a rival worthy of comparison does not mean that their cause is moral, ethical or serves the greater good."
"In the Infinite Game, there is no such thing as winning."
"Highly successful players with lots of money and many strengths can get away with ignoring their weaknesses for a while. But not forever."
"Without a Worthy Rival, we risk losing our humility and our agility."
"To live a life with an infinite mindset means thinking about second and third order effects of our decisions."
"Courageous Leaders are strong because they know they don’t have all the answers."
"The Courage to Lead is not solely about the actions we take."
"To those who believe what we believe, our actions will seem courageous."
"In life, we are players in multiple infinite games."
"Finite players play to beat the people around them. Infinite players play to be better than themselves."
"The goal is not to beat the game but to continue the game."
"Trust is not a checklist. A promise is no more than a promise."
"A Just Cause must be for something affirmative and optimistic."
"The value of our lives is not determined by what we do for ourselves. The value of our lives is determined by what we do for others."
"Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge."
"Innovation is not born from the dream, innovation is born from the struggle."
"The true value of an organization is measured by the desire others have to contribute to that organization's ability to keep succeeding, not just during the time they are there, but well beyond their own tenure."
"The courage of leadership is giving others the chance to succeed even though you bear the responsibility for getting things done."
"A culture of trust and cooperation is built from the top down. It starts with the leadership."
"We achieve more when we chase the dream instead of the competition."
"In the game of business, playing with a finite mindset in an infinite game can lead to all sorts of problems like the decline of trust, cooperation, and innovation."
"Vision and purpose are not created; they are discovered. It’s a journey to reveal, not a decision to make."
"The only true competitor in an infinite game is ourselves."
"When we lead with an infinite mindset, we inspire others to advance a cause greater than themselves."