Today, I want to start off with a simple question and the question is, what game are you playing?
You see, we're playing one of two types of games and we learn this from mathematical
game theory.
There's called the infinite game versus the finite game.
You know, most of us think that we're in business to win, beat the competition, hit our targets,
you know, hit the finish line.
But what if I told you that that kind of thinking is what's actually holding your business
back?
This is counter-intuitive, I know.
So today, I'm going to share with you three stories to help us understand how this mathematical
game theory can completely change how we think about our business.
And at the end of this, I hope you'll understand why the most successful businesses are the
ones that endure.
And they endure because they don't play to win.
They play to keep on playing.
They play to endure.
So story number one is, we're going to call it the bakery price war.
This is winning versus enduring.
So in this story, there are two bakeries on Main Street.
One called Sugar Rice saw a new competitor open down the road and we all know how that
feels when a new competitor steps into our space.
They panicked.
They started slashing prices to keep their customers.
We can't let them win, the owner kept saying to the staff.
So for months, they were on this price war.
Coupons, deals, undercutting, the team worked longer hours, profits shrank, and of course
morale tanked.
And they were really on a rapid fight towards the bottom, constantly slashing prices back
and forth.
Race to the bottom, as it's called.
Eventually Sugar Rice closed.
Meanwhile, across town, there was Harvest Loaf.
They also noticed two new bakeries open near them.
But instead of fighting them to win, they rather met with their team and their leader
asked them this great question.
How do we make what we do irreplaceable?
That's such a great question.
How do we make what we do irreplaceable?
And here's what they came up with.
They upgraded ingredients and they told their customers.
They started hosting community bread making nights and they also partnered with a local
coffee shop.
Their business grew even as even more competitors entered their space.
So here's the lesson.
Sugar Rice was playing the finite game where there's a winner and a loser.
Just like in tennis.
It has set rules, there's a winner at the end and a loser.
But business isn't tennis.
It's not about beating the other player.
Harvest Loaf played the infinite game.
The whole thing here was to endure, to stay in the game, to play with purpose and keep
getting better and better.
Keep evolving.
I'm sure you've noticed that when companies like Apple do their big product launches,
they use words like this is the best iPhone we've ever created or this is the best Mac
we've ever made.
And you notice that their reference is to themselves.
They're not referencing their competition.
They're referencing themselves.
The best iPhone we have ever made.
And that is very much an infinite mindset.
Okay, story number two.
We're going to call this one the marketing budget.
When we look at finite resources versus infinite thinking, many of us fall into this trap.
So we're going to use Mike who runs a local accounting firm.
Every January, he gets his marketing budget of $12,000 and he thinks, how can I spend
this this year?
I really need to make this count.
So Mike buys ads, sponsors events, tracks every penny and tries to match every lead
generated against every dollar spent.
And by December, he's usually spent his budget and then he just hopes that he's got enough
leads to get through the next quarter.
Mike's team follows the same pattern.
They hoard resources, protect their territories, measure success by how much they individually
contribute to the bottom line.
But an infinite mindset would be completely different.
So how would that look if Mike adopted infinite thinking?
So instead of asking, how do I spend this $12,000 effectively?
What if he asked, how do I build a marketing system that creates sustainable growth regardless
of the budget?
Now we're in infinite thinking.
See then, Mike's training every leader to be a natural network and a referral generator
and they're working together so that the outcome is much bigger than the sum of the parts.
And I love that.
So now they're building systems, they're staying connected with past clients, they're building
value and serving people whether they buy or not.
They're building valuable content, they're giving away free.
Because here's the powerful message, if you're giving away quality stuff free, then people
automatically assume that the stuff they pay for would be even better, a great way to play
the infinite game.
So he would start investing and developing every member exactly why you're on this training
course because your leaders thought it was worthwhile to train you to become a team of
leaders.
That's exactly infinite thinking.
So the finite thinking says, what can I afford?
Infinite thinking says, what systems can I build that generate value continuously?
Two very different questions.
Alright, that leads us to story number three.
So here's a team that acts like owners.
This is employees versus leaders.
Now we've spent several sessions learning how to become a team of leaders.
That everybody manages their own influence and they manage their own contribution and
so by default everybody is a leader.
So here's a simple story of a local bike shop that had five employees.
They just did their tasks, fixed bikes, make sales, go home.
But when things went wrong, everybody sat back and said, well that's kind of the owner's
problem.
So eventually one employee, Carlos was his name, started seeing things differently.
So he asked customers better questions.
He started reorganizing the back room to save time.
This quote wasn't his job, it's just what he saw the business needed.
He even started mentoring the part time guy because that's what the business needed.
You know the owner noticed and gave him more and more responsibility and soon the rest
of the team caught on.
And they stopped thinking about what's my job or saying that's not my job, but rather
what does the business need?
So one of the signs that you're in a finite space is when people start saying that's not
my job or you don't pay me enough to do that.
Rather what does the business need?
So the business grew, but more importantly the team grew into a team of leaders.
So here's what did Carlos understand?
What was it that made him different from the other four employees?
See Carlos, for whatever reason, developed an infinite mindset.
It's not just a job, it's a mission.
And I get to shape it.
I get to be part of something important.
There is purpose to what I'm doing.
And that's when we can get people to act like owners when even if they're not physically
legally owners, but now they're playing for the mission, not for the paycheck.
When we're interviewing people, we're looking for people who are missionaries.
They're in it to play for the mission.
They're not mercenaries looking simply for the paycheck.
So as we're thinking about that, we could summarize some of the core principles that
we've been learning here.
Let me give you three ways to think about this.
Firstly, purpose over performance.
In the finite game, it's about hitting your numbers.
In the infinite game, how does my work contribute to something bigger than myself?
What does the business need?
Number two, systems over solutions.
Instead of finite fix the problem, the infinite thinking is let's build the capacity to handle
any problem, not just fix this one problem.
Number three, development over delivery.
The finite thing is, well, let's just get the job done.
Let's just do this thing.
The infinite game is how does this help us develop and do better and become better as
an organization?
So I hope you found that really interesting.
And before I leave, I want to give a separate challenge to leaders, team leaders, and to
everybody listening.
To the owners, to the leaders of the leaders, ask yourself this question.
How can I build something that will thrive without me?
This is called building a legacy.
And so we have to start developing everyone in our team so that the control isn't in one
central space.
To the team leaders, ask yourself, how can I act like an owner?
Instead of saying that's not my job or this is my job, think what does the business need?
And for everyone else, let's stop thinking about how to beat the competition and start
asking how can we build something so valuable that competition becomes irrelevant?
So remember, business is not a finite game you can win.
It's an infinite game and you can learn to play it better and better and better.
Thank you.
The idea isn't to win, the idea is to endure.
So, when every person on the team
understands they're playing the infinite game,
they're building something bigger than themselves,
they're developing capacities,
capabilities that outlast any single challenge
because they're really gearing up for all challenges.
They're creating value that really serves people
whether they buy or not.
And that's when you stop having employees
and stop having a team of leaders.
That's when your business doesn't just become successful,
but it becomes sustainable.
So the question isn't whether you'll face challenges,
competitions or change, that is definitely will happen.
The question is, are you building a team
that's ready to keep playing
no matter what the game throws at you?
The infinite game starts today.
So, let's go play.