Smarta business book review: The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
The true goal of business is to keep playing for as long as you can.
read Simon Sinek’s book The Infinite Game and pulled out the points that pack a punch for small business owners.
Unlike sports, which have set rules, a clear endpoint, and an agreed way to tell who the winner is, business is not a finite game. So why do so many leaders treat it as if it is?
This book makes you question WHY you’re in business
Unsurprisingly, the man who wrote Start With Why has honed in on the reason why companies exist at all.
It’s common for business leaders to focus on stock prices, share value, profit and growth and to think that they are “winning” when the numbers are going in the right direction. But Simon Sinek says this is a “finite mindset” and that it’s not in the best interests of shareholders, employees or the company itself.
Instead of setting financial goals for the quarter, Sinek encourages business leaders to think much longer term, focusing on building strong teams that can withstand the ups and downs of the market and the economy.
It’s better to keep innovating and finding ways to create products that people actually want than it is to just keep making the products you know will sell.
Are you ready to re-think success?
Profit and revenue are not the only measures that a business is doing well, but too often, these metrics are used as the deciding factor in whether a company is considered successful.
High profits today won’t matter if your business is not resilient or agile enough to adapt to challenges in the future.
Sinek encourages business leaders to start thinking in terms of an Infinite Game and putting their efforts into building something that will last for generations, rather than into taking the greatest market share.
Expect some incredible stories
In The Infinite Game, you’ll learn how Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates started the company with an infinite mindset, wanting to “empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more.” But when a new CEO took over in the early 2000s, their finite-minded leadership meant that Microsoft became so focused on “beating” Apple and winning more market share that they ended up falling behind when it came to innovation, leaving Apple to conquer new markets.
This is just one example out of many inspiring real-world anecdotes Sinek uses to illustrate the difference between finite and infinite thinking in business.
What you’ll learn
In this book, entrepreneurs and SME leaders can discover the five essential practices that make up the infinite mindset:
Advance a just cause
Build trusting teams
Study your worthy rivals
Prepare for existential flexibility
Demonstrate the courage to lead
Why it’s worth a read
When you start to judge the success of your business by its longevity and focus on building a culture of trust, the motivation and productivity of your employees will likely increase revenues as a result.
When you make the courageous decision to put people before profit, you’re ready to start playing the Infinite Game and enjoying longer lasting success.
For more free business resources, including other books and podcasts we recommend, head to:
Advice & Inspiration from Smarta
 | A guest post by
|