Created: 2022-08-23 22:56
Reference: Simon Sinek: Finite vs. infinite games.
Finite games
- Known players
- Fixed rules
- Agreed upon objective
The game is fixed, it ends and there’s a winner. The system is stable, all the players know the rules and agree to them. The goal is to win, to outclass the opponent.
Infinite games
- Known and unknown players
- Changeable rules
- Objective is to keep the game going
There are no winners or losers, the games keeps going on forever. The system is stable as well, after all nobody is trying to win, just stay in the game.
Finite players cannot beat infinite players
Since the former plays to win and the later plays to stay in the game.
Eg. in the Vietnam war, the US fought to win the war, the won all the major battles, yet they still lost the war, because the Vietnamese were playing for their lives, they were playing for their territory and would do it as lot as it was needed.
In many areas of life is common to see this clash of finite vs. infinite players. In business, for example, companies talk about beating the competition, or being number one. However, business is a game that will run forever. What did those companies win then? Nothing, just some arbitrary metric they made up to feel good.
The opposite is true as well, when an infinite player tries to play a finite game, they always lose. The sprinter beats the marathonist on the 100m but marathonist does win the 42km.