there are two things that I think that
great leaders need to have empathy and
perspective and I think these things are
very often forgotten leaders are so
often so concerned about their status of
their position and organization they
actually forget their real job and the
real job of a leader is not about being
in charge it’s about taking care of
those in our charge and I don’t think
people realize this and I don’t think
people train for this when we’re jr. our
only responsibility is to be good at our
jobs that’s all we really have to do and
some people actually go get advanced
education and so that they can be really
good at their jobs accountants or
whatever right and you show up and you
work hard and the company will give us
tons and tons of training how to do our
jobs they’ll shows how to use the
software they’ll send us away for a few
days to get trained in whatever it is
that we’re doing for the company and
then they expect us to go be good at our
jobs and that’s what we do we work very
hard and if you’re good at your job
they’ll promote you and at some point
you’ll get promoted to position where
we’re now responsible for the people who
do the job we used to do but nobody
shows us how to do that and that’s why
we get managers and not leaders because
the reason our managers are
micromanaging us is because they
actually do know how to do the job
better than us that’s what got them
promoted really what we have to do is go
through a transition some people make it
quickly some people make it slowly and
unfortunately some people will never
make that transition at all which is we
have to go this through this transition
of being responsible for the job and
then turning it to somebody who’s now
responsible for the people who are
responsible for the job and as I said
before one of the great things that is
lacking in most of our companies is that
they are not teaching us how to lead and
leadership is a skill like any other is
a practice’ balloon able skill and it is
something that you work on it’s like a
muscle if you practice it all the days
you will get good at it and you will get
to become a strong leader if you stop
practicing you will become a weak leader
like parenting everyone has the capacity
to be a parent doesn’t mean everybody
wants to be a parent and doesn’t mean
everybody
should be a parent leadership is the
same we all have the capacity to be a
leader doesn’t mean everybody should be
a leader and it doesn’t mean everybody
wants to be a leader and the reason is
because it comes at great personal
sacrifice remember you’re not in charge
you’re responsible for those in your
charge that means things like when
everything goes right you have to give
away all the credit and when everything
goes wrong you have to take all the
responsibility that sucks right it’s
things like staying late to show
somebody what to do it’s things like
when something does actually break when
something goes wrong instead of yelling
and screaming and taking over you say
try again when the overwhelming
pressures are not on them
the overwhelming pressures are on us at
the end of the day great leaders are not
responsible for the job they’re
responsible for the people who are
responsible for the job they’re not even
responsible for the results I love
talking to CEOs and say what’s your
priority and they put their hands on
their hips slope rise and say my
priority is my customer I’m like really
there’s no CEO on the planet responsible
for the customer they’re just not
they’re responsible for the people who
responsible for the people who
responsible for the customer I’ll tell
you a true story a few months ago I
stayed at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas
it is a wonderful hotel and the reason
it’s a wonderful hotel is not because of
the fancy beds any hotel can go and buy
a fancy bed the reason it’s a wonderful
hotel is because of the people who work
there
if you walk past somebody at the Four
Seasons than this and they say hello to
you you get the feeling that they
actually wanted to say hello to you it’s
not that somebody told them that you
have to say hello to all the customers
say hello to all the guests right you
actually feel that they care now in
their Lobby they have a coffee stand and
I one afternoon I went to buy a cup of
coffee and there was a barista by the
name of Noah who was serving me Noah was
fantastic he was friendly and fun and he
was engaging with me and I had so much
fun buying a cup of coffee I actually
think I gave a hundred percent
Hiep right he was wonderful so as is my
nature I asked Noah do you like your job
and without skipping a beat Noah says I
love my job and so I followed up I said
what is it that the four seasons is
doing that would make you say to me I
love my job and without skipping a beat
Noah said throughout the day managers
will walk past me and ask me how I’m
doing if there’s anything that I need to
do my job better
he said not just my manager any manager
and then he said something magical he
says I also work at Caesar’s Palace and
Caesars at Caesar’s Palace the managers
are trying to make sure we’re doing
everything right they catch us when we
do things wrong he says when I go to
work there I like to keep my head under
the radar and just get through the day
so I can get my paycheck he says here at
the four seasons I feel I can be myself
same person entirely a different
experience from the from the customer
who will engage with Noah so we in
leadership are always criticizing the
people we’re always saying we’ve got to
get the right people on the bus I’ve got
to fill my run my team I gotta get the
right people but the reality is it’s not
the people it’s the leadership if we
create the right environment we will get
people like Noah at the four seasons if
we create the wrong environment we will
get people like Noah at Caesar’s Palace
it’s not the people and yet we’re so
quick to hire and fire you can’t hire
and fire your children if there’s if
your kids are struggling we don’t say
you got to see a school you’re up for
adoption
so why is it that when somebody has
performance problems at work why is it
that our instinct is to say you’re out
we do not practice empathy what does
empathy look like here’s the lack of
empathy this is normal in our business
world you walk into someone’s office
someone walks into our office and says
your numbers have been down for the
third quarter in a row you have to pick
up your numbers otherwise I can’t
guarantee what the future will look like
how inspired you think that person is to
come to work the next day here’s what
empathy looks like you walk into
someone’s office someone walks into your
office and says your numbers are down
for the third quarter in a row are you
okay I’m worried about you
what’s going on we all have performance
issues maybe someone’s kid is sick maybe
they having problems in their marriage
maybe one of their parents is dying we
don’t know what’s going on in their
lives and of course it will affect
performance at work empathy is being
concerned about the human being not just
their output we have for some reason our
work world has changed in the past
twenty and thirty years we are suffering
the side effects of business theories
left over from the 80s and 90s and they
are bad for people and they are bad for
business
let me give you an example the concept
of shareholder supremacy was a theory
proposed in the late 1970s it was
popularized in the 80s and 90s it is now
standard form today you talk to any
public company and you ask them their
priority and they say maximize
shareholder value really that’s like a
coach prioritizing the needs of the fans
over the needs of the players how you
gonna build a winning team with that
model but that’s normal today we don’t
even perceive it as broken or damaged or
wrong or outdated remember the 80s and
90s were boom years with relative peace
and a kinder gentler cold war nobody was
practicing hiding under their desks in
school anymore we are no longer in those
times these are no longer boom years
these are no longer peace
old times and those models cannot work
today here’s another one mass layoffs
using someone’s livelihood to balance
the books right it’s so normal in
America today that we don’t even
understand how broken and how damaging
it is not only to human beings but to
business you know companies talk about
how they want to build trust in
cooperation then they announce a round
of layoffs do you know the quickest way
to destroy trust and destroy cooperation
in a business literally in one day lay
people off and everyone gets scared
right can you imagine sending someone
home to say honey I can no longer
provide for our family because the
company missed its arbitrary projections
this year and forget about the people
who lost their job think about the
people who kept their jobs because every
single decision a company makes is a
piece of communication and the company
cut the company has just communicated to
everybody else this is not a meritocracy
we don’t care how hard you work or how
long you’ve worked here if we miss our
numbers and you happen to fall on the
wrong side of the spreadsheet I’m sorry
we cannot guarantee employment in other
words we come to work every day afraid
and we’re asking our youngest generation
to work in environments where how would
any of us ever stand up and admit I made
a mistake
we’re custom being told you have to be
vulnerable leaders are vulnerable what
does that even mean it doesn’t mean you
walk around crying I’m vulnerable right
know what vulnerability means is you
create an environment in which someone
feels safe enough to raise their hand
and said I don’t know what I’m doing
you’ve given me a job and I haven’t been
trained to do it I need help I made a
mistake I screwed something up I’m
scared
I’m worried all of these things no one
would ever admit inside a company
because it puts a target on your head in
case there’s another round and so we
keep it to ourselves and how can a
company ever do well if nobody’s ever
willing to admit they made a mistake
that’s scared or they don’t know what
they’re doing and so we’ve literally
created cultures in which every single
day everybody comes to work and liya hai
lies hides and fakes and we’re asking
our youngest generator
to work and succeed and find themselves
and build their confidence and overcome
their addiction to technology and build
strong relationships at work we’re
asking to do this and these lis
environments we’ve created we keep
saying to them you’re the Future Leaders
we’re the leaders now we’re in control
what are we doing this is what empathy
means it means if there’s an entire
generation struggling maybe it’s not
them it’s like you know the only thing
that I that the common factor in all my
failed relationships me same thing Oh II
just can’t get the right act or you know
the right performance out of our people
maybe it’s you right it’s not a
generation it’s not them
they’re not difficult or hard to
understand they’re human beings like the
rest of us trying to find their way
trying to work in a place where they
feel that someone cares about them as a
human being by the way that’s what we
all want in other words it’s not even
generational it’s all of us this is the
practice of empathy that if we’re
struggling to communicate to someone if
it’s struggling to help someone be at
their natural best I’m tired of people
saying to me how do I get the best out
of my people really that’s what you want
they’re like a towels Wingham how can I
get the most out of them No how do I
help my people be at their natural best
right we’re not asking these questions
we are not practicing empathy we have to
start by practicing empathy and relate
to what they may be going through and it
will profoundly change the decisions we
make it will profoundly change the way
we see the world someone’s driving to
work you’re driving to work and someone
wants to cut into your lane what do you
do if you pull your car up if you let
them in most of us pull our cars up and
go like this you wait your turn now
let’s practice empathy I don’t know
maybe they’ve been out of work for six
months maybe they had trouble getting
the kids out to school this morning and
now they’re running late for a really
important interview and they just have
to get to this interview and they’re
gonna cut into our lane or maybe they’re
but that’s the point we don’t know we
don’t know and the practice of empathy
will say I’ll let them in and I’ll
arrive to work one car lengths late
right we don’t always have to be right
we don’t always have to be in charge we
don’t have to be the one who succeeds
it’s not about winning or losing and
that’s where I go to the second point
after empathy comes perspective where
it’s not about winning or losing in game
theory there are two kinds of games
there are finite games and there are
infinite games and this is how you’re
gonna change your perspective right a
finite game is defined as known players
fixed rules and an agreed upon objective
baseball for example we know the rules
we all agree to the rules and whoever
has more runs at the end of nine innings
is the winner and the game is over
no one ever says if we can just play two
more innings I know we can come back
doesn’t work that way the game is over
right that’s a finite game then you have
an infinite game infinite games are
defined as known and unknown players the
rules are changeable and the objective
is to keep the game in play to
perpetuate the game when you pit a
finite player versus a finite player
this system is stable
baseball is stable right when you pit an
infinite an infinite player versus an
infinite player this system is also
stable like the Cold War for example
because there cannot be a winner and a
loser there are no winners and losers in
an infinite game right it doesn’t exist
and because there are no winners or
losers what ends up happening in the
infinite contest is players drop out
when they run out of the will or the
resources to play but there’s no winners
or losers problems arise when you pit a
finite player versus an infinite player
because of a finite players playing to
win and an infinite player is to playing
to keep the game going right this is
what happened to us in Vietnam we were
playing to win and the Vietnamese were
fighting for their lives we were the
ones who got stuck in quagmire this is
the Soviet Union in Afghanistan they
were trying to beat the Mujahideen and
the Megerian would fight for as long as
is necessary quagmire now let’s look at
business the game of business has
pre-existed or has existed long before
every single company that exists on this
planet today and it will outlast every
single company that it lives that exists
on this planet today there’s no winning
the game of business and the reason is
is because we haven’t agreed to the
rules I get such a kick out of this you
realize how many companies actually
don’t know the game they’re in right
listen to the language of the companies
use we’re trying to beat our competition
we’re trying to be number one did you
know that we were ranked number one look
at the listing based on what criteria
revenues profits market share square
footage number of employees based on
what time frame a quarter a year five
years ten years 20 years 50 years 100
years I haven’t agreed to those
standards how can you declare yourself
the winner
how can you declare yourself number one
where no one else in the game has agreed
to the rules it’s arbitrary there is no
winning because there’s no end in other
words companies are playing finite games
listen to their language they’re trying
to beat their competition what does that
even mean it’s the leaders and the
companies that understand the game that
they’re in and organize their resources
and their decision-making around the
infinite contest that outlast and
frustrate their competition all the
companies that we’ve referred to as the
exceptions Southwest Airlines Apple
computers harley-davidson
they’re the exception no they’re playing
the infinite contest they frustrate
their competition is what happens that’s
what happens because they’re not playing
to win
Jim Senegal the founder of Costco which
is the company the only real company
that gives Walmart a run for its money
he says public companies are looking to
succeed for the quarter says we’re
looking for the next 50 years you can
hear him he’s playing the infinite
contest I spoke at a Leadership Summit
for Microsoft I also spoke at a
leadership summit for Apple now at the
Microsoft summit I would say 70% of the
executives and this was under the Steve
Ballmer days I would say about 70% of
the executives spent about 70% of their
presentations talking about how to beat
Apple at the Apple summit a hundred
percent of the executives spent a
hundred percent of their presentations
talking about how to help teachers teach
and how to help students learn one was
obsessed with their competition
the other one was obsessed with where
they’re going so at the end of my
presentation at Microsoft they gave me a
gift they gave me the new Zune which was
the competitor to the iPod touch when it
was a thing right and I have to tell you
this piece of technology was spectacular
it was beautiful the user interface was
incredible the design was amazing it was
intuitive it was one of the most
beautiful elegant pieces of technology
I’d ever seen right now.they it didn’t
work with iTunes which is an entirely
but that’s something else I’m sitting in
the back of a taxi with a senior Apple
executive sort of employee number twelve
kind of guy and I decide to stir the pot
and I turned him I say you know I spoke
at a Microsoft summit and they gave me
their new Zune and I have to tell you it
is so much better than your iPod touch
and he turned to me and said I have no
doubt conversation over because the
infinite player isn’t playing to be
number one every day with every product
they’re playing to outlast the
competition if I had said to Microsoft
oh I’ve got the new iPod touch it’s so
much better than your new Zune there was
a can we see it what does it do how we
have to see it because one is obsessed
with their competition the other is
obsessed with why they do what they do
the other is obsessed with where they’re
going and the reason Apple frustrates
their competition is because secretly
they’re not even competing against them
they’re competing against themselves and
they understand that sometimes you’re a
little bit ahead and sometimes you’re a
little bit behind and sometimes your
product is better and sometimes you’re
not but if you wake up every single
morning and compete against yourself how
do I make our product better than they
were yesterday how do I take care of our
customers better than we did yesterday
how do we advance our cause more
efficiently more productively
than we did yesterday how do we find new
solutions to advance our calling our
cause our purpose our beliefs are why
every single day what you’ll find is
over time you will probably be ahead
more often those who play the infinite
game understand it’s not about the
battle it’s about the war and they don’t
play to win every day and they frustrate
their competition until their
competition drops out of the game every
single bankruptcy almost every merger
and acquisition is basically a company
saying we no longer have the will or the
resources to continue to play and we
have no choice to either drop out of the
game or merge our resources with another
player so that we can stay in the game
that’s what that is and if you think
about the number of bankruptcies and
mergers and acquisitions it’s kind of
proof that most companies don’t even
know the game they’re in you want to be
a great leader start with empathy you
want to be a great leader change your
perspective and play the game you’re actually playing thank you very much
great leaders need to have empathy and
perspective and I think these things are
very often forgotten leaders are so
often so concerned about their status of
their position and organization they
actually forget their real job and the
real job of a leader is not about being
in charge it’s about taking care of
those in our charge and I don’t think
people realize this and I don’t think
people train for this when we’re jr. our
only responsibility is to be good at our
jobs that’s all we really have to do and
some people actually go get advanced
education and so that they can be really
good at their jobs accountants or
whatever right and you show up and you
work hard and the company will give us
tons and tons of training how to do our
jobs they’ll shows how to use the
software they’ll send us away for a few
days to get trained in whatever it is
that we’re doing for the company and
then they expect us to go be good at our
jobs and that’s what we do we work very
hard and if you’re good at your job
they’ll promote you and at some point
you’ll get promoted to position where
we’re now responsible for the people who
do the job we used to do but nobody
shows us how to do that and that’s why
we get managers and not leaders because
the reason our managers are
micromanaging us is because they
actually do know how to do the job
better than us that’s what got them
promoted really what we have to do is go
through a transition some people make it
quickly some people make it slowly and
unfortunately some people will never
make that transition at all which is we
have to go this through this transition
of being responsible for the job and
then turning it to somebody who’s now
responsible for the people who are
responsible for the job and as I said
before one of the great things that is
lacking in most of our companies is that
they are not teaching us how to lead and
leadership is a skill like any other is
a practice’ balloon able skill and it is
something that you work on it’s like a
muscle if you practice it all the days
you will get good at it and you will get
to become a strong leader if you stop
practicing you will become a weak leader
like parenting everyone has the capacity
to be a parent doesn’t mean everybody
wants to be a parent and doesn’t mean
everybody
should be a parent leadership is the
same we all have the capacity to be a
leader doesn’t mean everybody should be
a leader and it doesn’t mean everybody
wants to be a leader and the reason is
because it comes at great personal
sacrifice remember you’re not in charge
you’re responsible for those in your
charge that means things like when
everything goes right you have to give
away all the credit and when everything
goes wrong you have to take all the
responsibility that sucks right it’s
things like staying late to show
somebody what to do it’s things like
when something does actually break when
something goes wrong instead of yelling
and screaming and taking over you say
try again when the overwhelming
pressures are not on them
the overwhelming pressures are on us at
the end of the day great leaders are not
responsible for the job they’re
responsible for the people who are
responsible for the job they’re not even
responsible for the results I love
talking to CEOs and say what’s your
priority and they put their hands on
their hips slope rise and say my
priority is my customer I’m like really
there’s no CEO on the planet responsible
for the customer they’re just not
they’re responsible for the people who
responsible for the people who
responsible for the customer I’ll tell
you a true story a few months ago I
stayed at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas
it is a wonderful hotel and the reason
it’s a wonderful hotel is not because of
the fancy beds any hotel can go and buy
a fancy bed the reason it’s a wonderful
hotel is because of the people who work
there
if you walk past somebody at the Four
Seasons than this and they say hello to
you you get the feeling that they
actually wanted to say hello to you it’s
not that somebody told them that you
have to say hello to all the customers
say hello to all the guests right you
actually feel that they care now in
their Lobby they have a coffee stand and
I one afternoon I went to buy a cup of
coffee and there was a barista by the
name of Noah who was serving me Noah was
fantastic he was friendly and fun and he
was engaging with me and I had so much
fun buying a cup of coffee I actually
think I gave a hundred percent
Hiep right he was wonderful so as is my
nature I asked Noah do you like your job
and without skipping a beat Noah says I
love my job and so I followed up I said
what is it that the four seasons is
doing that would make you say to me I
love my job and without skipping a beat
Noah said throughout the day managers
will walk past me and ask me how I’m
doing if there’s anything that I need to
do my job better
he said not just my manager any manager
and then he said something magical he
says I also work at Caesar’s Palace and
Caesars at Caesar’s Palace the managers
are trying to make sure we’re doing
everything right they catch us when we
do things wrong he says when I go to
work there I like to keep my head under
the radar and just get through the day
so I can get my paycheck he says here at
the four seasons I feel I can be myself
same person entirely a different
experience from the from the customer
who will engage with Noah so we in
leadership are always criticizing the
people we’re always saying we’ve got to
get the right people on the bus I’ve got
to fill my run my team I gotta get the
right people but the reality is it’s not
the people it’s the leadership if we
create the right environment we will get
people like Noah at the four seasons if
we create the wrong environment we will
get people like Noah at Caesar’s Palace
it’s not the people and yet we’re so
quick to hire and fire you can’t hire
and fire your children if there’s if
your kids are struggling we don’t say
you got to see a school you’re up for
adoption
so why is it that when somebody has
performance problems at work why is it
that our instinct is to say you’re out
we do not practice empathy what does
empathy look like here’s the lack of
empathy this is normal in our business
world you walk into someone’s office
someone walks into our office and says
your numbers have been down for the
third quarter in a row you have to pick
up your numbers otherwise I can’t
guarantee what the future will look like
how inspired you think that person is to
come to work the next day here’s what
empathy looks like you walk into
someone’s office someone walks into your
office and says your numbers are down
for the third quarter in a row are you
okay I’m worried about you
what’s going on we all have performance
issues maybe someone’s kid is sick maybe
they having problems in their marriage
maybe one of their parents is dying we
don’t know what’s going on in their
lives and of course it will affect
performance at work empathy is being
concerned about the human being not just
their output we have for some reason our
work world has changed in the past
twenty and thirty years we are suffering
the side effects of business theories
left over from the 80s and 90s and they
are bad for people and they are bad for
business
let me give you an example the concept
of shareholder supremacy was a theory
proposed in the late 1970s it was
popularized in the 80s and 90s it is now
standard form today you talk to any
public company and you ask them their
priority and they say maximize
shareholder value really that’s like a
coach prioritizing the needs of the fans
over the needs of the players how you
gonna build a winning team with that
model but that’s normal today we don’t
even perceive it as broken or damaged or
wrong or outdated remember the 80s and
90s were boom years with relative peace
and a kinder gentler cold war nobody was
practicing hiding under their desks in
school anymore we are no longer in those
times these are no longer boom years
these are no longer peace
old times and those models cannot work
today here’s another one mass layoffs
using someone’s livelihood to balance
the books right it’s so normal in
America today that we don’t even
understand how broken and how damaging
it is not only to human beings but to
business you know companies talk about
how they want to build trust in
cooperation then they announce a round
of layoffs do you know the quickest way
to destroy trust and destroy cooperation
in a business literally in one day lay
people off and everyone gets scared
right can you imagine sending someone
home to say honey I can no longer
provide for our family because the
company missed its arbitrary projections
this year and forget about the people
who lost their job think about the
people who kept their jobs because every
single decision a company makes is a
piece of communication and the company
cut the company has just communicated to
everybody else this is not a meritocracy
we don’t care how hard you work or how
long you’ve worked here if we miss our
numbers and you happen to fall on the
wrong side of the spreadsheet I’m sorry
we cannot guarantee employment in other
words we come to work every day afraid
and we’re asking our youngest generation
to work in environments where how would
any of us ever stand up and admit I made
a mistake
we’re custom being told you have to be
vulnerable leaders are vulnerable what
does that even mean it doesn’t mean you
walk around crying I’m vulnerable right
know what vulnerability means is you
create an environment in which someone
feels safe enough to raise their hand
and said I don’t know what I’m doing
you’ve given me a job and I haven’t been
trained to do it I need help I made a
mistake I screwed something up I’m
scared
I’m worried all of these things no one
would ever admit inside a company
because it puts a target on your head in
case there’s another round and so we
keep it to ourselves and how can a
company ever do well if nobody’s ever
willing to admit they made a mistake
that’s scared or they don’t know what
they’re doing and so we’ve literally
created cultures in which every single
day everybody comes to work and liya hai
lies hides and fakes and we’re asking
our youngest generator
to work and succeed and find themselves
and build their confidence and overcome
their addiction to technology and build
strong relationships at work we’re
asking to do this and these lis
environments we’ve created we keep
saying to them you’re the Future Leaders
we’re the leaders now we’re in control
what are we doing this is what empathy
means it means if there’s an entire
generation struggling maybe it’s not
them it’s like you know the only thing
that I that the common factor in all my
failed relationships me same thing Oh II
just can’t get the right act or you know
the right performance out of our people
maybe it’s you right it’s not a
generation it’s not them
they’re not difficult or hard to
understand they’re human beings like the
rest of us trying to find their way
trying to work in a place where they
feel that someone cares about them as a
human being by the way that’s what we
all want in other words it’s not even
generational it’s all of us this is the
practice of empathy that if we’re
struggling to communicate to someone if
it’s struggling to help someone be at
their natural best I’m tired of people
saying to me how do I get the best out
of my people really that’s what you want
they’re like a towels Wingham how can I
get the most out of them No how do I
help my people be at their natural best
right we’re not asking these questions
we are not practicing empathy we have to
start by practicing empathy and relate
to what they may be going through and it
will profoundly change the decisions we
make it will profoundly change the way
we see the world someone’s driving to
work you’re driving to work and someone
wants to cut into your lane what do you
do if you pull your car up if you let
them in most of us pull our cars up and
go like this you wait your turn now
let’s practice empathy I don’t know
maybe they’ve been out of work for six
months maybe they had trouble getting
the kids out to school this morning and
now they’re running late for a really
important interview and they just have
to get to this interview and they’re
gonna cut into our lane or maybe they’re
but that’s the point we don’t know we
don’t know and the practice of empathy
will say I’ll let them in and I’ll
arrive to work one car lengths late
right we don’t always have to be right
we don’t always have to be in charge we
don’t have to be the one who succeeds
it’s not about winning or losing and
that’s where I go to the second point
after empathy comes perspective where
it’s not about winning or losing in game
theory there are two kinds of games
there are finite games and there are
infinite games and this is how you’re
gonna change your perspective right a
finite game is defined as known players
fixed rules and an agreed upon objective
baseball for example we know the rules
we all agree to the rules and whoever
has more runs at the end of nine innings
is the winner and the game is over
no one ever says if we can just play two
more innings I know we can come back
doesn’t work that way the game is over
right that’s a finite game then you have
an infinite game infinite games are
defined as known and unknown players the
rules are changeable and the objective
is to keep the game in play to
perpetuate the game when you pit a
finite player versus a finite player
this system is stable
baseball is stable right when you pit an
infinite an infinite player versus an
infinite player this system is also
stable like the Cold War for example
because there cannot be a winner and a
loser there are no winners and losers in
an infinite game right it doesn’t exist
and because there are no winners or
losers what ends up happening in the
infinite contest is players drop out
when they run out of the will or the
resources to play but there’s no winners
or losers problems arise when you pit a
finite player versus an infinite player
because of a finite players playing to
win and an infinite player is to playing
to keep the game going right this is
what happened to us in Vietnam we were
playing to win and the Vietnamese were
fighting for their lives we were the
ones who got stuck in quagmire this is
the Soviet Union in Afghanistan they
were trying to beat the Mujahideen and
the Megerian would fight for as long as
is necessary quagmire now let’s look at
business the game of business has
pre-existed or has existed long before
every single company that exists on this
planet today and it will outlast every
single company that it lives that exists
on this planet today there’s no winning
the game of business and the reason is
is because we haven’t agreed to the
rules I get such a kick out of this you
realize how many companies actually
don’t know the game they’re in right
listen to the language of the companies
use we’re trying to beat our competition
we’re trying to be number one did you
know that we were ranked number one look
at the listing based on what criteria
revenues profits market share square
footage number of employees based on
what time frame a quarter a year five
years ten years 20 years 50 years 100
years I haven’t agreed to those
standards how can you declare yourself
the winner
how can you declare yourself number one
where no one else in the game has agreed
to the rules it’s arbitrary there is no
winning because there’s no end in other
words companies are playing finite games
listen to their language they’re trying
to beat their competition what does that
even mean it’s the leaders and the
companies that understand the game that
they’re in and organize their resources
and their decision-making around the
infinite contest that outlast and
frustrate their competition all the
companies that we’ve referred to as the
exceptions Southwest Airlines Apple
computers harley-davidson
they’re the exception no they’re playing
the infinite contest they frustrate
their competition is what happens that’s
what happens because they’re not playing
to win
Jim Senegal the founder of Costco which
is the company the only real company
that gives Walmart a run for its money
he says public companies are looking to
succeed for the quarter says we’re
looking for the next 50 years you can
hear him he’s playing the infinite
contest I spoke at a Leadership Summit
for Microsoft I also spoke at a
leadership summit for Apple now at the
Microsoft summit I would say 70% of the
executives and this was under the Steve
Ballmer days I would say about 70% of
the executives spent about 70% of their
presentations talking about how to beat
Apple at the Apple summit a hundred
percent of the executives spent a
hundred percent of their presentations
talking about how to help teachers teach
and how to help students learn one was
obsessed with their competition
the other one was obsessed with where
they’re going so at the end of my
presentation at Microsoft they gave me a
gift they gave me the new Zune which was
the competitor to the iPod touch when it
was a thing right and I have to tell you
this piece of technology was spectacular
it was beautiful the user interface was
incredible the design was amazing it was
intuitive it was one of the most
beautiful elegant pieces of technology
I’d ever seen right now.they it didn’t
work with iTunes which is an entirely
but that’s something else I’m sitting in
the back of a taxi with a senior Apple
executive sort of employee number twelve
kind of guy and I decide to stir the pot
and I turned him I say you know I spoke
at a Microsoft summit and they gave me
their new Zune and I have to tell you it
is so much better than your iPod touch
and he turned to me and said I have no
doubt conversation over because the
infinite player isn’t playing to be
number one every day with every product
they’re playing to outlast the
competition if I had said to Microsoft
oh I’ve got the new iPod touch it’s so
much better than your new Zune there was
a can we see it what does it do how we
have to see it because one is obsessed
with their competition the other is
obsessed with why they do what they do
the other is obsessed with where they’re
going and the reason Apple frustrates
their competition is because secretly
they’re not even competing against them
they’re competing against themselves and
they understand that sometimes you’re a
little bit ahead and sometimes you’re a
little bit behind and sometimes your
product is better and sometimes you’re
not but if you wake up every single
morning and compete against yourself how
do I make our product better than they
were yesterday how do I take care of our
customers better than we did yesterday
how do we advance our cause more
efficiently more productively
than we did yesterday how do we find new
solutions to advance our calling our
cause our purpose our beliefs are why
every single day what you’ll find is
over time you will probably be ahead
more often those who play the infinite
game understand it’s not about the
battle it’s about the war and they don’t
play to win every day and they frustrate
their competition until their
competition drops out of the game every
single bankruptcy almost every merger
and acquisition is basically a company
saying we no longer have the will or the
resources to continue to play and we
have no choice to either drop out of the
game or merge our resources with another
player so that we can stay in the game
that’s what that is and if you think
about the number of bankruptcies and
mergers and acquisitions it’s kind of
proof that most companies don’t even
know the game they’re in you want to be
a great leader start with empathy you
want to be a great leader change your
perspective and play the game you’re actually playing thank you very much
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