1) Have a just cause 2) Have a trusting team 3) Have a worthy rival 4) Have the ability to make a existential flex 5) Have the courage to lead

The interviewer is quite nice. Usually interviewer far to often disrupts guest with questions. But he just asked a question, let Simon talk over that, and listened, really listened.

25 years ago I remember taking over a failing contract where I was told to babysit while my company tried to get out of it. While ther i thought I would do my best to help the staff who were completely demoralised. We ended up saving and turning the contract around, the team worked for standard rate in overtime and the company ended up with a successful contract that they kept. I am now coming to the end of my career and from this I can now see I was playing the infinite game because the rules of the finite game were taken away from me. I wish I had realised or had seen this back then as I'm sure I would have been so mush happier in my life an career! Please take note everyone.

Simon Sinek - your intelligence on these subjects are unrivaled. Thank you for bringing these ideas to light.

I appreciate the interviewer’s questions. I just attended Simon’s tour in New York and my main question was, ”How do we practically apply this thinking?” Very glad to hear the answers here.

The interviewer did such a good job. I loved all of the questions and his focus on Simon rather than himself as many others would do.

I was feeling this Simon Sinek vid a lot more than many I've seen. Really good insight🤙

Every time I watch him I keep learning something new

I love the way this man thinks and talks. there is so much openess to explorer and be better, not only in business, but in other aspects of life too. because it is about relationships. Good relationships are built and forged over time. Facts (known) and theorems held should be second priority but they should be tweaked and/or discarded as more knowledge is uncovered.

I'm feeling the pressure Thank you for this!

Simon's perspective is always on point. Big fan of putting his wisdom into practice.

I never heard of this guy. He just popped-out on my UKposts selection but I love him! He talks some real #$%^.

This cameraman must be an infinite thinker trying to capture a finite target

Excellent Interview!!

I love how intrigued the interviewer is

Wow this is a super interesting perspective. Great conversation!

Crazy how accurate this is.

This is beautiful

"How can you expect a company to have a consciousness when it has no body to be kicked and no soul to be damned?"

great interview.. fantastic interviewer!!

A powerful view on what it takes to build a lasting enterprise where people can find a career, instead of a step!!! Great insights! I'm already testing the concept against the cultures of businesses that are growing and going! Regrettably, those who don't share his views often take lot's of people down with them!

Simon is one of the most brilliant organizational geniuses of this era.

I work for a finite company that thinks they are an infinite company. Talk about frustrating. It’s only about the numbers and beating last years numbers by x%. Then forecasting numbers for the next 5 years. A complete waste of time and such a time waster. Instead of being focused on innovation, we are forever chasing our tails

I'm about 3/4 of the way through and it seems like a good metaphor for finite thinking would be someone who's in a burning car (blockbuster) but doesn't want to cut the seatbelt (lose late fee revenue) because it would cause damage to the car.

Excellent interview. He articulated many of the thoughts I’ve had over the last few years about the moribund nature of business and the all too-frequent bounding of decision making in unhelpful metrics and structures.

Simon gets me through my Job when mentally drained. I listen to clips frim him a few times a week before bed to recharge for the next day. The bad side effect is I have kinda fallen for him. He'd make a GREAT Husband 😁.

This is so true. I work for a pioneer company in the hospitality distribution industry and I see so many holes in things.

Can't stop replaying 11:47

Now apply this to the US educational system. I would imagine it moving from yearly end goals, to project based learning.

Simon has been my leadership guru for years!

What an awesome concept. Simon is such a brilliant leader. Love this idea. I think we are doing some of this stuff really right, and then have other areas we need to work on. Can't wait to read this book! :) - Erin + Brian

Sir Richard Branson stands behind: "Clients don't come first, your employees come first, and let your employees take care of the clients" -something in those lines. Employees should definetly be the number 1 concern in every company. Not shareholders. Sir Richard Branson I think is the best example of this and his Virgin group of companies. He runs them amazingly and if you want to take a look in how he thinks read The Virgin way (his book). He is a true entrepreneur and I think every business owner should follow his principles. Also there are more and more examples of companies giving priority to their employees and the productivity and profitability of these companies actually increases A LOT, so I hope that's the future. Even though, don't be an employee is rule number one 😎

I'm a simple person. I see Simon Sinek, I click!

This is brilliant!

Love your talk Simon! You just Nailed it! Thabk you❤️❤️❤️

You are explaining exact how our system works . My profession is a specialist in consumer finance for the last 20 years and I’ve often worked with colleagues who want to be the best in making money and colleagues who want to ensure that the costumers get the best advice for what kind of product they must chose for their financial future . Commerce vs ethnic, for many it’s a struggle!

I have thought this way for awhile and he just explains it clearly.

8:34 This mindset. We have it in politics. The majority must protect the rights of the minority and allow freedom of speech to criticize and challenge settled arguments of the majority to further hone those arguments. Your company/business/firm must be challenged so that it does not grow complacent and obsolete. While you are fighting to be number one, someone else is innovating and looking to and will surpass you possibly knocking you out of the game all together. Adapt, evolve and survive.

Makes perfect sense, well done for this interpretation of today's business working world

I want to go work for this guy! This is true leadership.

This is a very great perspective uncovered by Simon Sinek, the most inspiring public education expert in modern days. If I am a “finite game” manager I will just set an arbitrary deadline or objectives to my subordinates and then, coldly, leave it alone and get back to my office. But, with “infinite game” mind set, I not only set the deadline or objectives but also work with my subordinates to explore all possible ways to accomplish those targets together.

As soon as the interviewer asked Simon how he's company was doing I could tell Simon was surprised and did not have an answer. He's an idealist and a very smart man, but actions speak louder than words.

Excellent perspective.Finite vs infinite.quite a viable thesis.👍🏾👌🏾

I have always wanted to read "start with why" but have been putting it off for a really long time. But this video got me to believe that Simon sinek is legit 🔥

This guy is brilliant !

This is my first time hearing this principle and it's very fascinating for sure.

This goes along with the book The Art of Action by Stephen Bungay. Really good thinking...

Great business tool!!

The problem with looking at the responsibility of businesses as maximizing profit is that the common interpretation is to only look at profit rather than maximizing shareholder value. Profit is only one aspect of value. Another aspect would be consistent growth or elasticity in markets. It doesn't do a business any good if it tanks during a recession but had profit all of the other years. If productivity is low and turnover is high, but the profit of the business meets projection, that's not necessarily what it means to maximize value. Because, like Sinek is arguing, treating people better and providing a desirable work environment will lead to more productivity, lower personnel costs, and less turnover. So, Simon's concepts still maximize shareholder value, only it looks beyond traditional finance interpretation. As he says, it takes on new meaning.

he is so right about companies not being loyal...i have been employed by the same company for 20 years and i believe once they let me go. I won't find a stable job that will be willing to keep me for the next 20 or 5, so it is very difficult in this days and age.

Now that is insight!

I could listen to this man talk all day

I have seen your infinite thinking concept in business applied as Total Quality Management, I experienced how difficult it was to implement such concepts to change the outlook and goals of the organization. Like you say in the video, it’s much easier to just set a goal or number and when you reach it, your successful...not much thinking involved. I particularly liked the part of the video when you talk about the difference between competitors and rivals and learning from your rivals to reveal your own weaknesses. Since retiring from my career, I coach High School track and Instruct Taekwondo. My focus is to get my students to think in the infinite concept: always improving and constantly helping themselves and those around them getting better rather than winning, beating a particular person or obtaining a Black Belt. I explain to them that they will still be competitive, but their skill level will be much improved due to this introspective approach. I find that this helps the students, no mater the age, maintain a more optimistic approaching towards learning. My hope is they will maintain this concept and help them mold a good work ethic and outlook that will help them in the future. Thank you for sharing such a poignant video.

superb insights.

Thanks, Simon for sharing the retrospective on the misguided values of the '80s and 90's the question in my mind is if this infinite pursuit of self-interest is endemic to societies everywhere and it is only a question of social shifts that trigger changes in our socio-economic values.

Staggering, Simon Sinik is a great thought leader!

Very much relatable 🔥👏❤️

I'm feeling a unique mix of inspiration and nausea after watching this.

Very interesting, I am coming from a background of understanding the importance of logistics, and process-based thought/work (i.e., not each event can/need be a good outcome), and the infinite game fits in very nicely with this understanding. Great match with other personal and leadership educators such as Jordan Peterson and Jocko Willink.

Brilliant!

Planning to read this, because I have heard a few of Simon's talks and have always found them thought provoking. That said, I'm not sure where's he's going with the premise "you can't win in business... no defined metrics, etc...". In the most simple terms, public companies compete with themselves. Gross revenue is up, you're winning. Gross revenue down and you're not. So there's the most important metric.... Executive and management make wrong decisions all the time, jobs are sometimes lost because the business went down the wrong path, but the driving goal of making business owners the most money possible will not change and employees are only entitled to their jobs while the business has a need for them.

My first real company, I worked for, from 1994 towards had those principles. The work was fun, the company was something we all trusted.. and we became the number one mobile phone company in the world - but that was just a bonus.

Sinek has defined, in terms that current executives can understand, the difference between the ongoing concern and the limited-run. "The finite game" as he defines, is exactly why you see - and will continue to see, business collapse and the loss of valuable brands. During the economic recession of 2006-2008, companies DESTROYED excess capacity. All the millions of dollars in decades gone by that were spent expanding were squandered because the finite game lies to the players about the cost that it takes to restore capacity quickly. It's this mindset that tells the players that infrastructure maintenance has nowhere near the importance as expansion. This is corporate governance and management by crisis. If you can't adapt in crisis the entire business fails, and you will get exponentially worse at handling crisis over time. You build water towers to meet the spikes in water demand over time. The crisis executive blows up water towers instead of maintaining them, buys more pumps, and when demand spikes, demands price increases on consumers to cover the costs to add much more expensive new pumps. In a business environment where everyone does the same thing and operates from a crisis, the consumer will look to eliminate the need for the product altogether, because unlike these crisis businesses, the consumer seeks to gain and maintain capacity - the family can expand at any time, and a lifetime is spent trying to gain and hold onto the ability to handle that spike in demand.

Amazing 😍

It is another great example where business thinking finally catches up with physical thinking. I see strong similarities to the "Origin of Wealth".

That’s why you focus on chunks of time within the infinite game. I try and keep my employees updated on the daily sales and emphasize how much more we need to hit sales or how far over the target we are. Find joy in the little Goals achieved.

Sheer Brilliance! How about the 'Roman' concept of Compete? Strive together to make each other better?

Dang nab it. Now I have a few more books to read! This is a great find!

I find that helping others is infinite and in doing so I become the most productive in sales especially the more and more I help others.

This man is far beyond his time, i fall in love with him over and over.

Phenomenal.

Excellent. This is how it should be. I believe that ultimately if you rigidly set fixed targets, then you are setting yourself up to fail. Or accumulate issues stemming from the mentality. Yep I'm talking about being human. Anything depending upon human beings to function, needs to function in a very human way.

This is what I needed this morning, after getting up at 4.45 to go in to do a job that is solely drives by arbitrary numbers & targets. Thankyou.

I would recommend to anyone that finds this video intriguing, check out a couple of books: The Toyota Way and Toyota Principles of Leadership.

everything I do now is for those who come after me, yet in doing so I find peace for myself as well, this paradox is the very foundation of existence living a finite life playing in a infinite game

Simon is the best!

great!

I heard about "making the numbers" from employees in a corporation in our city but never heard that sort of conversation from any of the hundreds of small businesses or sole proprietors that I worked with during the time I operated my own business (1979 to 2020). We cooperated with each other, traded or borrowed supplies from each other, and it was never "dog eat dog". We never required customers to fill out credit applications and I don't recall ever losing a total of $500 in the 40+ years due to bad debts. There is a lot more cooperation in business than the general public is led to believe.

I'd like to hear his take on Ford in 2019.

Sounds like the military 🪖 we the team versus the individual. There's no monetary incentives in the military and no colleges but we do have brother and sisters who support each other and our adaptable environments. Thank you Simon for your support of us

3:19 the 80s and 90s were indeed a time of reggae relative peace with bands such as UB40 bringing the genre to pop

Now I want to read this book

The interviewer’s face is my face every time Simon Sinek speaks

True leader is the one who leads people to what is good for them .

Okay... so this was very difficult to understand, and I’ll admit to any misconceptions that I may harbor about this topic. However, this is what I understand. • The premise is that we are engaged in an unending game that envelopes other games {The Infinite Game}. • The enveloped games, in contrast, do have an end and are subject to the rules of the former. {The Finite Game} • One rule of the infinite game is to attempt to perpetuate one’s game. In other words, one must play the longest lasting game or make a better one. Simon seems to possess the view that, in the context of business, some are failing to properly adhere to the rules of the infinite game. Subsequently, they fail to perpetuate their game. He seems to think the main reason for their failure lies in a lack of ethics and an inability to adapt. How to fix this? He listed five things here (13:52 - 14:00 ) but I only recognize two or three of them as real solutions. “Having a just cause” => Ethics “Build Trusting Teams” => Ethics “Worthy Rival” => ? “Existential flex” => Adaptability? “Courage to lead”=> Leadership Ability In summery, there are parallels between what he’s seems to state and the old adage: “you’ve got to play the long game if you truly want to win.” That’s my take on this video. What’s yours?

random side note, that camera thing is so distracting. is the camera on a boat?

Re: Milton Friedman, he would say deciding what is ethical is a personal decision just as is the decision to work for an employer. If an employer is unethical, it carries the risk of losing valuable employees based on said decisions.

Satisfying your relationships and working the bounds of the laws seems worthy! Comparing apples to oranges. Shareholders typically want profit. Some don’t.

Simon, you are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your mind.

I like Simon's perspectives, because he always talk about TRUST, HONESTY, and EMPATHY which is nowadays becoming more and more irrelevant in business, organisation and teamwork, so sad :( I think the infinite game based on those virtues, rather than just hitting the target, It's about the opportunity to grow to be a better person, better team, better organisation everyday..like Simon said, it's a constant improvement. Thanks, Simon! very inspiring.

"What would happen if we had the crew from The Bourne Identity film this interview?"

Reminds me of Tribal Leadership's concept of work cultures that towards a "noble cause"

I have the book he read in my room and I’m off today, think I’ll finish it.

One of the biggest tools of the 21-st century. A person so in love with the sound of his voice, it seems like he is actually saying something.

Not all business have a clear cause. Some start with one and lose sight of it later, and a select few maintain a clear view of their cause. These can progress in there cause and that is success. As he says it's progress towards a cause.

Simon, you aren't the only one who tripped over these ideas. So, have I after years of working and observing how businesses currently run.

The process to become a infinite thinker is a very difficult journey. Infinite thinkers are exceptional people and very hard to find . A scholar warrior is even more difficult to find 💯. One in a billion.

just affirm it in this moment

He just saying that companies should think long-term. Just in fancy. Which is not a new concept. But he is right in his analysis.

Love it