The Infinite Game

The final chapter of The Infinite Game explains why companies who follow their just cause, despite financial risk, end up succeeding in the long run. Sinek provides the example of CVS, the health and pharmacy store chain, who decided to stop selling cigarettes in 2014. Initially, the decision was met with mockery from Wall Street and business pundits. CVS ignored this to advance an ethical just cause—that is, to make people healthier. Eventually, CVS stock increased, and customers expressed approval of their decision by purchasing from CVS. CVS ignored the pressure of finite-minded voices and practiced the “courage to lead.”

The courage to lead can cost leaders and companies money, jobs, and reputation. When they practice an infinite mindset, this courage becomes a “standard of ethics” (200). Sinek identifies two paths to find the courage to lead:

1. We can wait for a life-altering experience that shakes us to our core and challenges the way we see the world.
2. Or we can find a Just Cause that inspires us, surround ourselves with others with whom we share common cause, people we trust and who trust us, identify a Rival worthy of comparison that will push us to constantly improve, and remind ourselves that we are more committed to the Cause than to any particular path or strategy we happen to be following right now (201).

Regardless of which path one takes, infinite-minded leaders know the courage to lead as the only direction to follow. For example, after 9/11, Doug Parker, the new CEO of American West Airlines, faced the challenge of running a regional airline amid a nationwide halt to air travel. He believed his tenure as CEO wouldn’t last long, until he talked to a flight attendant named Mary. She expressed how much her job meant to her as a single mother, and Parker realized keeping the company alive was bigger than his own reputation. With Mary in mind, he developed a mission to keep American West Airlines afloat: He and his team worked to earn a loan and led a merger with American Airlines to create sustainable employment. Parker went a step further and negotiated new contracts for pilots and flight attendants to give them better pay. His decision inspired other airlines, like Delta and United, to also raise pay by 5% to 8%. Despite protestation by Wall Street analysts, American Airlines continued to empower workers through better pay and benefits. To Sinek, CVS and American Airlines’ courage to lead is the infinite mindset in action.

In contrast to CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid still sell cigarettes, being unwilling to practice the courage to lead. Although both pharmacies preach devotion to health, they still contribute to the 480,000 people who die of cigarette-related use and the $300 billion cost to American taxpayers each year. Their mission statements advocate for health, but Sinek notes they are devoted to earning money in the short term. The courage to lead is also the courage to play the infinite game according to ethics. Companies with an infinite mindset hold themselves and their employees accountable for their impact on customers’ lives and the world. Sinek admits even the most infinite-minded leaders can suffer from finite desires. This straying occurs when leaders become more interested in finite pursuits with immediate gains. Often, this phenomenon occurs when companies experience great success. Sinek cites Facebook as a company that once played the infinite game but recently turned to a finite path. Facebook originally advocated a just cause of giving “people the power to build community and bring the world closer together” but is now better known for violating users’ privacy, tracking their habits, and failing to police fake accounts and news for market dominance (216).

To play the infinite game, leaders and individuals need to surround themselves with people who share their desire to change the world for the better. The most courageous leaders are the ones who know they don’t have all the answers or total control, that they need help. Followers naturally gravitate toward leaders who practice the courage to lead within the ethical framework of a just cause. Sinek believes “the courage to Lead begets the Courage to Lead” and eventually pays off in the long run of the infinite game (219).