Presented over an internal "LunchMeet" where we learn together over our lunch hour. Derived from 'The Infinite Game' by Simon Sinek, this presentation's intention is to personalize the approach to the infinite game by improving on 5 aspects in our life.

1. Improve Your
INFINITE Game

2. LUNCHMEET
ENGAGE EMPOWER EXPAND

3. DAVID CARNES
Simpson Strong-Tie
National Technology Sales Manager
linkedin.com/in/carnesdavid/

4. THE INFINITE GAME
SIMON SINEK

5. Improve Your INFINITE Game
Have a Just Cause
Create Trust
Avoid Ethical Fading
Have a Worthy Rival
Courage to Lead

6. WHAT IS AN INFINITE GAME?

7. Finite Game Infinite Game
WHAT IS AN INFINITE GAME?

8. Finite Game
◦ Start – Middle – End
◦ Known Players
◦ Fixed Rules
◦ Winners and Losers
Infinite Game
◦ Balanced and not Linear
◦ Players come and go
◦ Rules are changeable
◦ No Winners or Losers
(only ahead and behind)
WHAT IS AN INFINITE GAME?

9. Have a Just Cause
Improve Your INFINITE Game

10. 1. For something
2. Inclusive
3. Service-Oriented
4. Resilient
5. Idealistic
A forward-looking statement that is so inspiring and compelling that you are
willing to sacrifice to see that vision advanced.
HAVE A JUST CAUSE

11. HAVE A JUST CAUSE
JUST CAUSE

12. A forward-looking statement that is so inspiring and compelling that you are
willing to sacrifice to see that vision advanced.
1. For something
HAVE A JUST CAUSE
It serves as a positive and specific vision of the future.
While being against something may be effective in
rallying people, it doesn’t inspire, and it won’t last.
A Just Cause is what you stand for rather than what
you stand against.

13. A forward-looking statement that is so inspiring and compelling that you are
willing to sacrifice to see that vision advanced.
2. Inclusive
It is open to all those who wish to contribute.
A Just Cause inspires all to make their worthwhile
contributions and feel valued for it.
HAVE A JUST CAUSE

14. A forward-looking statement that is so inspiring and compelling that you are
willing to sacrifice to see that vision advanced.
3. Service Oriented
The primary benefit of the cause must go to those
other than you, the contributors.
If you are a leader, your leadership must benefit the
people in your span of care.
HAVE A JUST CAUSE

15. A forward-looking statement that is so inspiring and compelling that you are
willing to sacrifice to see that vision advanced.
4. Resilient
Be able to endure political, technological and cultural
change.
If you define your Just Cause based upon the
prevalence of technology or a specific product and
there is a market change, your Just Cause will not last.
HAVE A JUST CAUSE

16. A forward-looking statement that is so inspiring and compelling that you are
willing to sacrifice to see that vision advanced.
5. Idealistic
Big, bold and ultimately unachievable.
It’s not about becoming the biggest, the best or
number one.
A Just Cause is an ideal. It is something so noble that
we would be willing to devote our lives and careers
toward advancing it.
HAVE A JUST CAUSE

17. WHAT IS YOUR JUST CAUSE?
1. For something
- “That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the
British Crown…”
2. Inclusive
- “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
3. Service-Oriented
- “…that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
4. Resilient
- “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”
5. Idealistic
- “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”
A forward-looking statement that is so inspiring and compelling that you are
willing to sacrifice to see that vision advanced.

18. Improve Your INFINITE Game
Create Trust

19. CREATE TRUST
TRUST
Consistency
Sincerity
Relationship
Reliability
Commitment
CompetenceNetwork
Value System

20. CREATE TRUST
Consistency
Sincerity
Relationship
Reliability
Commitment
Competence
Network
Value System

21. CREATE TRUST
Creates Growth Creates Safety
Creates Vulnerability Creates Longevity
TRUST

22. Avoid Ethical Fading
Improve Your INFINITE Game

23. AVOID ETHICAL FADING
ETHICAL FADING – The process by which the moral colors of an ethical decision fade
into bleached hues that are void of moral implications
Don’t Rationalize
Rationalization prioritizes finite gains.

24. ETHICAL FADING – The process by which the moral colors of an ethical decision fade
into bleached hues that are void of moral implications
AVOID ETHICAL FADING
Don’t Lie to Yourself
Euphemisms are often a way of ‘sugar coating’ an ethical dilemma.

25. Improve Your INFINITE Game
Have a Worthy Rival

26. HAVE A WORTHY RIVAL
Traditional competition forces us to take on an attitude of winning; a Worthy Rival
inspires us to take on an attitude of improvement.
Competitor
◦ Focus on Winning
◦ Attention to the Outcome
◦ “I have to be better than X”
Rival
◦ Focus on betterment
◦ Attention to the Process
◦ “I have to be better”

27. HAVE A WORTHY RIVAL
"It is the focus on process and constant improvement that
reveals new skills and boosts resilience. An excessive focus
on beating our competition not only gets exhausting over
time, it can actually stifle innovation.“
- Simon Sinek

28. HAVE A WORTHY RIVAL
"It is the focus on process and constant improvement that
reveals new skills and boosts resilience. An excessive focus
on beating our competition not only gets exhausting over
time, it can actually stifle innovation.“
- Simon Sinek

29. Courage to Lead
Improve Your INFINITE Game

30. Helping people on their path to better health
COURAGE TO LEAD
• In February 2014, CVS Caremark announced that it would
stop selling any tobacco-related products in all 2,800
stores.
• No Competitive Pressure
• No Scandal
• No Grassroots campaign to do so
• It was a decision that would cost the company $2 billion per year in lost revenue.
• Competitors mocked them
• Wallstreet reacted negatively
CVS Stock before announcement: $ 66.11
CVS Stock after announcement: $ 65.44

31. Helping people on their path to better health
COURAGE TO LEAD
• The 700 packs of cigarettes per store (per day) did not go
to a competitor… They just were not purchased
• States that had CVS saw a 15% reduction in Cigarette sales
• Additionally health food lines ended up signing on with CVS increasing their revenue
CVS Stock before announcement: $ 66.11
CVS Stock after announcement: $ 65.44
CVS Stock after 18 months: $113.65

32. COURAGE TO LEAD

33. So how are we to find the courage to change our mindset?
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.
COURAGE TO LEAD

34. Improve Your INFINITE Game
Have a Just Cause
Create Trust
Avoid Ethical Fading
Have a Worthy Rival
Courage to Lead