I recently read the book “The infinite game” by Simon Sinek . While it is a business book, it has some relevant insights for the times we’re seeing now.

Finite and infinite games

The author talks about two types of games - finite games and infinite games. An example of a finite game is tennis. It has fixed rules, it is played by a fixed number of known players, and when the predefined end goal is reached, the game is won by one set of the players. This ends the game.

Infinite games, on the contrary, are played by known players as well as unknown players. There are no predefined rules, but there are traditions that loosely govern the game. There is no end goal and hence no end to the game - it goes on forever.

So how do you win an infinite game? You don’t. The goal of each player here is not to win, but to stay in the game for as long as possible. An apt example is life itself. At all times, life is an infinite game. There is no fixed time frame and no way of keeping score. Just being in the game asymptotes towards winning!

More so than ever, in the tumultuous times that we are currently facing, it can help to remind ourselves that life is an infinite game.

How do we play an infinite game?

Since we do not have control over whether a particular game is finite or infinite, and whether we want to play the game or not - the only thing we can do is have an “infinite mindset” when we find ourselves in such a game. An infinite mindset means knowing that there is no one recipe to deal with the situation at hand. We need to iterate and course correct as we see fit.

In the midst of an infinite game, a player with a finite mindset might give up thinking the game is over. But the game isn’t over, it is the player who runs out of time/willpower/resources.

Coping with the current crisis

While I’d seen the news about the lockdown in China, I had not anticipated that such a move would be necessary in my own country. As disruptive as these changes have been, I’ve been trying to use this paradigm to cope. When I find my spirits sinking, I try to remind myself that life is an infinite game and I have to keep playing.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched as the normal ‘rules’ of society have been upended one after the other. Keeping in mind that we were playing an infinite game all along has helped me accept these sudden changes with perhaps a little more grace, and helped me become a little more flexible about how things ought to be done. For instance, for more than a decade, exercise for me has meant a gym routine. Now, I’ve replaced it with a quick run up the stairs and some pushups. This mindset has also helped me to not constantly worry about when life will return to normalcy as we knew it. I’m also learning to sustain myself for the long run. Like most of us, I’ve realized I have a finite capacity for bad news, which is why I’ve stopped reading too many articles about COVID-19.

I’m glad I read this book at a time when I needed to hear its message and I’ve written about it in the hope that it can help others too. And, what about you? What has helped you cope and make sense of what’s happening?

Take Care!