Listening to the first video right now and at the beginning when he was describing the terms, I can't help but think about Snapple when Sinek's talking about the arbitrary nature of "being number 1" in an infinite game. Back when they were still independent in the late nineties they ran this commercial that was basically about not competing with the big beverage companies so they could focus on being number one at making Snapple. In the commercial they had Snapple cheerleaders dressed in Pepsi, Coke and Snapple containers chanting "go cola!" It was one of the funniest and most ingenious ad campaigns I've seen and I'll never forget it.
After listening to his explanation about finite vs. infinite , that's the one example of people marketing a product that popped into my head in which they understood the game they were playing. I know I haven't thus far in my professional life, which might explain some of my frustration. As he describes the two terms, I would have to say that I'm suited to an infinite game but I've been pretending (as most others probably are) to be playing a finite game. I've always been trying to make it finite, even though it's not.
Now don't get me wrong, I think I'm very good at the finite game, but now that I've been outside of the workforce for a few years, things kind of look different. There aren't any defined rule sets for how to compete in marketplaces. Knowing that opens up a lot of doors for me, mentally speaking. I think I may be more successful when I go back to work having that insight in my back pocket.
http://adage.com/article/news/snapple-shoots-3/18175/ I was wrong, they were all apparently dressed in Snapple container costumes.