Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game (2019) borrows James Carse’s idea that some games are played to win and others to keep playing — and argues business is the second kind.
- A finite game is played to win; an infinite game is played to keep playing. Business has no final whistle.
- Sinek’s five practices: a Just Cause, Trusting Teams, Worthy Rivals, Existential Flexibility and the Courage to Lead.
- A family business or property portfolio is the purest infinite game — the aim is that it outlives you.
- The rules keep moving: Business Relief is capped at £2.5m per person from April 2026, and unused pensions fall into the estate from April 2027.
- Weaknesses: repetitive, anecdote-heavy, some US examples feel cherry-picked.
Verdict: worth reading for one question — are you playing to win this year, or to keep the game going after you? Succession and estate planning are how the infinite-minded owner answers it.
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Six short reads each week on tax, Wills, family wealth and running a business, from John Ireland. Since 1996, three decades of protecting families.