As the professor James P. Carse wrote in his work Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility
published in 1986, “there are at least two kinds of games”, whereby
games we mean situations implemented by at least two players, “one could
be called finite; the other infinite. A finite game is played for the
purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing
play.”
Finite games can be defined as those in which the players
and rules are known to everyone and the game has a clear objective.
Whereas infinite games involve all those circumstances in which players
can be known and unknown, where there are no rules and there is not even
an objective to reach, which would signal the end of the game. Finite
and infinite games are all around us, and they can be found in any area
of our daily lives, both personal and business. For example, football
championships and matches are finite games; but a marriage or a career
are infinite games. A way to help distinguish between the two is to
think of the concept of victory: you can win a championship, while you
cannot win a marriage or a career.
A finite game involves short
term thinking, with objectives that can be reached relatively easily and
quickly, and a vision which is generally short and immediate. On the
other hand, since it does not have set rules or a specific number of
players, an infinite game exists in the world of possibilities and is
perpetual, adaptable and resilient. That is exactly what a good business
should have.
