Jumpstart Your Advocates’ Infinite Mindsets

The Infinite Game. That’s a pretty heady title, right? Building on his success with Leaders Eat Last and Start With Why, Simon Sinek did not disappoint with the work he released in 2019. The Infinite Game was such a compelling piece that, in large measure, it served as the catalyst toward the eventual launch of this blog. Perfectly timed in my life, I picked it up at the beginning of COVID quarantines, and the lessons in its pages helped me think quite differently…about a lot of things.

Recently though, I’ve been trying desperately to relate the broader concepts from this book to would-be advocates. Because frankly, we’ve spent too much time in American politics focused on winning and not nearly enough on progressing.

Win-lose mentalities are the realm of the finite game: known players, operating under a known set of rules, to accomplish a definable object (winning). Think about our election language: we have to beat party X, losing is unacceptable. Just look at the reactions from both extremes of the political spectrum in the wake of the 2016 and 2020 elections. I’d argue that the activists on these extremes are stuck in a finite game.

By contrast, infinite games are not played for winning. Rather, they’re pursued for the purpose of remaining in the game so you can advance a just cause. Players can be exchanged, rules and boundaries moved. If we’re sticking with the realm of American politics, the major political parties could be viewed as the infinite minded organisms. Beyond election season, the truly infinitely minded in American politics will earn that rarest of titles in our lexicon: statesman.

Finite games are fun. They’re invigorating for a time, they give us clear definable objectives that can be celebrated or mourned, evoking the raw emotion of the human experience. By contrast infinite games require us to commit to a vision, or what Sinek outlines as a “just cause,” that will outlast our individual participation in the game. The infinite game will outlive us. Short of a wholehearted commitment to that just cause, our advocates will struggle to remain in the game – especially in politics.

I don’t believe attaining an infinite mindset can happen overnight. Within the world of advocacy, it requires a cultural shift. So where do you start? How do you jumpstart that cultural change? I’d say Sinek’s formula for identifying your just cause will go a long way.

A just cause is not just a mission statement. This is incredibly important to relay to your volunteers. Instead, it’s a vision of the future that your team may never attain, but will inform all that you do in the pursuit of your mission.

A just cause has five key components: 1) It has to be FOR something; 2) It must be inclusive and open to all who would contribute; 3) It will be service oriented; 4) It is resilient and able to survive political, technological and cultural change; and 5) it is by nature idealistic – big, bold and ultimately unachievable. (See: Great Leaders & Organizations Advance a Just Cause).

In my own work within this blog my just cause is fairly straightforward. Here’s what I wrote in my journal at the very beginning, before I launched:

“I believe we can create a public discourse where individuals are empowered to advocate professionally, competing effectively and serving as a catalyst toward a more civil public debate.”

Luke Crumley’s NASA Journal

I doubt Simon Sinek will ever see this to give me feedback on the cause, but I hope I’ve met the demands of the formula. More importantly I hope I continue to live up to the cause.

By contrast, here’s what I wrote in that same journal as my mission statement:

“By developing effective advocacy training resources, we will provide scalable solutions for any organization, or individual, seeking to establish credibility in the public sphere.”

Same NASA Journal

Do you notice the difference? In the mission statement I’m focused on the what of this blog, website, and eventually other products that may stem from it. My just cause though has almost no relation to what I will do. Instead, it focuses on a world that I admit may never exist, but that I and others can pursue.

As you think about your advocacy program, what is your just cause ? How are you defining success, both in the finite and infinite games? Is success about becoming the best group at X, or is it about advancing a vision of the future? Is success bounded by passing a particular piece of legislation – or is it about building toward a bolder, even audacious new reality?

I’d challenge you to find your way to defining a just cause beyond the normal mission statements we’ve all come to know and ignore. It’s the first, most important step in igniting the cultural change required to empower your advocates for the long slog of advocacy. But in the more immediate future, I’d challenge you to pick up a copy of The Infinite Game – it may be just what you need to ignite your own personal change.