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Infinite Games (thank you Dr. Carse for writing that magical little
book). I became enamored by the idea and it started to influence the
way I saw the world. I subsequently gave dozens of copies away to
others who I thought would appreciate the alternative perspective.
One of those people was Andy Hohen at RAND Corp. Andy and I
had many long conversations about how the idea of the Infinite
Game was a new lens through which to view global politics and
military strategy. David Shedd, a big thinker and long-time public
servant, challenged me with hard questions which further helped
shape my thinking. I was lucky to be invited by Brig. Gen. Blane
Holt, USAF (ret.) and Mike Ryan, SES, to attend a EuCom gathering
in Germany where I had the chance to share ideas on how we can
use an infinite mindset to better understand America’s role in a
post-Cold War world. Then, at an entrepreneurial conference in
New York City, Seth Godin gave a talk that inspired me to abandon
my script to try something new. That was the first time I applied the
infinite mindset to business. It became clear that we needed more
than a new lens through which to view the world—we needed to
understand what it meant to lead in a world in which most, if not
all, of us were playing in an infinite game of some sort or another.
As the idea started to grow, I needed to test it. There were some
early adopters who took the risk to let me share my still-forming
idea in front of live audiences. Bob Patton from EY let me talk about
it at his company’s Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Springs,
California. TED gave me an audience in New York. Google let me
hash it out with their folks too. And William Morris Endeavor
encouraged me challenge their leadership with what it means to
lead with an infinite mindset. And slowly but surely, the ideas of
how to lead in the Infinite Game took greater form. To all the
people who jostled with me and gave me a chance to test the ideas
to real audiences, of which there are so many, thank you.
When I finally brought the idea to my publisher, Adrian
Zackheim, as he has done with me in the past, he smiled and said,
“I’ll publish that.” A deep heartfelt thank you to Adrian for taking
yet another bet on one of my nutty ideas on how I think the world
could work. And then the real work began—the work of writing the
book.
Writing a book is a combination of research and writing, more
conversations and debates, then refining and rewriting. It is filled
with all the emotions . . . ALL of them. And the one person who
stood with me as I went through all those emotions is Jenn Hallam.
My compadre from the get go, you pushed me to make my ideas
stronger, you helped me make the writing clearer. I could not have
written this book without you. Jenn . . . thank you, more than I have
words, thank you.
While I was deep down the rabbit hole of writing, my team
picked up the slack. To Sara Toborowsky, Kim Harrison, Lori
Jackson, Melissa Williams, Molly Strong, Monique Helstrom and
Laila Soussi and the rest of my team—thank you for being so patient
with me and taking care of me and everything else that needed
taking care of for all those months.
A special thank you to Tom Staggs for the hours and hours you
gave me to help make the ideas and this book stronger. I so value
your counsel and friendship. Thank you Lt. Gen George Flynn,
USMC (ret.), you were by my side through the whole journey—
tinkering with me when it was an outline to reading the final
manuscript—thank you. Thank you to Tom Gardner and the folks at
Motley Fool for sharing your vast knowledge. Thank you to Adam
Grant, my Worthy Rival and friend. You are so good at what you do
—you inspire me to be better. To Bob Chapman, my partner in
Cause. Our torch is burning brighter and brighter each day.
To the whole gang from STRIVE Morocco, thank you. It was with
you in the desert that I was inspired to talk about what it means to
live an infinite life for the first time (it may have had something to
do with how I felt after riding up that hill earlier that day).
To the people who shared their thinking and their stories with
me to bring this book to life: Angela Ahrendts, Christine Betts, Chief
Jack Cauley, Officer Jake Coyle and all the wonderful people I met
at CRPD, Sasha Cohen, John Couch, CAPT Rich Diviny, USN (ret.),
Carl Elsener, Jeff Immelt, Curtis Martin, Steve Mitchell, Alan
Mulally, Doug Parker, Joe Rohde, Maj. William Swenson, USA and
Lauryn Sargent and Scott Thompson, thank you. A special thank you
to Kip Tindell, for more than your stories, but for your belief in me
and your encouragement.
To those who opened their minds, then challenged and pushed
me—Sara Blakely, Linda Boff, Gen. Kevin Chilton, USAF (ret.); Col.
Mike Drowley, USAF; Elise Eberwine; Al Guido; Brian Grazer; David
Kotkin; Capt. Maureen Krebs, USMC; Jamil Mahoud; Cmdr C.K.
Morgan, USN from HSM-51 (you don’t know this, but your thank-
you letter reframed my whole outline); Essie North; Maj. Gen.
David Robinson, USAF (ret.); Gen. Lori Robinson, USAF (ret.);
Daisy Robinton; Craig Russell; Jen Waldman; Kevin Warren; Mike
Wirth—from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
To the leaders, at every rank, from the United States Air Force,
Army, Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps who tested my mettle,
thank you.
And most of all, the biggest thank you goes to you, the reader. To
those who have joined me in this Just Cause. It is my honor to serve
you as we work together to build a world in which the vast majority
of people wake up inspired, feel safe at work and return home
fulfilled at the end of the day. Inspire on!
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