CA58 - THE INFINITE GAME
What Simon Sinek’s book has to say about carbon, new AI & mushrooms project, carpet underlayment & more.
NEWSWORTHY
🚕 Over 50% of passenger car sales in China are officially electric.
🍄 New project “The Phoenix” tests how AI and mushrooms can make affordable housing green!
THE SPONSOR
Interested in getting your green product out to more architects?
We are opening up for 3-month sponsorship bundles in 2025.
An affordable way to target design professionals interested in lowering their footprint.
THE MATERIAL
FiberPad is a really interesting product for the residential market. It is a new carpet underlayment from Hempitecture. High performance underlayment without all the urethane and synthetic latex found in similar products.
THE PERSON
John Hyde is a Senior Sustainability Manager with Chapman Construction/Design out of Boston where they specialize in sustainable construction management. He also posts a lot of his work on LinkedIn including detailed Whole Life Carbon information like this one. Worth a follow!
THE TOPIC
I recently finished a very interesting book by Simon Sinek.
As the title of this issue may have given away, it’s called The Infinite Game.
Like much of his writing and speaking, he seems to get the heart of many issues we face in the business world and this one is no different.
The basic premis of the book is simple.
There are two approaches to business.
1 - The Finite Game
These are businesses that are most focused on revenue and short term gains.
They are willing to lay-off staff if it means hitting the quarterly targets.
It’s an attempt at winning in the short term, but at the long game expense.
These companies don’t last long because they are missing the point.
2 - The Infinite Game
Business isn’t a finite game, it’s an infinite game. There are no winners or losers.
Did Apple win the smart phone race? Maybe for now. But there is no finish line.
You can’t win a race that has no finish line.
Companies with an infinite mindset aren’t focussed on winning and losing but rather on progress, improvement, and long-term durability.
Focusing more on employee satisfaction than shareholder value.
These companies understand that winning isn’t the goal.
So what does this have to do with carbon + architecture?
Well nothing really, but I think it impacts two ways we think.
1 - Carbon reduction is an infinite game.
It’s not a game of winning and losing? There is no finish line.
The building you just designed is past, there is always improvements to be made.
This approach will help you address the project you are on TODAY.
Don’t wait for your next project. That’s a finite approach.
An infinite mindset takes steps to continually improve and challenge the status quo. Not with the goal of beating anyone
Improvement is an infinite game that requires improvement not perfection.
2 - Find worthy rivals, not competitors.
Simon outlines that an infinite mindset doesn’t view others as competition, but rather as worthy rivals.
Why?
Because competition is a win/lose approach, when business isn’t like that.
Worthy rivals push you to do better.
Think about a firm you see doing great things.
Understand what they are doing best, and challenge yourself to do better.
They are worth rivals that have mastered things that you haven’t
Take it as inspiration to do better, not as competition to beat.
We in the carbon reduction world need to work together to solve these problems, not pit against each other in some kind of competition.
Let’s support each other and build a better world.
TL:DR
The game of carbon reduction isn’t a win/lose game. It’s infinite.
In the infinite game, you need to play with infinite goals.
Let’s build each other up, not compete against each other.