My personal lifelong saying is simple: Play to learn — learn to win.

People are complex, but there are universal traits that reveal how similar we actually are. One of them is the way we engage with games—passed down through culture, taught to us in childhood, and often mirrored in how we navigate adulthood.

Two games that have always fascinated me are chess and weiqi (Go / Baduk). Both use black and white pieces. Both simulate conflict. Both require intelligence, foresight, and understanding of your opponent. But the mindset each game builds is fundamentally different.

THE STRATEGIC DUALITY: CHESS VS WEIQI

Chess, widely embraced in the West, is a game of direct confrontation. You take pieces head-on, remove resources from your opponent, and pursue an inevitable checkmate. The thinking is linear, tactical, and focused on short- to mid-term execution.

Weiqi (Go), deeply rooted in the East, is different. It focuses on territory, patience, and positional dominance. Instead of hunting individual pieces, you place stones to influence the board, encircle areas, and eventually surround your opponent.
It is long-term, fluid, probabilistic, and expansive.

Over the years, studying these games—paired with reading both Eastern and Western philosophy—helped me see how each tradition reflects entire worldviews:

• Western thought → short-term wins, decisive actions, immediate advantage
• Eastern thought → long arcs of strategy, subtle positioning, power through patience

Both are valuable. But understanding the difference is what matters.

FINITE AND INFINITE GAMES: A FRAMEWORK FOR LIVING

This duality reminded me of James P. Carse’s book, Finite and Infinite Games, which shaped much of my strategic philosophy.

FINITE GAMES

• Goal: To win
• Features: Defined beginning and end, fixed rules
• Examples: Business competition, political races, sports

INFINITE GAMES

• Goal: To continue the play
• Features: Adaptive rules, evolving boundaries
• Examples: Culture, relationships, purpose, life itself

CORE IDEAS

• Freedom: You must freely choose to play; otherwise, you are simply being acted upon.
• Perspective: Much suffering stems from treating life—an infinite game—as if it were finite.
• Transformation: Choosing the infinite game leads to growth, wisdom, and a deeper sense of fulfillment.

For me, this connects directly to technology, leadership, and the unfolding future we are rapidly entering.

DEVELOPING THE MINDSET OF AN INFINITE PLAYER

If you aspire to lead in an age of accelerated change, the skills that matter most are:

• First-principles thinking
• Systems thinking
• Critical analysis
• Historical understanding
• Long-term strategy

We must recognize a truth often overlooked:

Every day, we participate in a game someone else designed.
Rules created long before we existed.
Systems we inherited, not constructed.
Beliefs, economic models, social expectations—all pre-built structures.

The key is learning where those rules come from, so you can choose better ones, adapt when necessary, and ultimately play a superior game.

Because infinite players are not controlled by the board.
They reshape the board itself.

FINAL THOUGHT

As we engage with life, leadership, and emerging technologies, the goal is not merely to win short-term battles. It is to become the kind of person who can play the long game with wisdom, purpose, and clarity. This is why I share with you my blueprint of values, systems, and mental frameworks as a guide on how to design & architect ecosystems across the African continent.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12

— Early Boykins III