HBO Max is playing the finite game

Simon Sinek’s excellent book “ The Infinite Game “ breaks down two types of companies.

Those playing a finite game try to win right now at all costs. These are companies that make questionable moves in order to satisfy their investors. To quote King Louis XV of France in 1757, “ After me comes the flood “ — I’ll win today, and let the next guy clean up the mess.

Those playing an infinite game, which theoretically should be almost all of us, play for the long term. This may involve decisions that hurt today, but will benefit us tomorrow. A great example is when CVS stopped selling cigarettes — they wanted to be more secure in their promise to assist with the health of their customers, but had to take a short-term hit (lost cigarette sales) to get there.

HBO Max

The case of HBO Max, which is owned by Warner Bros, is a fascinating study into a company playing a finite game. While HBO Max and Warner Bros are essentially the same company, HBO Max has been paying royalties to Warner Bros for their content, and they’ve decided to cut a lot of programming to save money on the fees that they pay to themselves.

Here is how Techdirt describes this mess:

Variety explains that these shows were licensed to HBO Max by Warner Bros. (once more for those in the back…