#71 Infinite Games

If you’ve ever read the science fiction classic Ender’s Game, perhaps you’ll remember the virtual game called “The Giant’s Drink” that only Ender, the most ruthless and cunning of the Battle School students, figures out how to win. After defeating the Giant (spoiler, okay, but that book was published nearly forty years ago), Ender’s avatar is free to visit and revisit a world that stretches out before him in time, and in tune, with his own imagination. With the head-to-head contest behind him, he’s able to keep playing as long as he wants to.

I listen to a lot of podcasts, interviews, and audiobooks, usually while driving from one of our restaurants to another. Ketosis, Alzheimer’s, and behavioral psychology are recurring topics (no True Crime for me). This pattern means that I hear similar tropes and topics over and over; I wonder if I’m caught in an algorithmic eddy of thinkers and speakers who are overly aligned, and if everyone else is similarly caught in an aural eddy of their own (and if this is how conspiracy theories gain traction and then forward momentum).

Now and then a concept breaks free from the undercurrent of these interviews and establishes a beachhead in my brain. The concept of playing infinite games is the most recent of these ideas, and the topic of today’s essay.

At the risk of telling you something you already know, a “zero-sum” game is one in which there is a winner and a loser. If you and I are playing tennis, in order for me to win, you must lose. That’s net zero, or zero-sum.

In a “positive-sum” game, like a golf tournament, everyone who qualifies wins something. The winner goes home with the largest share of the prize money, but the other players in his group are also technically winners. Game theorists call this a “ranked-non-zero-sum tournament”.

But let me introduce you to the concept of the infinite game. There is no finish line to cross or archenemy to defeat. The goal of the game is, in fact, to keep playing, and it shouldn’t be much of a reach for you to grasp how this applies to pursuits like marriage, business, and fitness (and The United States of America, for that matter).

Here are some tactics for applying this concept to your professional life:

If you’re an employee, don’t chase short-term promotions or wins at the expense of long-term reputation or growth. Treat coworkers not as opponents, but as collaborators in a system that has to endure for you to succeed and to keep playing. You play to keep contributing – to evolve your skills, relationships, and direction.

If you’re a business owner and you truly want to play the infinite game, you won’t sacrifice long-term success for short-term profits. You’ll make the choices that serve others and enable you to build something that lasts. Your business will have a long life of its own buoyed by customers, employees, and community.

You’ll find meaning in the very playing of the game because, well, the meaning of the game is to keep playing.