How to Create Business as a Game
What makes something a game?
Simply said, a game is created when something “over there” is more important than what is “over here.” For example, in the game of basketball, “ball in hoop” is more important than “ball in hand.” The important thing to notice is that there is nothing inherently important about “over there” – we make it up!
So the moment you determine that something “over there” is more important than what is “over here” – you’ve now created the game – get over there!
The next aspect to recognize in a game is the point system. Now, the point system in a game tells us what is important and valuable. In our example, the important “ball in hoop” is most often worth 2 points.
It is critically important to remember that just as the game was invented, so was the point system. Getting a ball through a hoop is not inherently worth anything – we are the ones who say that it is worth something, and that something happens to be 2 points.
Professor C. Thi Nguyen, a writer on game theory, says “The structure of a game isn’t that the points are valuable, but the attempt to get the points, the attempt to win the game sculpts some kind of interesting, valuable, or beautiful activity.”
Why do millions of people tune in to the game of basketball? We are interested in watching the attempt to get the points – the interesting, valuable, and beautiful activity.
So, in business, we can create games. We can make up something that is more important than what we currently have over here. We can create a point system to determine how much that “over there” is worth. This can help us sculpt an interesting, valuable, and beautiful activity.
A Pitfall to Watch Out For
Games are powerful – they determine what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.
A game tells us what to care about.
However, if we are playing a game that someone else (others) invented long before us, it is easy to both forget that it is a game (completely made up) and, also, to end up being played by the game instead of the other way around.
When we fail to recognize that we are 1) playing a game and 2) that we are playing someone else’s game, we lose sight of what we actually want and begin to want what the inherited point system tells us to want. Professor C. Thi Nguyen’s term for this is “becoming gamified.”
Some of the inherited point systems in the business world to watch out for are as follows:
· Increasing revenue is more important than decreasing or staying the same.
· Profit is more important than people.
· Winning someone’s business is more important than our competitor winning their business.
This really makes you start to think about how many games you are participating in unconsciously, seeking something that is “more important” because someone else said so.
The Beauty and Opportunity of the Game
“To play a game is to voluntarily take on unnecessary obstacles for the sake of making possible the activity of overcoming them.” ~ Bernard Suits
One of the real opportunities of playing a game is it has you create a new you and develop new skills and abilities to play and win the game.
Ex. chess, running a marathon, rock-climbing, and so on.
It doesn’t count if you get to the finish line of a marathon via an Uber – in a game you must get there in a particular way in a specified way.
A game is created by a game designer – the designer creates the environment, tells you what abilities you have, what obstacles you’ll face, and most importantly what goals you’ll have.
By creating a game, you are creating a new self – a new level of agency and autonomy.
You are the game designer! You get to create what obstacles to overcome, what abilities you want to have, and what you’re going to care about. You get to say.
We have found enormous openings and possibilities emerge when ask business leaders, “What are the ontological obstacles you are choosing to overcome while you play the game you are creating?” In other words, how are you going to grow and how will you triumph by playing this game?
Moreover, what is your point system for joy? For fulfillment? For excellence? If the only point system is profit, you will compromise and sell out on collaboration, joy, growth, etc….
Now, game designer, see if you can design a game that will be an interesting, valuable, or beautiful activity – something worth playing.
You can start by answering these questions:
1. What will I call the game?
2. What am I creating as the more important “over-there,” that I want to get to?
3. What is the point system? How will I know I’m winning the game?
4. What obstacles will I need to overcome in order to get “over there”?
5. What is the growth I will realize by overcoming those obstacles?
Happy gaming!