It gets dangerous to see business as an Infinite Game. Let me explain…
My old neighbour looked like a grand man. He had a sweet mansion, a young hot eastern European wife, and always owned the newest Porsche.
This man had it all from the outside looking in.
Unfortunately, he thought he had nothing.
His upbringing was impoverished, and he came from nothing. Which is a great motivator, but it programmed him to see business as an infinite game.
He was playing the game of always needing MORE and MORE. He needed more customers, more employees and above all, more profits.
He never defined his objective for being in business. He never clarified what winning looks like for him, and he had no clue that his main adversary in business was himself in all of it.
If you don’t watch out, entrepreneurship can become an infinite game of more and more.
Try to do the following and make business something finite:
- Define a set objective for winning the game of business. Ask yourself: when have I won the game? The more detailed you define it, the better it gets.
- Define clear rules of engagement. How far are you willing to go to achieve your objective. What are you willing to tolerate? And how long are you prepared to endure the blisters of running your own business.
- And finally, understand that all players in the game of business are known: yourself as the number one enemy to overcome, your customers and your suppliers, all information is out there.
Never fall for the infinity trap.