# Ways of Playing the Game By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2023-01-02 Make no mistake that working within any organization is a game. There is always something to win or lose, and there is always something at stake. However, people primarily play the game in two very different ways. The first way is to allow the game to justify all things. For example, why aren't there more women and minorities in leadership positions? Well, they must not be playing the game well enough. Don't hate the player, hate the game. This type of gameplay results in injustices, the promotion of asshole behavior, and untold amounts of suffering. This is often the caricature of the right or conservative-leaning way of playing the game. The second way to play the game is to pretend that the game does not exist. For example, we are all in this together as one big happy family and the rejection of hierarchies. Managers are [[Types of Managers - The Buddy|your buddy]], there are company yoga sessions, and everyone makes decisions as a collective of like-minded, yet uniquely empowered individuals. Playing the game this way results in delusions about organizational realities, market inefficiencies, and eventually rampant internal suffering when things inevitably don't work out as the market kicks your ass. This is the caricature of the left or progressive-leaning way of playing the game. Neither of these approaches feels like a good long-term way to play the game. On one side, you perpetuate injustices and on the other, you ignore the complexities of the universe and either achieve nothing or unintended consequences. What is the synthesis of these two approaches? How do we acknowledge the game while caring for the players in solidarity? Those who take up this challenge are at the edge of creating something entirely new. #### Related Items [[Business]] [[Games]] [[Organizational Analytics]] [[Politics]] [[Power]] [[Solidarity]]