⫹⫺ Positive Sum Games
Hello my friends,
In game theory, zero-sum is a situation where, if one person wins, another loses.
The net change is zero.
This past week, I listened to a podcast with two company founders who talked about building their Startups. The commonality in their descriptions was that they view their work as non-zero-sum. If they win, it doesn’t mean others lose, rather, everybody wins.
The net change is positive.
Oftentimes in creative industry, there is a misplaced focus on the individual, whether self-manifested or manufactured by your discipline. These short-term status games are always zero-sum.
Perhaps it’s the asymmetry of the upside and downside that encourages non-zero-sum within Startup companies. Nevertheless, the game does not have to be correlated to size or leverage.
Non-zero-sum can be fostered by simple behaviors:
Give more than you take.
Use the words “we” and “the team”.
Celebrate other people’s successes.
Shared adversity will bring a team together. Happiness and health rely on making the work positive-sum.
More on this and other observations from the internet below ↓
Let’s get into it,
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People
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Methods
If you’re looking for emerging trends Exploding Topics is an analytics tool that trawls the web for the latest and greatest.
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Out of Office
Neal Agarwal has created a corner of the internet open to everyone. His visualizations are beautiful, educational and fun.
This one on 21st-century capitalism is my particular favorite.
