The endless game

The infinite game brings connectedness and meaning to business and organisation, says Niki Harre. Photo / Getty Images.

In her new book, The Infinite Game, Niki Harre, of the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland, looks at how playing to win in the short term (playing the finite game) just brings an endless fight for attention, status and personal wealth, while playing the infinite game brings connection and meaning.

"I've become increasingly interested in the connection of environmental and social issues," she says.

"In 2011 I wrote the first edition of Psychology for a Better World, essentially it was taking new and interesting ideas from psychological research and presenting them in a way that people working for social justice and the environment flourishing could be helped with their actions. As a result of that I did lots of talks and workshops.\ "Then I realised there was a need for a bigger idea, or a symbol, or a way of talking about what we were trying to do. That's where I stumbled across the idea of the infinite game, which was put together by the philosopher James Carse, who suggested that in life there are two types of games: the finite game and the infinite game." The purpose of life in the finite game is simply to win at a very individual level.

"The infinite game keeps going and is far more connected and meaningful. I then spent the next five years working out how to research that and reading about related ideas. That's how the book The Infinite Game was generated."

She says that the infinite game definitely works on the business or organisational level.

"In the point of view of a manager: how is your organisation taking part in the infinite game? It's important to remember — there's only one infinite game, we don't all have our own individual little ones.

"From the point of view of any organisation or business — the way you will survive or flourish into the future is by being relevant, by being consistent with what the world needs, what nourishes people what keeps our eco-system going.

"If you want to be part of the long-term play, it helps if you are consistent with those principles for living. Principles for being a contributor to the broader community around you.

"If you align your workplace to the rules of the infinite game, I think all sorts of good things will come out. It's not easy — it can be confronting. It's about considering the long-term good. "If we think about an individual, an employee, are you doing what's fundamentally aligned with what you think is important and what you have to give this world?"

It's about thinking outwards: "Asking what do I have to give" is such a crucial way to be effective within the workplace situation. Work is about making a contribution and of course what I'm trying to argue is using our best selves — our power and creativity — it is about being a contributor," Harre says.

The infinite game is a bit different to living by your values — it's about collective values that are consistent with the wellbeing of people. "For example, creativity is not an individual value, it is a part of our nature as people – if we align with it that's when we create good things.

"There is a great collective pool of what I call infinite values," she says. "Creativity, love of the natural world, things like that — you may be more aligned with one or other of them but never to the detriment of the others. The more personal and individual alignments are with your skill, capability and interests, the bigger values are about 'this is what it takes to keep humans alive. What, connected to that, am I contributing to?'"

Harre says: "I hope people can read the book and think how can they can be an infinite player by making some small adjustments in their lives and by doing that they will feel part of something bigger because they'll get collective responses.

"Say at work you want to start a compost system — you do that and get some colleagues involved.

"By that tiny act you're part of something. Part of moving the world towards something better. It's not about a labled movement that you sign up to, it's personal philosophy."

She says that she thinks people are getting tired of social inequality and the mantra that making a lot of money is the way to a wonderful life. "People are suspicious of that — they want more of what's connecting."