Politics: An infinite game for some and finite game for others in Sri Lanka?

Simon Sinek, the third most watched TED presenter (nearly 33 million hits), spoke to the Google staff recently [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_osKgFwKoDQ]. He is a sought-after motivational speaker and a 21st Century leadership guru who has authored some bestselling books. 

Sinek’s Google Talk was entitled ‘The Finite and Infinite Games of Leadership: [...]’. James P. Carse is another intellectual who has done a lot of work on this subject. 

As Sinek explained, finite games are played between known players on set rules but In the case of infinite games there can be both known and unknown players and rules are changeable. The objective of the latter is to perpetuate the game. The game is strong if it is played between two finite players (e.g. tennis) or two infinite players (e.g. the cold war). In finite games there are winners and losers but in the case of infinite games, there would not be any winners or losers usually. However, in the case of the latter, the players would drop out when they run out of the will or resources with time (e.g. the US did not win the cold war but the former USSR ran out of resources to maintain the status quo). 

But the games between finite and infinite players take a different outlook altogether. The diagram depicts how finite players and infinite players play. In these situations, decisions are based on the culture and value system of the players, companies or political parties. In this process, through the value system of the players, interests emerge.      

Sinek cited his experience to discuss the differences between these two concepts (quoted from his video): “I spoke at an education summit for Microsoft; I’ve also spoken at an education summit for Apple. I would say about 70-80% of the executives of Microsoft spent 70-80% of their PowerPoint presentations talking about how to beat Apple. At the Apple summit, 100% of their executives spent 100% of their presentations talking about how to help teachers teach and how to help students learn.  

“One (Apple) was obsessed with their journey, with their vision and with their cause. The other (Microsoft) was obsessed with the competition. Guess who’s stuck in a quagmire; guess who’s frustrated by their competition!” 

Sinek continued: “At the end of my talk at Microsoft, they gave me a gift – the ‘new Zune’. I have to tell you this was one of the most remarkable and beautiful pieces of technology. At the end of my talk at Apple, I took a cab with one of the senior Apple executives and I decided to stir the pot a bit and told him that Microsoft gave me their Zune and it was so much better than your iPod Touch. 

“And he (the Apple executive) turned to me and said, ‘I have no doubt’. The conversation was over because the infinite players understand that sometimes your product is better, sometimes it’s not, sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The goal is not to beat your competitor. The goal is to outlast your competitor.” 

Politics of infinite games

This is the behaviour of players who play infinite games. This is applicable to many fields including politics. Some play a ‘finite’ game while others sport an ‘infinite’ game. The writer believes that this is so apparent in Sri Lankan politics.   

Let’s apply this thesis to the existing political realities. The writer observes the following two principal situations: 

Government vs. Opposition in general: Overall, this sounds like an infinite game (two infinite groups by and large). It is a Unity Government between the two main parties (two-thirds of Parliament in Government) in the country. Also, some parties in the Opposition sound sensible and are genuinely taking an effort to correct the mistakes and rectify the shortcomings of the Government in a constructive way. It is nothing but respecting the will of the people, perpetuating the journey and serving the people better.  

Government vs. Joint Opposition (JO, the Rajapaksa faction of SLFP/UPFA – about 50 MPs). This is an explicit battle between an infinite player (Government) and a finite player (JO). The Government is working to last the journey while delivering its promises to the people. But the JO is trying its best to outsmart the Government with the mere intention of capturing power or gaining a political mileage. 

The infinite players compete among themselves (within the team) to fine-tune their delivery and wake up every day to make the product more refined and beautiful. They pay no special attention to the competition. However, it does not mean that they are unaware of the ground situation.      

The Government sounds busy crafting its product. As Sinek said, infinite players find interests based on their core values of the business but the finite players would just try to do whatever it takes to win. We do feel, hear and see the leaders of our Government working on core values based on the election promises and mandate, despite the immense difficulties. This does not mean the Government is perfect; they do make mistakes, blunders and favour some people, etc. at times. But one of the priorities for the Government is laying a good foundation for ‘Yahapalanaya’ (good governance) that will mature with time, irrespective of the allegations (some lame?) that are being levelled against it.  

Winston Churchill observed: “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” This is very much applicable to our political culture here in Sri Lanka. If the action of the Government is genuine, legitimate, in good faith and for the best interest of the country, the Government must take them forward without any hesitation. Essentially, this involves ignoring the vicious and selfish barking dogs! This is the infinite game our people are expecting from this Unity Government.    

(The writer is a borderless thinker and futurist. His email is [email protected].).