Who?

The people who want to get what you’ve got, or the people who want to give what they’ve got?

The infinite player plays for others to be able to play, the infinite artist gives so others will also give their art; they know they themselves will only be able to play if others also play.  Being able to be creative and generous towards others, enabling their participate, is intrinsically enjoyable.  Strange, because there is something deeply sacrificial in beginning what we cannot finish:

‘Our futures enter into each other.  What is your future,
and mine, becomes ours.  We prepare each other for surprise.’

These words from James Carse beautifully express the presencing journey Otto Scharmer describes, from the worldview of I-in-me, through I-in-it, through I-in-you, to I-in-us.

We each play by daily bringing our best.  A title or role conveying power means less, and perhaps even nothing, in the infinite game – we are not our titles.  In finite games, to gain a title of power can be the endgame for some players; to win usually means others have lost and don’t gain the title of honour.  In an infinite game power is what is given away against a common enemy: a disease or attitude or Human need.

We don’t have to get power, we already have power; the game is about releasing this for others.  Knowing who we are and what we can do, and, knowing who we are not and what we cannot do, is power., enabling us to contribute our art without trying to grasp power from others.

Some of the biggest games in the world are finite games and no one really wins in a finite game.  The United States took over the control of the seas from the British, but terrorists attacked the United States by air, flying planes into the Pentagon and World Trade Centre towers.

The ultimate power we can wield is power to yield by bringing others into the game.