Finite and Infinite Games A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility BY JAMES P. CARSE In his elegant little book, religious scholar Carse describes two types of games. A finite game has a winner and an end the goal is to triumph. An “infinite game has no winner and no end the goal is to keep playing. Nonwinnable games, Carse explains, are much more rewarding than the win-lose ones we’re accustomed to playing at our work and in our relationships. Type I Insight: Finite players play within boundaries infinite players play with boundaries.” Talent Is Overrated What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else BY GEOFF COLVIN What’s the difference between those who are pretty good at what they do and those who are masters Fortune magazine’s Colvin scours the evidence and shows that the answer is threefold practice, practice, practice. But it’s not just any practice, he says. The secret is deliberate practice”—highly repetitive, mentally demanding work that’s often unpleasant, but undeniably effective. Type I Insight: If you set a goal of becoming an expert in your business, you would immediately start doing all kinds of things you don’t do now.” Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience BY MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI It’s tough to find abetter argument for working hard at something you love than Csikszentmihalyi’s landmark book on optimal experiences Flow describes those exhilarating moments when we feel in control, full of purpose, and in the zone. And it reveals how people have turned even the most unpleasant tasks into enjoyable, rewarding challenges. Type I Insight: Contrary to what we usually believe . . . the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times—although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to the limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” For more of Csikszentmihalyi’s ideas, checkout three of his other books Finding Flow The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life; Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention; and the classic Beyond Boredom and Anxiety Experiencing Flow in Work and Play.
