Every day we play a game.  Who gets the money, resources, affection, job, or attention?

Who has influence?  Who does the boss listen to when it’s important?  Do we answer the phone when it rings or continue talking to the person in front of us?  

Usually, rules are agreed to before the game begins.  Rules revolve around fairness, consistency, and order.  Rules allow one playing of the contest to be compared to another.

Participants believe in the rules.  Everyone agrees on what constitutes winning at the end or you get chaos.

The problem begins and people become disgruntled when one or more participants decide that the rules are less important than winning the game.

As Seth Godin says, “. . . some people are willing to burn down what they believe in to win a game.”

You are better off maintaining the rules of a community than winning every time.  

The person that does the generous work to strengthen the community is the one the boss should listen to when it’s important.