finite and infinite games - generative leadership group.pdfVIP

Finite and Inf inite Games by James P. Carse Notes by Generative Leadership Group Revisions: March 1994, January 1997, January 2003 by Mel Toomey What follows are notes on Finite and Infinite Games. At first blush, this small book, with its philosophical bent and poetic language, would seem to have very little to do with business or organization. Carse himself is a professor of theology and the history of religion, and would, I am certain, claim no particular expertise (or even interest) in the business world. Given all of this, it would seem that a few words of explanation and context setting are in order. If you are reading these notes, chances are you have been asked to read them (or the book itself) in the context of some work you are doing with Generative Leadership Group on leadership and generative change. It is in this context that Carse’s work becomes relevant, I think. One way to think of generative change is that it is the capacity of a system within an organization to create, in itself and the larger organization, change that is consistent with the future that leadership has envisioned. When a system is generative it is self-altering, and works to fulfill its own created future, rather than simply adapting to the given future it was handed. Viewed this way, generative change is not a one-time event, but an ongoing engagement. It is also change that requires engaging with systems, rather than with artifacts, processes, or events. Carse’s view is, fundamentally, a systems view. His introduction of the concept of infinite games, games that have no end in their design, and the fundamental commitment of which is to keep the “game in play,” is at odds with the more traditional view of the world (and of organizations) that sees life as a ser