It’s the start of 2022 – woohoo!!
Cannot wait for all the good that this year will bring. So excited. Let’s leave behind a less-than-great 2021, and leap with renewed enthusiasm, into 2022!
Deja vu?
Yes sir, indeed. That’s what we all said exactly 12 months ago. 2021 was another tough year, especially for those of us in the tourism industry.
But we’ve chosen, once again, to be optimistic. I think that humans are all optimists. Even the grumpiest, cup-half-empty, negative people have a degree of optimism deep down. I think that eternally pessimistic people can, if they want too, see the bright side of life.
During December I did some big mileage on the road – two long car trips to Cape Town and back to KZN. I really love driving. I love seeing our beautiful county, meeting people on the road, catching up with old mates en-route, loud music, and it gives me time to think. I’ve also begun to listen to some podcasts, and have really enjoyed them, especially the one hosted by an incredible human – Simon Sinek. It’s called “A bit of Optimism” and I highly highly recommend it.
My favourite podcast so far is his interview is with Dr James Carse. Sadly, Dr Carse passed away in 2020, but Simon did have the chance to chat to him about his ground breaking book “Finite and Infinite Games”.
Carse summarises his argument, “There are at least two kinds of games: finite and infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play. Finite games are those instrumental activities – from sports to politics to wars – in which the participants obey rules, recognise boundaries and announce winners and losers. The infinite game – there is only one – includes any authentic interaction, from touching to culture, that changes rules, plays with boundaries and exists solely for the purpose of continuing the game. A finite player seeks power; the infinite one displays self-sufficient strength. Finite games are theatrical, necessitating an audience; infinite ones are dramatic, involving participants…”
The discussion evolves around how we try and play the infinite games of business, marriage, career, education and politics, with finite rules. Outcomes are nearly always less than desirable, it almost always ends badly. It’s hard to remain optimistic when you are always trying to be number 1, always trying to beat your competition. We try too often, to play to win, in a game that has no finish line.
Humans have an incredible capacity to not get along. I think we could improve this if we all understood this concept of finite and infinite games. It certainly has helped me get my head around the confusion of the past 2 years. It’s modified my outlook as I try my best, every day, to be optimistic. 2022 will be no different, I think we all need to look at the glass a bit more half-full.
So here’s to 2022, it will be better than 2021, which was better than 2020!
Henry Ford