The Game of Life...

Why is Business Life so complicated...?

The Game of Life was invented by Cambridge mathematician John Conway and became well known as a consequence of being published in Scientific American in 1970...

The "Game" simply consisted of a grid of cells that were instructed to behave according to a very basic set of rules - as time passed the cells would adhere to the rules and develop patterns and shapes throughout the course of the game...

The principle of The Game was to demonstrate how highly complex systems can be developed on the basis of a very simple set of rules.

The Rules for the Game of Life are;

1. Each cell with one or no neighbour dies out of loneliness...
2. Each cell with four or more neighbours dies due to crowding...
3. Each cell with two or three neighbours survives...
4. Each empty cell with three neighbours becomes alive...

There are no rules about movement, duplication or limits of shapes and structure, once a few cells are loaded onto the grid, the rules take over and the game begins.

The patterns and structures generated by the Game are complex and seemingly random without design or form, lacking in predictability - just like we experience in business...

The future is not clear, we can't predict what is going to happen and the levels of certainty are infuriatingly low...

if only people did what we expect them to do life would be easy, right...?

It is reassuring, I believe, to know that simple rules give complex systems and it is to be expected that unpredictable events and situations will arise - it doesn't mean we have done anything wrong, it just means we are alive...

What we have to do, of course, is expect the unexpected - which on the face of it doesn't sound very helpful - but in reality simply means to stay flexible, ready to adapt, innovate and not count our proverbial chickens before they hatch...

Top 7 Tips for Coping with Uncertainty and Random Events

1. Expect them and don't get knocked off track by them...
2. Build some slack into your Margins and Timescales so you can weather any storms...
3. Train your team to be OK with random events and not to panic...
4. Learn and adapt from them - let go of anticipated outcomes...
5. God things are random too - enjoy the ride...
6. People are Clouds not Clocks - Popper...
7. Remember, You're going to be OK...

Business is so much more complex than the Four Rules in the Game of Life, so we should expect the outcomes to be so much more complicated and surprising too.

So sit back and enjoy the crazy ride, relish the wins, let go of the losses and keep playing the game...

Check out the video below for a quick demo of the Game of Life in action...

David Holland MBA is a Business Coach based out of France with offices in the UK and Luxembourg...

He works with Business Owners, Executives, and their Teams enabling them to Be more Do more and Achieve more..

Married to Lynn since 1986 although they have been together since 1979, they have two boys, two dogs, some chickens, rabbitts, and guinea pigs in the garden of their renovation cottage in the Moselle Valley.

To find out what it's like to work with David all you have to do is drop him a message and arrange a coffee ZOOM - or of course, you can decide it's not for you, wrong time, won't work in your business or you can't afford a Coach and do nothing...

Or maybe you'll stop saying NO and consider the possibilities then drop him a note and see what happens...

Email -?[email protected]