In any organization, you can play two kinds of games. Games about doing good. And games about feeling good.
Games about doing good have one currency: impact. That impact shows up as a better experience for the people you serve — and eventually, in some form, better outcomes for everyone.
Games about feeling good are games of status. Being invited to the right meetings. Having your worth recognized by the seat you have at the table. Getting the acknowledgment that soothes whatever insecurity is loudest that day.
It’s natural to want some of that. But the pull toward status games is worth watching — because I’ve seen these dynamics play out just as much in three-person organizations as in ten-thousand-person ones. The scale changes, but the game doesn’t.
The key is the ability to consistently prioritize impact over status. It’s not just that impact games drive better outcomes — though they do that. It’s that they contribute more to our happiness in the long run too.
Because status games are often stupid games.
And as the saying goes, when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.
A Learning a Day 