Unedited
10/11/11
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Business Games

Games are an unwelcome, but necessary, fact of doing business. There are many reasons games evolve in the working environment. Immaturity, ego, a desire to wear the client down to increase profits, personality conflicts, and communications that break down all incite games. It is important to take note of games because when conflicts arise they can often be traced back to a game state. A game creates an IP or initial point of conflict between two people. A "game state" that is started can continue, escalate or disappear completly

There are games that are initiated by businesses and there are games initiated by the customer. In addition, there are games intiated by the confrontation of two very different personalities. A business represents a team of management and employees. There can be games going on withing a business that spill out into the day to day interpersonal dealings with customers.

A review of some of the game states is as follows:

1. Games initiated by the business

A. Games initiated by the employee

To offset the boredom of working employees commonly get involved in playing games with the customers. They initiate what could be called "counter games;" using tactics such as withholding information, lackadaisical searching for products and so forth. This leads to begging for service by the customer and outrage for the abuse. The games themselves can evolve over decades of time leaving the customer at a disadvantage. Skilled game players can "plausibly deny" playing games or providing less than good service to the consumer. Soon players lose their ability to take constructive critisizism from the public and begin to behave in a less disciplines and professional way. The distraction with playing games engenders incompetence. And where there is incompetence there are surly complaints from the public.

B. Games initiated by the owner who sets business policy.

The owner of a business might be the source of games. Some bosses like games; they like to play people off against each other; and they like the combat with the public.

2. Business games initiated by the customer
Business professionals tend to see the game playing initiated by the customer. Customers can also get greedy. So, if a good game will work, all the better. They might, for example, want to maneuver a business into a corner so they concede unreasonable benefits. Homeowners play a mean game of entrapement getting contractors into situations where they assume liabilities they do not have to extend. Some homeowners seek promises in a negotiation setting carefully timed to a distracted contractor. Here the contractor pays little to what the client is saying being busy with something else. Typically a homeowner might ask, "Is my electrical system safe?" In fact it is mostly safe but in giving a blanket assurance "it is safe" the liability for a fire or electrical shock moves from the homeowner's insurance company to the contractor. Moreover, it places the contractor in a litigious position for other reasons. Because the contractor's mind was busy he or she was not thinking about the total context of the question asked. This situation might occur one in every hundred times a contractor negotiates a contract, but the threat is real enough for any contractor to pay attention to the games clients play and respond accordingly.

When playing chess with clients a business person is forced to lie to outmaneuver their opponent. When a counter person plays a game the business person might exaggerate the behavior of the counterman to the owner to win. He might lie about a fact to induce the counter person to simply do his job. What is going on is essentially a power game in which an appropriate excuse wins the game for a particular player. Thus, in business (and everything else in life) power is often expressed as an excuse. The contest between the counter person and client might also be seen in the context of class struggle. Here, the undisciplined worker combats a highly discipline, hard-working business client. The client achieved stature and success by following certain rules. In this context, the behavior of the counter person it is particularly offensive. Since many types order desks exist in the business world, many that are highly specialized occupations. The undisciplined worker knowing they are valuable worker will provoke a client incessantly with errors in their work with little fear of being fired. Such bad behavior eventually catches up with the business supplying parts, products or services. A the bad reputation grows in the client base the supplier is forced to make more and more unconscionable moves and unethical behaviors in the name of "needing to survive."

3. Games that evolve from personality differences.