Playing the infinite career game

Careers are a social construct. They were created for the convenience of the organisation. Over time they became useful to both sectors and societies. The prevalent narrative is that we start at the bottom of the ladder and work our way to the top. Each step representing a jump in economic and social status. Moving from technical /’hands on’ to managerial was a clear indicator that you were gaining career altitude.

The unfortunate consequence of this approach is that technical people, for example scientists, engineers and creatives are considered a lower caste. Thus there is a pressure to become ‘hands off’ just as your hands were getting the hang of it.

The struggle

For many of us, our career is the framework in which our life unfolds. Consequently our CV is entwined with our life story. Thus there is tendency to architect a socially impressive career path depicting heroism and nobility. Examples include:

• Post room to CEO – “Know that with no qualifications, I was smart enough to play the game well!”.

• Rags to riches – “Know that despite the odds I can now buy and sell the people who once looked down on me.”

• Adaptive hero - “I have smartly transitioned from lunar astronaut / Olympian / extreme adventurer to media pundit / public speaker / successful CEO”.

Careers are traditionally linear in nature. A journey from A to B where B is remarkably different rom A. Careers can seem even more dramatic if there is some adversity along the way. Eventual triumph against the odds turns a career into a dramatic odyssey and even a poignant expression of the human condition.

Lucky for some?

But there are those who take a more gilded path, for example:

• Silver spooner – “Know that despite the salary my impressive qualifications could command I choose to work at a not-for-profit organisation because I am socially conscious and from ‘old money’. Invariably, I will one day be the CEO of an international NGO.”

• Top drawer – “Know that my Ivy League education followed by a career at a top tier management consultancy highlights that I am simply better than most people and most likely a very attractive potential mate”.

I have some sympathy for those born wealthy as they will find it difficult to add drama to a narrative that is essentially. “On reflection, I lived my life wearing ‘training wheels’. There was never really anything at stake”.

Who moved my ladder?

The challenge we have today is that careers are no longer linear; they are about to enter retirement. In a world where AI, in particular is gaining ground, how likely is it that today’s young doctors, architects or lawyers will be economically relevant to their sector in, say, twenty years?

So perhaps it is time to change the narrative. With increasing macroenvironmental disruption, for at least the next five to ten years, it might be better to think of our professional lives as a video game that evolves randomly in real-time. It is thus not clear:

• How success is measured

• What are the rules of the game

• When the game ends

• Where does the game end (the boundary).

Towards an infinite career

This is sometimes referred to as the infinite game, a game we had no choice but to play prior to the agricultural revolution. This is the game we are genetically wired to play. In essence, the only reason for playing the game is to stay in the game, ie the game’s theme is survival.

This means being predictive, opportunistic, adaptive and thus intelligent.

So whether you are a junior doctor, management consultant or tattooist, you need to monitor the environment looking for signals that suggest it is time to pivot. Traditional careers are no longer a given.

Follow the energy

One way to play the infinite game is to create your own personal rules (aka values).

These might include, I will do whatever it takes to:

• Become financially rich

• Have power over as many people as possible

• Make a positive impact on society

• Be famous – social media makes fame a recognised career path

• Be a world authority / the expert

• Maximise my free time

• Grab what I can with the least amount of energy expenditure.

Fundamentally, professions are energy exchange mechanisms. Employers consume your energy for their strategic purposes in exchange for cash, which you can spend to recharge and maintain a charge in your dependents. That’s it.

Who cares?

Perhaps it is time to reassess what your professional life means to you beyond staying in the game. Because each calorie of energy you spend has a temporal cost. And time is something you cannot buy back no matter how much money you have acquired.

The next best thing is legacy - to have a library or a business school named after you. But that isn’t quite as good as being alive and appreciating life. Either way, the path you take is unlikely to be the path you planned.