How might a planet-friendly fashion emerge? Perhaps by businesses imagining they're playing infinite games, not finite ones

"GREEN" by Julie Nagel, Alex Merk is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

"GREEN" by Julie Nagel, Alex Merk is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Business and commercial enterprise has to be part of the picture of the shift/transition we need to make to net-zero carbon societies.

But it’s hard to imagine them contributing to the solution, if they repress their complicity in covering the world in trash - as a consequence of wasteful over-production and excessive competition. And if we, as consumers, don’t address our own complicity in seeking these thrills.

New metaphors and concepts for business are required. And in these super-fluid times, it’s often amazing which marginal ideas resurface to help us reframe our actions (we’ve noticed this in the re-emergence of anarchist thinking among municipalist and localist advocates).

For example, take this blog from CUSP (Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity), reporting on a seminar on sustainable fashion, and how small businesses can promote it. From the opening paragraph, they’re not lacking in green consciousness:

The fashion industry is considered to be the second most polluting industry in the world. But progress is slow and unsustainable practices are still greatly dominating the industry. So estimated The Guardian earlier this year that Britons spend £2.7bn own more than 50m summer outfits—that will be worn only once! Whereas public concern about climate change reaches record levels and, fast fashion continues to grow amidst consumer outrage of unethical practices.

So what’s to be done, what’s needed for change? Apparently, from this blog, what might help is to dip into the ideas of a New York University theologian, as picked up by a contemporary management guru.

Theologian James Carse’s Infinite and Finite Games: A vision of life as play and possibility has been a cult classic since it came out in 1986. Carse’s summary of the concept behind its title is below:

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, recognize 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.

How might this concept relate to the fashion business, under conditions of environmental limits? What might it mean for their business to be playing an infinite game, rather than a finite one?

The business author Simon Sinek has adapted Carse’s ideas in his new book The Infinite Game, and provides an answer. From an INC interview:

The choice to play with a finite mindset comes with a cost. The cost of trust. The cost of cooperation. The cost of innovation. The cost of longevity. The choice to play with an infinite mindset may mean the growth numbers are a little slower than your friend's down the street. But the goal is not to beat your competition. The goal is to outlast them.

A business that “outlasts” its competitors in the game of business is likely, these days, to be one that respects planetary boundaries, and becomes a place whose work is lastingly valued. Sinek talks here about businesses that

have an infinite mindset: instead of showing up to win, they show up to advance a just cause, something bigger than themselves, a vision of an idealized future so compelling, so just, that people would willingly sacrifice to be there.

Looking at the field of sustainable fashion businesses at their event, the CUSP blogger notes:

The thing that struck me most, was that all small businesses on stage follow what Simon Sinek calls in his latest book The Infinite Game a just cause.

Although the specific causes clearly differed, it was obvious that they motivated them and allowed them to focus their energy on a vision, a purpose and/or a north star, if you like, directing their ambitions. Friction between them though? Not at all.

Instead, another similarity was that their primary ambitions were not driven by money or other extrinsic motivators. In fact, none of the panellists understood growth as a metric (or at least not as the most important metric) for success.

On the contrary, all panellists highlighted the importance of their Just Cause to contribute to transparent and fair production and labour practices, avoiding as much waste as possible, among many other things.

Moreover, the capability to live their creativity and maintain control over the business was mentioned as a key component of business operations, that would seek to avoid ‘ethical fading’—an erosion of the ethical standards in businesses often triggered through growth focused ‘key performance indicators’ (KPIs).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I as part of the audience did not have a single second the impression that they see each other as competitors trying to outdo each other. Instead, a profound respect for each other was noticeable. Something Sinek calls ‘Worthy Rivals’ that allow each other to be inspired, learn from one another and be better. (Note that I use the word better instead of best.)

Simon Sinek expands on “worthy rivals” (from LinkedIn):

[Infinite-minded organizations] also have changed their mindset away from having competitors to having worthy rivals. A competitor is someone we want to beat, whereas a worthy rival is another player in the game who's worthy of comparison. Their strengths reveal to us our weaknesses. These infinite-minded organizations are obsessed with who's actually better than they are, so they can learn more about themselves.

In the original James Carse book, Carse compares an infinite game with a “martial art” (and finite games with win-lose sports like tennis). The graphic below, from the famous Nine visions of capitalism: Unlocking the meanings of wealth creation, by Charles Hampden-Turner and Fons Trompenaars, shows how this distinction might work in business:

Screenshot 2019-11-17 at 22.38.22.png

Here are some of the sustainable fashion businesses mentioned in the CUSP event-blog:

4TH SECTOR, NEW ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS, INGENUITY, YOUTHpat kanefashion, sustainabilityComment