Engagement is not something you do and it's done. It's continuous.
Life offers two different types of games, says James P. Carse in his book Finite and Infinite Games.
One is a "finite" game, which is structured by "boundaries," or rules. There is a beginning and ending, and the goal of this type of game is to win. In "infinite" games, "horizons" are what control the player. By nature, they are not fixed and always changing. The purpose of infinite games is to continue playing and allow more players to enter the game.
Likewise, engagement is not a finite game.
It’s not a matter of winning or losing. Instead, engagement is a game that requires constant renewal. True engagement is a matter of making sure that we are constantly placing ourselves in situations where engagement can happen, as opposed to simply working in places that make our bodies sick and make us abandon our higher purpose.
For the last 150 years, the way we hire, fire, buy, and sell – business as usual – has been based on the workings of the brain in the head, rather than taking into account our heart and gut brains, which add depth and moral standards to our thinking. This has led to a culture where most people are disengaged at work, and unhappy with where they are in life. They seek purpose.
We’ve accepted the idea that people are nothing more than rational actors. This current thinking neglects the ways the brains in the heart and gut shape us as people. We’ve accepted narrow ways of looking at the body, even when science is painting a different picture.
