Are You Playing to Play, or Playing to Win?

Malone, the example of a non-scrub, is almost flawless — someone who understood how business works and played it the right way, not the way it should be. As a result of the 'monopoly' in cash flows, where operators did not have to worry about competition, he was among the first to use EBITDA as a financial metric. Malone stubbornly refused to upgra... See more

Lesley (the author's friend) used to think Judo was only worth playing if it was a 'Japanese' style of Judo - upright, dynamic, and graceful. The Japanese style could not have helped her win. As a coach, she has had to remind herself that the goal for her team is to win rather than to set unnecessary high standards.

It is well known that despite his handicap, Shohei Ono consistently wins despite playing a more challenging game with more constraints than his competitors. This is why he won his second Olympic gold medal in the Tokyo 73kg category despite his handicap. Even though one-handed backhands are notoriously more complex than two-handed backhands, Federe... See more

David Sirlin explains: In gaming, a scrub is someone who isn't playing to win. A scrub would disagree with this statement, saying they are only trying hard within a construct of fictitious rules that prevent them from ever competing. The scrub mentality is to be shackled by self-imposed handicaps that prevent one from becoming good at a game.