The matrixial transformation

A game is something that is meant to be enjoyed. However if mathematicians have their way, as they have been having for the past several decades- they attach the word " theory " to this expressein of joy and convert it into something wholly more frightening in most cases - a myriad world of probabilities,rules, action sets and equilibriums.

Of all these complex ( and in my case often unfathomable) concepts , there is one that makes a little more sense to normal mango people ( aam aadmi ) - RULES. We have heard the word from lowly class monitors to the dean of the institute - but always in the same context - "follow the rules or else....."

So let me try to build the idea of a matrix- an enclosed physical/ virtual space that has only one rule - " Bend the rules as they fit you " . This was how Neo survived the agents in the movie...and this is how business meets game theory in a resounding clash of possibilities.

The presence of players in the matrix ( it may be anything- from a cricket field to a forest)- characterises the kind of happenings in that matrix. Each player is free to choose the kind of outcomes that they want to a particular sequence of events - in the sense that everyone will want the best things to happen to them ( thats a no-brainer).

But the beauty of the matrix is that the ultimate rule that governs a particular aspect of the game is determined by the interaction among all these individual choices, according to the proportion of agreement- so no one is really sure of what is going to happen until the set of actions and their sequences unfold. So the rules of the game have changed from being static to being dynamic- and that too determined discretely for each set of players.

Then ,the process of evolution starts- the player who learns and adapts at the fastest rate to this dynamic rule game will be able to control the matrix at the point where his/ her expectation of the outcome of his actions achieves a certain level of certainity. Other players will not be able to follow because they do not have the same understanding level to affect the matrix in a similar, significant way. Once the lead player bends the rules then again the interaction effect comes into play- so the evolution is different and another player might emerge victorious. So a la the movie- it is possible to make bullets take a curvilinear path or humans fly across buildings if only you know which laws to bend keeping in mind the objective of this transformation.

This is what might happen in the business world also - respond to your competitors in the way that they least or dont expect - thus you can negate first movers' advantage , core competency and resource command and what not . As they said in the innovative way to catch a lion -

" How to catch a lion ? Let the lion catch you. Newton's 3rd law- every action has equal and opposite reaction - implies you caught the lion "

----- Something that you dont expect--- change is the name of the game