“This newsletter serves a demographic of highly intelligent readers, and deep thinkers with a passion for ideas, critical thinking, strategic game theory, and a desire to understand the world around them. Readers of my posts are usually tired of being patronized elsewhere by fact-less, opinionated know-nothings, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and fake news.
“Knowledge is power, wisdom brings meaning, contentment, and happiness!”
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On a personal note: Please excuse grammatical errors, typos, repetition, and any general nonsense, and such in this post. I am getting a bit older now, and I have about 20,000 pages of information that must get published before I leave the mortal coil. I simply write and publish more than my humble editors are able to correct. If you find enough errors you are welcome to contact me about being an editor of my work.
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A 3 - Minute Read
Q. Lewis, How did you get started with applied game theory?
A. Actually it was before I even knew applied game theory existed.
Between 1984 and 1989 I created and facilitated a regular Wednesday night Workshop called Make Choices, Not Excuses.
In those days there were many different types of personal development and self-improvement seminars and programs being offered. Most of them were somewhat superficial and designed to simply force people into new types of Behaviors. They were what you might call “psychological boot camps.”
Having an interest in teaching, coaching, and mentoring I was interested in creating something different – a program that was visionary, unique, and transformative for people. This became the workshop I named Make, Not Excuses.
This is how the workshop was structured…
it was limited to 10 people,
we began at 6 pm and went till 10 pm,
people had to commit to coming and prepay (the fee was $20),
if they came even 1 minute late there was a chance they would be denied admission. This was not a strict rule. It was all based on my whim at the time,
There was absolutely no structure to the workshop other than a series of rules and guidelines.
Rules, Guidelines, and Things to Know…
We start at At 6:00 pm. Come in, pull up and chair, and let’s form a silent circle
You can ask questions; positively acknowledge somebody, and can answer or ask a question.
You can not make a statement, or offer your opinion unless it was asked for.
You cannot touch anyone in the room without their permission.
If you have a history of violence or on medication for psychological issues do not take this seminar unless specifically given permission by a licensed mental health professional.
Concerning the rule about not offering opinions? The point here was that there was no benefit to offering your opinion publically unless it was necessary. In addition, I promoted the idea that most people would rather share their opinion than listen to another person’s opinion. Though, how a person feels can be important, in the context of Make Choices, Not Excuses the theme was that most people don’t really care about how you feel, and if they do care, they care about their own feelings more.
The Process
By 6:05 pm the silence in the room would make people uncomfortable and somebody would usually start things off by asking some question.
At each short “seminar” a person would volunteer to be a gatekeeper for the rules. That meant if a person offered a statement, opinion, or comments about how they felt, and they had not been asked, the gatekeeper would interrupt and stop them.
This process produced many interesting interactions. Plenty of Socratic dialogue, with attendees, asking how they came up with a certain answer to a certain question, These folks wanted evidence to back up or support the answer they had offered?
Sometimes a person would give their opinion and attempt to bypass the gatekeeper. Then I might need to enter the conversation. I would generally and aggressively go after this opinion-addicted “outlaw”. Invariably someone in the group would defend that person, and attack me verbally, calling me a bully and telling me to leave that person alone. I respond with “okay, give me $1 and I'll leave that guy alone.” Of course, the person would respond “I'm not giving you a $1 to leave that guy alone.” The I would look at the opinion addict, smile, and gently say “that person values your opinion so little that he won't even give me $1 to leave you alone.”
Ultimately though they had agreed to the rules and guidelines of the seminar, people had major emotional breakthroughs about how they felt; how they needed approval; about how attached they were to their own opinions, cognitive biases, and their world view. Many lives were positively transformed through the seminar.
As the facilitator for the seminar, there were little tricks and games I might insert into the process.
For instance, if I knew a person had a question they wanted answered, I might decide to answer that question a minute before closing time (9:00 pm). The old-timers usually laughed at this (they knew what was coming). Newer folks might moan at this.
Though the workshop was designed to end at 9:00 pm the person who needed a question answered might have to decide if they wanted to stay and get the answer (and possibly be late for some appointment they had agreed to) or keep the appointment. I did this intentionally to put people in a position to think in terms of what they wanted versus their needs. It also dealt with issues of ethics, boundaries, and agreements we make with ourselves and others.
Sometimes the seminar might go on till 2 or 3 am with short breaks for people to order Chinese Take-out and such.
Occasionally if a person would leave the room to go to the bathroom, when they returned I might say “…and here is essential point #3”. If they were a regular they would get the joke, but if new they would be concerned that they missed important points #1 and #2.” This of course is a reflection of life. “If you snooze, you lose.”
To this day the hundred or so people over the five years who attended that seminar say it was the most transformational event they had ever experienced in their lives as it was for me. We even got a small write-up in Crain's NY Business Magazine.
As they say, "those were the days". Eventually, I moved on to other things. I don't know that I have the emotional need or the hunger to facilitate a seminar like that again. Still, as I look back at my life as a professional mentor and coach in game theory strategies, I believe the Make Choices, Not Excuses seminar is where it all began.
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The Author: Hello, My name is Lewis Harrison and I am a mentor, success coach, and strategist.
I created a Life Strategies Playbook and Mentoring Method. I use this system to move individuals and organizations to the next level. Applied game theory (which has won numerous Nobel Prizes) has been the basis of all my great successes in life (best-selling author, NPR Host, a great marriage, financial success, great friendships, etc.). Please reach out to me. I want to help you transcend your challenges by helping you to get clear on your intention, and your desired outcome by increasing effectiveness, efficiency, precision, productivity, accuracy, and self-awareness. Send me an email at LewisCoaches@gmail.com and let’s start a conversation…I also have a self-improvement group on Facebook. Please join us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/455029215769173/about/
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Learn more about game theory by clicking on the article below …
Here is a short video interview with Lewis Harrison the author of this article about the basics of applied game theory. The interviewer is Jim Selman, one of the most influential American Leadership Gurus of the last half-century.
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Lewis
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