BAAG – Business-as-a-Game: Background and Origins 

I have been outlining the Business-as-a-Game (BAAG) framework for over five years, but the timing was not right back then. Game theory was developed in 1944, yet its application in business frameworks has been limited.

Many business leaders intuitively sense that business is a game, but it has not been formally included in management thinking, because traditional business logic still assumes markets as the central focus. Moreover, the idea of "business as a game" has often been considered too light, a risk to business credibility – it failed to gain traction.

At the same time, ecosystems began to be built, but it has become clear that an ecosystem alone does not automatically lead to business success. It is only a starting point.

The World Has Changed – Timing Is Different

Today, companies that think of business at the game level rather than through products and markets can build the next S-curve before the old one declines, gaining a significant advantage in a fast-changing environment.

Business has always been social and competitive, with rules and boundaries varying across different systems.

Traditional Business Thinking and Its Limits

Traditional models are based on economic theories and market frameworks. They created a clear way to structure products, services, competitors, and market shares. This logic worked well when changes were slow, predictable, and straightforward.

However, today's market logic no longer captures reality's speed and dynamics. Competition no longer occurs solely through products and services in markets—it begins much earlier, in the game space, in people's roles, and in system interactions.

The slowness of market-focused thinking has become a bottleneck for business development. Traditional business models emphasize structure, not dynamics. Markets are no longer stable "fields", but continuously changing spaces, and competition is no longer a zero-sum game with clearly defined rules.

The New Reality

Product- and market-focused thinking limits attention to people, systems, and real dynamics. Value creation increasingly happens outside the game space, even before a market exists.

Success today depends on the ability to break free from old mental models. The new reality demands a new way to understand what business is and how value is created – and BAAG provides this new perspective.

Still doubtful of this new thinking? → See objections and responses