zero-sum game

Meaning

A zero-sum game is a situation in which one participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participants. In business and negotiations, it describes a competitive environment where a win for one side automatically means an equivalent loss for the other, leaving no room for mutual benefit.

Examples

• Market share in a mature industry is often a zero-sum game; to gain customers, you must steal them from competitors.

  Market share in a mature industry is often a zero-sum game; to gain customers, you must steal them from competitors.

• Negotiations shouldn't be a zero-sum game; we should look for win-win solutions.

  Negotiations shouldn't be a zero-sum game; we should look for win-win solutions.

• In a zero-sum game, there is no room for mutual benefit.

  In a zero-sum game, there is no room for mutual benefit.

• Some managers treat budget allocation as a zero-sum game, fighting for resources at the expense of other departments.

  Some managers treat budget allocation as a zero-sum game, fighting for resources at the expense of other departments.

• The trade war became a zero-sum game where both economies suffered in the end.

  The trade war became a zero-sum game where both economies suffered in the end.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ They viewed the negotiation as a zero-sum play.

  ✓ They viewed the negotiation as a zero-sum game.

  The idiomatic expression is fixed as 'zero-sum game'. Do not substitute 'game' with 'play' or 'match'.

• ✗ This is a zero-sum-game situation.

  ✓ This is a zero-sum game.

  Adding 'situation' after 'zero-sum game' is redundant because 'game' already conceptualizes the situation.

Related Expressions

Practice

• International relations do not have to be a ___ where one country's rise requires another's fall.

  💡 A situation where one side's gain is another's loss.

  Show answer

  zero-sum game

• Unlike a ___, joint ventures allow both companies to benefit from shared growth.

  💡 A competitive scenario with a net result of zero.

  Show answer

  zero-sum game