--- title: "Struggle, lifestyle or performance" description: "Three games a team can play, which determine how you apply the method and who you hire." canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/oversubscribed/struggle-lifestyle-or-performance/ updated: 2026-11-03 --- # Struggle, lifestyle or performance > Three games a team can play, which determine how you apply the method and who you hire. Daniel Priestley's framework, from Oversubscribed, pp. 202 to 204. Framework 18 of 21 from [Oversubscribed](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/oversubscribed/index.md) by Daniel Priestley. Category: Hiring and teams. ## The steps 1. **Struggle game.** Stuck in fear and old processes, doing everything alone; recognise it and stop repeating what fails. 2. **Lifestyle game.** Small team of three to 12, three to four work days a week, two to four campaigns a year, fun, freedom and flexibility. 3. **High-performance game.** 50+ hours a week, 50+ people, 50+ cities, use campaigns to fill capacity, raise it and raise funding. ## Where it comes from From chapter: STRUGGLE, LIFESTYLE OR PERFORMANCE?, pp. 202–204 Three types of team will emerge as the wave hits: struggle, lifestyle and high performance. Struggle teams cling to the past, work alone and stay busy rather than productive. Lifestyle teams of typically three to 12 people maximise fun, freedom and flexibility with three or four work days a week and run two to four campaigns a year. High performers work 50+ hours a week, build teams of 50+ in 50+ cities for a bold mission. Not every business or person suits performance, and the aim is to be oversubscribed, not necessarily big. ## The animation 24 seconds, 4:5, no sound. - MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/oversubscribed/struggle-lifestyle-or-performance.mp4 - MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/oversubscribed/struggle-lifestyle-or-performance-dark.mp4 - Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/oversubscribed/struggle-lifestyle-or-performance.png - Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/oversubscribed/struggle-lifestyle-or-performance-dark.png