I often categorize games into the buckets of winning and losing games. Some games are both winning and losing games simultaneously, depending on your skill level. An example of this is the difference between amateur and pro tennis. When playing amateur tennis, you are usually playing a losing game. That is to mean, don't lose, and you will win! Most games of amateur tennis are decided by the player who has the least un forced errors. You will win the game by making fewer mistakes than your opponent.
The pros, on the other hand, is a much different story. When you watch two pro tennis players face off, they tend to make very few mistakes. This then becomes a winning game where you have to take an action to acheive victory instead of just try to minimize your mistakes.
Using imperative style configuration management tools like Ansible and docker are ultimately losing games.