Food For Thought: What Game Board Are You Operating From?

(updated on 07.01.17)

Most competitive people who usually assess their situation, almost always do not know what is the configuration of their situation (gameboard) that they are operating from.  

Is it from a western chess board perspective?  

Or is it from a poker game table perspective?

Better yet, is it from a go (weiqi) gameboard perspective?

Before you decide on your tactical approach, assess the configuration of your strategic terrain in terms of pathways, possible resources-decaying scenarios, possible time-delay scenarios and possible incline-based scenarios.

Playing From the Chessboard
Are you a knight on a chess board who is being pushed to the middle of the board to solve the problems of the employer?   Jumping from one position to another while avoiding the obstacles is your daily modis operandi.
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Or are you an isolated pawn who pushes yourself forward with some minor support from someone in the back ranks?   

Do you offer advice like a bishop?  If so, does the boss listens to you?  

Or, do you offer technical insights like a rook while protecting the boss from external chaos?

Playing From the Poker Table 
In some tactical scenario, do you know when to start the game with an conservative "open"?  Better yet, do you know when to check and raise?  

Conclusively, it is all about knowing when to hold them.  Knowing when to fold them.   Knowing when to walk away. Knowing when to run.

Playing From the Go Game Board
If it is a long and sequential scenario, are you able to play one position while being mindful of the other relevant positions that connects to it?

Summary
One must know what is the configuration of the situation (game board) that he is playing on before deciding on the tactical approach.

More to Come
   

Another Interesting Translation of Sunzi's Art of War

If you are a project manager, this book offers an interesting perspective in managing complex projects through the principles of  Sunzi.   It uses the Lionel Giles translation.

Read and enjoy.  ...  Whenever there is time, we will review this book. 

I Have Been Busy. Gone Fishing.

Going fishing is easy.  Deciding on the type of fish is the challenge.

The Questions of the Day: 36 Strategies Vs. 100 Unorthodox Strategies

The members of the Art of War cult should know the answers for these following questions:

• What are the circumstances for using 36 Stratagems?
• What are the circumstances for using unorthodox strategies?

Thinking Unorthodox in Strategic Competition

Following is a abridged listing of our favorite books on this topic 

• The Tao of Spycraft;
• 100 Unorthodox Strategies;
• Tao of Deception; and 
• Li Quan's Crux of Strategy

More to come.  ... 

Strategizing Beyond One's Gameboard: The Near Fall of Billy Walters

Updated at 06.09.2015

In the strategy game, we have always been interested in how certain strategists climb the ladder of success.

Billy Walters  
Click here and here on the general profile of Billy Walters. 

Analysis
To the sideline speculator, it was an act of "easy to over reach." 

This gentleman unconsciously went with his instinct. As most gamblers do, he has always lived on being one move ahead. ... Most strategies fail when the amateurs do not know how to anticipate the counter move by the other side. They usually get lucky against average competition who can't think 1/2 move ahead.

This gambler got "hot and ambitious."  Then he decided to play a different game that required a quite "different" perspective.

Click here and click here on what lead to his downfall.  

Mr. Walters choice of tactics were questionable at best. 

Lesson

Professional strategic achievement begins by understanding the strategic configuration of the situation and the tactics that are used by the competitors of the game board.  The choice of tactics establishes the gist of the strategic implementer's mindset.

An Interesting Translation of Sunzi's Art of War

Source: Original Art of War
(updated at 060617)

This book presents superb clarity in its translation and its commentary.  ... We  cheerfully recommended it to those who are interested in a word by word translation. 

You can secure a copy at your favorite internet book store or your local book shop.

Click here if you are interested in another perspective of Sunzi's essay.

Miscellaneous Notes: A Pragmatic Strategic View For Those Who Are Operating One Move At a Time

For those who live day by day, lacking emotional intelligence and operating on emotional instinct.  Read the following 12 pointers 

1. We admitted we were powerless over _____ – that our situation had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a something greater than ourselves could restore us to ______ .
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of that power as we understood Him/her/it.
4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of our situation.
5. Admitted to ___ , to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of _____.
6. Were entirely ready to have something remove all these defects in our situation.
7. Humbly asked for methods to remove our shortcomings
8. Made a list of persons/situations where we had screwed the pooch, and became willing to amend them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it (and amended the situation).
11. Sought through reflection to improve our conscious contact with ____ as we understood ___, looking only for knowledge and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had an awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to continue practice these principles in all our affairs.

A Pragmatic Approach for Developing a Strategic Approach 
For each strategic step, there are many tactical means to complete that specific step. There are different levels of success/effectiveness for different people.  What works for one person, might not work for another.

Without tactics (the methods to implement the strategy), the neophytes are retired.  This is the same for tacticians who operate without a framework.

Side Note
Click here for an interesting Harvard Business Review article. The topic is on  the basics of executing a strategy.