Joseki
I was recently introduced to the concept of Joseki in the game Go. Joseki are well studied sequences of stone placement. That is, for a given pattern there is a generally accepted sequence that the players should take. To be good at Go, you need to study the Joseki.
The way that the concept was described to me is that the Joseki is the tactics, and beyond the tactics players have broader strategy.
I don’t play Go, but the concept resonates with me from other competitive gaming – mostly Magic: The Gathering, and Poker.
To be competitive, you need to learn heuristics, and the tactics to handle common situations. This frees up your cognitive load to address higher level strategy. The true masters (which I never was), could identify when those heuristics break – and on the fly modify them.
Joseki resonates with me beyond gaming. Any endeavor requires both higher level strategy, as well as tactics.
Block & Tackle
In life, cognitive load isn’t usually my limiting factor. Rather, it’s time, and time management. Breaking down tasks into Joseki, and broader strategy seems like an effective way to direct my efforts.
My old boss used to call this blocking and tackling. I don’t know if it’s a sports analogy, or has to do with pulleys – but the concept is similar. Create a strategy for tackling a larger task. Then break it down into pieces that you know how to handle – in this context the joseki – the same type of tasks you’ve iterated on hundreds of times.
In my past life (as an analyst and trader at a hedge fund) this might mean breaking down a company analysis into smaller digestible pieces. What are the fundamentals, what is the valuation, what’s priced in, and what is the leverage to each macro driver?
As someone who makes board games the process is the same, but the inputs are different. Figuring out a marketing strategy can be broken into the joseki, iterating on design can be broken into the joseki, most of what we do can be distilled into bite size tactics that we can learn inside and out.
What gaming lessons have you carried over to your broader life?
