Musings at Altitude

My daughter and I went to a very popular country restaurant for breakfast this morning, and she immediately picked up the table game that they provide and started playing:

Every hole on the game board is filled with a tee, with the exception of one.  The goal is to jump tees, one at a time, and end up with the final jump leaving just one tee in a hole.

Unfortunately, my daughter plays the game very much like I do – moving the tees without much thinking and definitely not considering two or three moves beyond that current jump.

With our very tactical approach to the game, ignoring any possible strategy that might exist, the best we typically do is 3 remaining tees; every now and then two; and only on that rare occasion of incredible luck just one tee left.

Some people find it very easy to think about those next moves, and the next after that, and then even another after that.  Those people live for strategy, and I bet they love the “strategy games” that have become so popular to so many today.

But many of us enjoy being in the now, focusing intently on the move we’re making now and then waiting to see the consequence after the move before deciding what to do next.

As business and life get so much more complicated, living in the now becomes very high risk.  Some will get very lucky and the choices they make and the steps they take lead them to something magnificent.  But those many others that focus only on this current move will be greatly disappointed later in life when they realize that they still have several tees on the board and no moves left to make.

Hail to those who naturally think strategically today.

We need you desperately.