Always Have a Plan

Abstract

When playing chess, a good player will always have a short-term plan. Spend two or three moves trapping that knight. Pressure the opponent’s rook to force a retreat. Explore that opportunity for a checkmate. Of course, the plan may have to be revised as your opponent reacts. But the important thing is to always have a plan in mind to try. It’s okay if your plan is merely a vague direction rather than a step-by-step roadmap. Even stalling until your opponent gets impatient is sometimes an acceptable plan. But just don’t move pieces around randomly hoping to stumble across something great. That’s a surefire recipe for disaster.

“Ever notice that the software business is the only other industry that refers to its customers as ‘users’?” —Mark Minasi