'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Chess is a miniature version of life itself and everything that goes with it.
We have already compared Chess to ancient wars and their styles. It’s time to look at this strategic game in a different perspective – Business – and learn from it. The decisions we take as business leaders and managers greatly reflect those followed in the game of Chess. In fact, business is, in a way, multiplayer chess! Let us look at some parallels between these two worlds.
Pattern identification is the first similarity between the two that comes to mind. Openings, playing in known situations and most end game strategies are all just pattern recognition puzzles. As novice chess players, we try several openings based on hearsay or comfort level, realize that we are good with certain openings and not so good with others. After a while, we settle with one or two options and get stuck in our ways. It would take one player who pushes us with an opening variation we are not aware of to lure us into a trap and beat us. The successful player reinvents himself by preparing for these surprises throughout his career, while trying to make their opponents play the game he wants them to play.
Similarly, companies that reinvent themselves from time to time are able to adapt to the changes in the business environment and last for a hundred years – for example, the journey of IBM. Some businesses are very successful for a short period of time and lose out to new players. Initially, they find an opening they find themselves to be successful with and stick to it. When a new player springs a surprise, they are not able to respond to this new challenge.
The importance of Strategy in business cannot be explained any better than by seeing its use in Chess. Sometimes, we need to retrace our steps. Sometimes, we need to sacrifice a position for a piece (or vice versa). Sometimes, we need to look at the long term goals and let go of short term gains. Sometimes, we need to set traps and lure our opponents into it when their defence is too strong to break down. Sometimes… we have seen that good strategy can be the difference between a good leader and a great leader.
Also important are tactics – the combinations we use to close down the opponents’ threats, the discovered checks and pins that are sprung on them by surprise. There are several examples in Chess where just by moving one knight to a different position, the attacking combinations change entirely. One price change in our product can change the game from what value to add next to how to reduce the cost further. One advertisement can change the way the consumer sees a product – by changing his/her focus to a specific technical quality, for instance. One consumer insight from a market research can change an erstwhile mediocre player into a market leader.
These days though, the most important factor in decision making for managers is Time. Spend too less time taking the decision without understanding many variables – and you can be sure it will lead to more problems than being a solution to your current position. On the other hand, if you spend too much time looking at all the variables involved, you will lose on time and someone else would get the first mover advantage. In chess, as in business, there are so many possibilities and outcomes that can arise out of our decisions. It is quite impossible to check all that, even with processing help from computer applications, as chess software writers have found out for themselves over the years.
The same is true for business. Within the given time, we need to realize what to focus on, and more importantly, what not to focus on. This decision usually comes from experience, while some theoretical frameworks are also used in both Business and Chess. Drawing these parallels from the game to the world of business has helped people in the past. For example, we learn that we shouldn’t obsess over one idea if we can’t see it heading anywhere anytime soon. We need to let that go. Lurking are other dangers that need defending and also in the offing are other attacking opportunities.
Likewise, each strategy and tactic that we employ in Chess tells us something about decision making in general. We would do well to learn from them.
