MASTER TEACHES TWO GEISHA THE GAME OF "GO" -- Relaxing with a Board Game in Old Japan from Okinawa Soba on Flickr
Terry has me obsessed with Go, a 2,500-year-old board game that originated in China, was popularized by Japan, and is now dominated on the professional circuit by Korea.
Go seems simple. Like checkers, black and white stones are played alternately by two players. But a 19×19 board offers a seemingly infinite array of possible outcomes – 361 moves to be exact – making the game many times more complex than chess. Years of research only recently produced a computer program intelligent enough to challenge a professional (a feat accomplished in the chess world in 1981).
As I struggle to grasp the inner workings of the game, I find that winning at Go is a lot like winning in business. A handful of key strategies lead to success:
- Set up a strong foundation. Go is about gaining territory of the board, but when you play your first stone it feels like dropping a tiny soldier into an empty war zone. The key to setting up a proper foundation is to strategically build territory at a number of areas on the board, planting the seeds for a strong attack against your opponent. In the same way, any intelligent business strategy involves foundational work, whether it’s market research, R&D or simply hiring the right people for the job.
- Take your time. Official time limits for Go were implemented in the 1920s. Timing was controversial because Go is not a match of speed, but of intellect. Professional games take two hours, with free-play games lasting much longer. Taking that time to calculate your next move may clinch the game. We all live in a helter-skelter, needed-it-yesterday mentality, but hasty decisions can spell disaster for a business too. It’s not a crime to slow down and really think things through.
- Prepare for all outcomes. Part of the beauty (and difficulty) of Go is that there are so many potential moves. You must be ready for attacks on all sides of the board or you’ll get fleeced by your opposition. What will you do if they attack you here? If you move there, will it leave you open to losing territory in another area? Having a plan A, B or C isn’t enough. Get to plan D and now you’re playing a mean game of Go (and business!).
- Read your competitor’s next move and beat them to it. Even better than preparing for all outcomes is to read the best next move for your opponent – and play there. In Go, this is an actual tactic known as reading. Put yourself in her shoes and imagine the next move she’s dying to make. Then make it for her. In business I believe they call this outpacing the competition.
- Enjoy the thrill of the game. Go is hard, but it’s fun! Don’t take it too seriously. There’s an intrinsic pleasure in sweating out the ins and outs of a challenging battle of wits on the board. We’d probably savor our day-to-day work a little more if we realized the playful nature of the business.
A lesson in go from -Kj. on Flickr
Have I convinced you to try Go yet? Here are some resources I recommend:
- [Book] Learn to Play Go: A Master’s Guide to the Ultimate Game
- [Manga] Hikaru No Go
- [iPhone app] SmartGo