Strategy

A frequently changed strategy is the same as no strategy. Change can be essential, but it should only be made with careful consideration and just cause. Losing can persuade you to change what doesn't need to be changed and winning can convince you everything is fine even if you are on the brink of diseaster. If you are quick to blame faulty strategy and change it all the time, you really don't have any strategy at all. Only when the environment shifts radically should you consider a change in fundamentals. We must walk a fine line between flexibility and consistency. A strategist must have faith in his strategy and the courage to follow it through and still be open-minded enough to realize when a change of course is required. Changes must be considered carefully, and when they come they must be made decisively. Success is seldom analysed as closely as failure and we are always quick to attribute our victories to superiority, rather than circumstance. When things are going well it is even more important to question. Over-confidence leads to mistakes, a feeling that anything is good enough. ~ Gary Kasporav (How Life Imitates Chess)

How Life Imitates Chess - Insights into Life as a Game of Strategy (by Gary Kasparov)

Better decision-making cannot be taught, but it can be self-taught. Such decisive moments are turning points - every time we select a fork in these moments and in turn they define our lives. We learn who we are and what truly matters to us. The "secret" then is to pursue these challenges instead of avoiding them. This is the only way to discover and to exploit all our gifts. Developing our own personal blueprint allows us to make better decisions, to have the confidence to trust our instincts, and to know that no matter what the result, we will come out stronger. That, for each of us, is our unique secret of success. ~ Gary Kasparov, How Life Imitates Chess (Insights into life as a game of strategy)

Strategy and Tactics

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." ~ Sun Tze

"Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do; strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do" ~ Savielly Grigoryevich Tartakower

"If strategy represents the ends, tactics are the means. Once we have a clear set of goals and intermediate objectives, we can measure potential tactics and combinations against them. The more we do this the easier it becomes; our strategic goals become incorporated into our tactical thinking. Our reactions will be faster and at the same time more accurate, and speed is always of the essence." ~ Gary Kasporav