Strategy in your daily life

So how do we use strategy in our everyday life? It should be used whenever you want to achieve something to which there is no obvious answer. While the shortest path between two points is a straight line, it is often not practical or possible to follow it. There are factors and ramifications involved in the different methods and stages of getting from Point A to Point B. Strategy is understanding what is involved, weighing the pros and cons and consciously deciding the best method for you.

As a very basic, practical example:

You are standing on the corner of a busy street (A) and need to get to the bus stop on the corner diagonal from you. The bus that you need is going to turn left at the corner to get to the bus stop. You need to cross 2 streets to get to that bus stop. Do you first cross From A to B or from A to C?

Most people don’t think about it - whichever light turns green first is the road they are going to cross. It is the same distance to the bus stop no matter which way you go, so why bother thinking about it.

However, it actually may make a significant difference to you. Let's say the bus is about to arrive and the light turns green between A and C, in front of the bus. 


You cross the street and are now blocked from getting to the bus by the traffic that is turning left. The bus gets to its stop, picks up passengers and keeps on going while you are still waiting for the light to change to green. You missed the bus!


Let’s look at the other option. You ignore the first light and wait until the light between A and B turns green. You quickly cross the street and then cross the street from B to the bus stop, possibly making it before the bus leaves. You had to run, but you made it!!

There are a few variables here that make a significant difference:

• Are you arriving at the corner at the same time as the bus, or do you have time to spare.
• If the light that the bus is waiting at is only a left turn light, you will be able to cross both streets very quickly.
• If the light turns green for both straight and turning traffic, you may need to wait in any case.
• Another possibility is that the majority of cars turn left at that intersection and even though the light is red crossing the second street, you decide that it is an acceptable risk.

Strategy is a very situation specific calculation. You have to fully know the environment, understand the risks, and make decisions about risk vs reward to successfully plan the execution.