Leading Thought: With so much of our lives pre-programmed, perhaps it’s time to introduce some creativity in our personal interactions.
The human brain loves patterns - it craves them. Through millennia of having to survive in an unpredictable wild where the slightest error in assumed safety could mean the difference between life and death, our brains have been trained to extrapolate from extremely limited amounts of information. Our brains are so keen on establishing patterns from the world around us it will form them where, in actuality, none exist. The same is true in our interactions with others. Most people operate from a seemingly pre-programed script when it comes to many interactions such as introductions, “small talk,” complements, and good-byes. This routine extends to the business world where (allowing for cultural variances) most interactions have been boiled down to a script - many companies’ customer service departments do this on purpose!
While a precise definition is hard to come by, opening theory in chess generally refers to a predetermined set of starting moves taken by a player to begin the game. The practice is so widely viewed as being an effective way to establish an advantageous initial position while also providing a gauge for your opponent’s strategy that it shows up in other fields such as warfare and sports. Enter Magnus Carlsen, chess Grandmaster and current World Chess Champion, who has become known for intentionally playing opening sequences with technical inaccuracies to throw off his opponents. Many who have analyzed him attribute this strategy to Carlsen’s desire to move his opponent past the comfort of opening theory and force them to rely on their skill and training in the open field of the middle game. Throughout this phase of play, when the fog of war is thickest, he can often pick his opponents apart piece by piece - never allowing the other player to establish a familiar offensive or defensive strategy.
However, Carlsen’s approach is far from new or novel. Sun Tzu introduced a similar concept in his 5th century BC military treatise, The Art of War, by stating: “Thus the highest form of generalship is to thwart the enemy's plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces.” The goal remains the same - break the comfortable pattern, make your adversary proceed from an uncomfortable position, and use that discomfort to promote your advantage. This technique doesn’t have to be applied in strictly bellicose terms though. In social settings, this tactic can be employed to establish your uniqueness in an otherwise similar crowd, or to provide an air of excitement to a normally dull interaction. In either setting, perhaps it's time more people willingly experiment in their interactions rather than mindlessly succumb to the siren call of routine.
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