Digital business and life lessons from the game of pool

I turned 60 recently. Me and many people I know are pursuing mid-life crisis projects. For those of us who don’t find a Lamborghini to be the solution (for financial or other reasons), we are (re)taking up hobbies. I know people taking electric guitar, drum and golf lessons. I personally have always loved the game of 8-ball pool, and finally decided to get some lessons. From a European Champion, no less. I have always loved the idea that lessons we learn in one domain, if appropriately generalized, can be applicable in every domain of work and life. This is epitomized in the life of Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, who, after a lifetime of winning duels, retreated to the mountains, and taught himself poetry, calligraphy, painting and other disciplines. In “The Book of Five Rings” he calls this “All things with no teacher”. So, here are a few lessons I have learned in pool that I feel are applicable elsewhere: 1. Keep your eye on both the cue (white) ball and the object ball. If you focus too much on the object ball, you might miscue. Too much on the cue ball, and you will miss your shot. For me this is analogous to focusing on both supply side and demand side of new technologies – what it can do/ how it works, and how it can change your business. I am a bit tired of the “It’s not about the technology, it’s about the people/ process/ culture/ business outcomes” rhetoric. No – it is about both, and specifically the interaction between the two. 2. Choose the shot which requires the least skill to succeed. (I have a tendency to choose the fancy, complex shot which requires perfect angle, speed, spin and cushion bounces.) 3. Choose the shot which you can get most wrong and still come out in a good position. (A specific angle on risk mitigation, which my pool teacher calls ‘ maximizing the rolls of happiness’.) 4. Think about the position you will be left in for your next shot (strategy), but then focus hard on succeeding with the current shot (execution). That’s all for now. Happy cuing. #unask #unthink #unlearn