4 D Chess

Perhaps that super-genius is playing a very well-thought-out long game, anticipating every countermove with plenty of resources and alternatives at hand.

It might be the local business you’re competing with, the publisher you hope to work with or the general of the opposing army.

It’s easy to imagine that they have a view of the competitive landscape that escapes ordinary humans.

But it’s far more likely that they’re simply winging it.

In the early stages of a campaign, winging it is a form of poking the box. A chance to try new approaches to see how the system responds.

But if we confuse a policy of winging it with a long-term strategy of well-planned, strategic 4-D chess, it’s not going to end well. Because winging it doesn’t stay resilient at scale.