Book Freak 133: Using Randomness as a Strategy
A Game Theorist's Guide to Success in Business and Life
How to tell if you need randomness in strategic decision-making
“An easy way to check whether randomness is needed is to ask whether there is any harm in letting the other player find out your actual choice before he responds. When this would be disadvantageous to you, there is advantage in randomness that keeps the other guessing.”
Look for the larger game
“You may be thinking you are playing one game, but it is only part of a larger game. There is always a larger game.”
Outmaneuvering your opponent with unpredictability
“If you choose a definite course of action, and the enemy discovers what you are going to do, he will adapt his course of action to your maximum disadvantage. You want to surprise the enemy; the surest way to do so is to surprise yourself. You should keep your options open as long as possible, and at the last moment choose between them by an unpredictable and, therefore, espionage-proof device.”
Avoid Predictable Patterns
“Your opponent can observe and exploit any systematic pattern almost as easily as he can exploit an unchanging repetition of a single strategy. It is unpredictability that is important when mixing.”
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