Prisoner of Logic:  Have you ever played chess with a beginner, and unexpectedly lost? Chess is about choosing a series of tactics that will win the game. Experience and expertise is essential to selecting and implementing those winning tactics. However, sometimes instinct and commitment can be just as successful.

The novice chess player plays without fear, because he doesn’t know better. He will take risks and try new things. He is not aware of the unwritten rules learned only after years of competition and practice. In most situations, the novice will lose, but only after you’ve had to change your game to counter your opponent. Sometimes the testing of conventional wisdom by unconventional methods exposes opportunities that were just out of sight.

Knute Rockne, the legendary football coach from the University of Notre Dame, employed a then rare tactic of the forward pass to defeat the national champions from West Point. Sonny Liston vs. Cassius Clay, Thomas E. Dewey vs. Harry Truman, even the British Empire vs. thirteen squabbling colonies in the Americas were all successful because they didn’t know what they didn’t know. Each victor succeeded because they were highly motivated and unencumbered by historical patterns.

Whether you compete at chess, tennis, sales, manufacturing or communication, remember that expertise is only valuable when it is challenged to grow and evolve.

Essex Two has helped its clients become and remain successful by continuously challenging conventional wisdom and reaffirming the effectiveness of its messages with its audiences. Our communication audit and evaluation process permits our clients to anticipate change and prepare for each new opportunity.

Our website has case studies that demonstrate how our process can produce significant results for our clients and their customers.

Worth your time:  Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi. This book of martial arts tactics and practices was written in 1645 by a master Japanese swordsman, successful in over 60 combats. But the real value of the book today is when its philosophy is applied to business. Musashi’s wisdom and experience seen through a 21st century lens can make clear the decision making process, the identification of goals and the methods for achieving them as well as the ability to recognize success and satisfaction in all of its forms.