I’ve been working my way through Tony Hsieh’s “Delivering Happiness” and happened upon an awesome analogy that I really like. He talks about learning to play poker and how as you learn you can’t help but see parallels between poker and being an entrepreneur (something I’ve found as well). One of the lessons he took from poker and applied to life is that in poker one of the most important factors that determines how much money you make is the table where you choose to play.
The beauty of poker, and the reason it’s beatable while other casino games are not, is that you’re playing against other players instead of against the house. Every time a player at your table makes a mistake in a hand, the other players in the hand who play more optimally make money. It stands to reason then that if you want to make the most money possible, you should not only play well, but you should play at a table filled with the worst possible players (affectionately known as “donks”).
That’s a good idea in theory, but in reality it’s easy to get stuck at a bad table. It takes some time to settle in and figure out the table dynamics, and as the bad players go bust and good players take their spots, it’s really convenient to just stick around so you don’t have to rack up your chips and start the process over again at another table. It’s the easy thing to do, but it’s also one of the worst things you can do if you’re serious about making money.
The same thing happens in life all the time. It’s incredibly easy to get stuck in situations that aren’t optimal for us out of laziness or fear or stubbornness. The secret is remembering we can always change tables, as Tony discovered:
I’d realized that whether in poker, in business, or in life, it was easy to get caught up and engrossed in what I was currently doing, and that made it easy to forget that I always had the option to change tables. Psychologically, it’s hard because of all the inertia to overcome. Without conscious and deliberate efforts, inertia always wins.
Spot on. Be sure to check out Tony’s book when you have a chance. It’s an easy read and packed full of practical wisdom.