Wednesday, May 21, 2008

[thought for the day] wednesday evening


Once saw a highly entertaining table tennis final between an attacking and a defensive player. In the end, the defensive player won, through superior technique.

How many times have you gone with playing it safe - safety first, prudence, responsibility, maturity, increments, step by step, measured response? How many times have you gone with a more cavalier approach, hoping to win the day through elan, chutzpah, roguishness, style, aggression, pressure, lateral thinking and sharp reflexes?

He who hesitates is lost. Look before you leap. If you had to choose between the approaches, which would it be?

14 comments:

  1. A mixture of both is probably best but I do believe that "He who hesitates is lost".

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  2. Oh no welshcakes....im lost. I am a hesitator cautious to the very end and very indecisive.
    Would love to have a bit more get up and go in me but i cant help just waiting till i can almost be sure of things.

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  3. My initial thought is the same as welshcakes limoncello.

    Then I thought should I make it more complicated to answer.

    Mulling it over.

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  4. Cautious wins. I knew an international fencer who explained that an C18th swordsman would spend half an hour in parrying, waiting for the moment to make his lethal thrust. No hesitation at that point - but no hurry to get killed either.

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  5. I prefer to wander round in circles scratching my head....

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  6. I am the former but sometimes long to be the latter. Sometimes it is forced upon one and I have managed to scrabble through somehow, as you will too.

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  7. Don't think there's any hard and fast answer and I see the various sides of the question but maybe it's better to go ahead than not, in the end.

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  8. I am definitely 80 percent in the latter department. There is an element of caution that is around however. My feeling is that the way the world is going, more and more people will fit into the steady as she goes cautious model.

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  9. Ironic, I am usually a defensive pool player, but over the past couple of weeks, I have played some great defensive players so I played offensively.

    I'm 19-2 in my recent string (offensive) and 2-1 when I've played the major defensive role.

    [I usually played defensively in table tennis too :)]

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  10. You have to watch someone play and basically figure out if they play good defense or great defense.

    If they play simply good defense, I will stay defensive then run out at the end. If they play great, I will try to run from the start.

    Doesn't always work, but the purely offensive players lose to me faster than the average defensive one.

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  11. As I understand it, the SAS are successful because they do very dangerous things in the safest possible way. Victory is in planning and preparation. The training and contingency planning allow you to change your tactics. Hotheads don't pass Selection.

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  12. I go with the cautious approach, but I am always stepping up to and over that line and exploring new boundaries!

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