#013 – Act Sometimes on Second Thoughts
Act sometimes on second thoughts, sometimes on first impulses. Man’s life is a warfare against the malice of men. Sagacity fights with strategic changes of intention: it never does what it threatens, it aims only at escaping notice. It aims in the air with dexterity and strikes home in an unexpected direction, always seeking to conceal its game. It lets a purpose appear in order to attract the opponent’s attention, but then turns round and conquers by the unexpected. But a penetrating intelligence anticipates this by watchfulness and lurks in ambush. It always understands the opposite of what the opponent wishes it to understand, and recognises every feint of guile. It lets the first impulse pass by and waits for the second or even the third. Sagacity now rises to higher flights on seeing its artifice foreseen, and tries to deceive by truth itself, changes its game in order to change its deceit, and cheats by not cheating, and founds deception on the greatest candour. But the opposing intelligence is on guard with increased watchfulness, and discovers the darkness concealed by the light and deciphers every move, the more subtle because more simple. In this way the guile of the Python combats the far darting rays of Apollo.
When we rush to try our first instinct is often wrong. However, the key is that it is not ALWAYS wrong. We need to learn when to go right away, and when to sit back and observe; then make our move. You have to find the balance of knowing when an opponent is trying to fool you vs when you are over-thinking it. It is much like the great scene in the movie The Princess Bride when Westly and Vizzini are testing each other with the poisoned wine. We often talk ourselves out of the logical choice for fear that the opponent has figured us out. There is a subtle art in the coaching world of learning when to trust your first impulse and when to sit back and obtain more data. It is an art that is always evolving and always requiring practice.
This blog series is based on the book “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” by Balthasar Gracián. This book was written for advice on how to achieve personal and professional success. The goal of this blog series is to visit the points of wisdom and put them in the spotlight of the coaching and education lens.
