The Wisdom of Knowing Yourself

Poker player’s useful insight

by Jak Carroll, Strategic Sport Solutions

“𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦; 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮.”

— 𝘓𝘢𝘰 𝘛𝘻𝘶

In "The Biggest Bluff” Maria Konnikova talks about her journey from absolute novice to poker professional.

She starts by getting advice from experts, learning the value of various hands, and generally immersing herself in poker.

But, as anyone who plays poker will tell, mastering the technical aspects is the easy part. A much harder part is understanding the other players and working out what they are plotting.

So she spent time with “beyond tells” guru Blake Eastman learning about how people’s behaviour can communicate useful messages about their cards (as an interesting aside, she learned that you can tell more about an opponent’s state of mind from their hand movements than you can from facial expressions).

By this stage, she had the technical skills, industry knowledge and an understanding of her competitors.

But she was still missing a vital ingredient for success.

She didn’t understand her own strengths and weaknesses: “I’ve been so busy reading others that I missed the step of stopping to read myself,” she states.

When planning, organisations can do a similar thing. They sometimes make unrealistic or perfunctory assessments of their own abilities.

However, as Maria found, taking the time for critical self-analysis can pay off in the long run.

Does your organisation need some help with planning or governance? Jak Carroll has extensive experience in the sport industry including consulting to organisations and conducting training sessions. If you are interested in some quick advice or having Jak work with you on your next project, please click here.