I’ve been playing  a lot of Risk this week. Admittedly, it’s the computer version, not the actual board game, but it accomplishes the same thing. The beauty of Risk is that it forces you to make choices, or you can’t succeed. There are a lot of other great lessons in it, too.

Here are 19 vital lessons from playing Risk that apply to your business strategy:

1. Focus your efforts.
2. Have a plan, and stick to it.
3. Be flexible enough to react to new opportunities.
4. When the new opportunities are more promising than your plan, at least consider changing plans. If not, take on only the opportunities that fit into your plan, and either neautralize or ignore the others, and be content that others might benefit from them.
5. Don’t spread yourself too thin.
6. Protect your borders.
7. Monopolize whenever possible, even if it’s just a small niche (continent).
8. Be patient, and know when to end your turn.
9. How you deploy your troops at the beginning of the game has a massive influence on the rest of the game and the choices you can make.
10. Having pity on a weak competitor is not smart, and can sometimes be deadly.
11. Do not stick your head in the sand as a strong competitor gets stronger in a far off place. You will eventually have to face them.
12. Focus your efforts.
13. Play often.
14. Know when to defend, and when to attack.
15. Know when to take advice, and when to ignore it (cuz someone’s who’s not playing and doesn’t have anything on the line is ALWAYS willing to tell you how to do things better).
16. Focus your efforts.
17. Allow sacrifices for the greater good – it’s mandatory.
18. Don’t play too many games in a row; give your brain a rest.
19. Focus your efforts.

Similar Posts on Brett’s Blog:

•  What’s Your Oboe?
• Organically Grown Business

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