How to escape zugzwang
For the last week or so I have been thinking about the term zugzwang. Have you ever heard that word before? Zugzwang is created when you put someone in a situation where they are forced to move even though any movement would weaken their position. Isn’t that a beautiful idea? In our hyper-competitive society it seems foreign to use a strategy like that, whether it is in sports, business, politics, or even our relationships. Instead of praising the silent winners, the people who get the attention are the ones who defeat their opponents as graphically as possible. It is refreshing to think of someone with so much skill that they win by simply forcing their opponent to make a move – any move.
The thing that appeals to me about zugzwang is the idea that you can be in a situation where doing nothing is better than doing something. How un-American is that? Could it be possible that we are in constant self-imposed zugzwang? How long could you sit at your desk in silent contemplation without actually producing something? Deep thought might be what we really need, but instead we surround ourselves with devices that ping us constantly. This puts us in a constant state of motion and it kind of feels like we are doing something meaningful. And we get used to that feeling. Silence makes us uncomfortable. Stopping seems like an unthinkable strategy for success. Are we our own worst enemy, always overfilling our schedules, always promising more than we can deliver, and never saying no? We feel forced to do things that actually hurt us. And don’t get me started about procrastination. That sounds an awful lot like zugzwang to me.
So what is the secret to escaping zugzwang? First you have to do is be aware that it is happening. Life isn’t a chess game where you are required to move your pieces. You rarely if ever are in a situation where you absolutely have to do something. Seriously. You can find the time to isolate yourself from distraction. You can tell your spouse/boss/friends no. You can reduce your work load. You can stop procrastinating. You can be decisive and stop relying on others to make decisions for you. Easier said than done, but it at least is something to think about. I better wrap this up – I have work to do…
