“The compleat strategyst” by J.D. Williams

The author 🖋

J. D. Williams was a professor of mathematics at Princeton University and a pioneer in the field of game theory.

During the Cold War era he also served as a member of the Research Council of the RAND corporation - a think tank known for its work on strategic decision-making, national security and military planning.

Key takeaways 🎓

1. Understanding game theory

Game theory is a special kind of math for strategic decision-making in competitive situations.

Williams explains how it applies to concepts like zero-sum games where one person's gain is another's loss and non-zero-sum games where cooperation can benefit everyone.

Game theory teaches us to think a few steps ahead, identify the possible strategies others might use and predict outcomes based on various scenarios.

2. Not just for games

Game theory is a framework for thinking about strategic interactions.

Williams argues that understanding its principles can enhance decision-making in real-world situations and demonstrates how it can be applied to business negotiations, military strategy and even everyday life decisions.

3. A single strategy is rarely best

In many situations - even if the best strategy is clear - the optimal approach is mixing things up.

It introduces unpredictability and keeps opponents guessing.

If we always choose rock when playing rock-paper-scissors it’s going to be easy for others to figure it out and win - the same goes for many real-world scenarios, from sports to business competition.

Closing thoughts 🧠

The book aims to explain game theory using everyday language (instead of the usual heavy mathematical notation).

Williams wanted to make these quite complex ideas understandable to regular people and used simple examples to show how these strategies can be applied for making smarter decisions in real life, from business deals to everyday choices.