What is the difference between a pro video game player and an amateur?
I wouldn’t blame you for answering "they mash their keyboards a lot more". In gaming lingo, we call these actions per minute ("APM"). Here's an example of a professional player in action. What comes to mind when you look at his keyboard and screen?
World of pro gaming
At first glance, it looks like he's just mashing his keyboard a lot. But if you look closer, you'll see that he's hitting each key in a specific order, over and over again. He's mentally going through a checklist over and over again. This is called macro-management (macro).
In non-gaming words, a professional player runs through this checklist over and over again like a routine. While someone like me would take 2-3 min per cycle, a pro might only take 10 seconds.
The routine is drilled into your muscle memory that it becomes second nature. This ultimately allows you to have the energy to focus on the important problems at hand. Such as your overall strategy against your opponent or a specific problem at hand to solve.
How to free up mental energy
Having strong macro let's you focus on the important tasks at hand.
When it comes to business, this philosophy applies quite well. A checklist allows you to focus all of your mental energy on solving the important problems without the worry of tasks falling through the cracks.
I've found that most strong operators or managers have their own internal checklist they operate by. This operating cadence is the skeleton of their day-to-day work. You'll find the best operators are actually spending a lot of their time either:
a) solving specific problems, or in gaming terminology: the "micro" of a specific battle
b) strategic questions, or in gaming terminology, executing a "build" against their competitors
Here's an example of some routines and example tasks of what they might do
Company-wide operating cadence:
Weekly check on leading indicators, forecasts vs. actuals
Monthly check of outputs, forecasts vs. actuals
Revisit costs, unit economics, and key metrics
Quarterly review of the broader strategy with executive team + board
Each company has their own operating cadence that works for them. At its core, they're often a combination of regular meetings, dashboards or reports to help make sure nothing slips.
Problem-solving cadence:
Identify problem
Run analysis, pull on the thread
Work with relevant stakeholders on the appropriate solution
Execute on follow-ups
Starcraft Macro Routine
To bring this back to gaming, we can use Starcraft as an example:
Routine unlocks creativity
Having a routine helps you free up your mind space to think about the more important problems. It also acts as guardrails to protect yourself from missing details that may slip through the cracks. These could be as small things as emails or dashboards that are easy to correct, however, add them up and they eventually block you... similar to a supply block in Starcraft!
While each discipline is unique in their own way, there are often common characteristics of success.
What's your operating cadence? Does this analogy apply in other professions or examples?
Best,
Charlie