David and Goliath

Hello.
This is Aoyagi.

This column is about a favorite anecdote of mine related to "David," famously known for Michelangelo's sculpture.





Ancient Israel.

David, a shepherd boy, one day found himself fighting the giant Goliath.

Goliath was a warrior said to be nearly 3 meters tall.
Clad in sturdy armor and wielding a huge spear and sword, he was the strongest soldier of his time.

David, on the other hand, was still a boy.
He had neither armor nor a sword.

By all accounts, the outcome seemed decided before the fight even began.

But the result was different.





David did not fight head-on; instead, he fought from a distance by throwing stones and emerged victorious.

What's interesting here is that David did not play on his opponent's turf.


At that time, battles primarily involved close-range combat with swords and spears.

Had he fought in the same way, he probably would have lost.

So David chose not to fight on his opponent's terms and changed the method of battle itself.


There's another striking story.

The soldiers around them saw Goliath, who was nearly 3 meters tall, and thought, "He's too big; we can't win."

But David, it is said, thought, "He's so big, I can't miss."


"Changing the way you fight"
"A mindset that doesn't doubt victory"


These two points are crucial perspectives that are often overlooked.

Price competition, for example, is a good illustration.

"Store A lowered its prices, so we should too."

If you get caught in this cycle, the product's value constantly drops, both producers and sellers become exhausted, and no one ends up happy.





I believe this mindset is very much linked to street culture.

Hip-hop and skateboarding are not cultures that were born in privileged environments.

Rather, they are cultures where people outside the existing rules started expressing themselves in their own ways.


Making turntables into musical instruments,
Turning city walls into canvases,
Using skateboards to turn the city into a playground, or skating in pools.


All of these are ways of fighting that changed the rules.


If you ever think, "This is impossible," instead of recklessly charging in, take a step back and calmly change your approach to the fight.

Change the rules or the definition of winning.


When you think about it that way, even difficult or disadvantageous situations can become a bit exciting.