Use the Difficulty: How to Turn Obstacles into Opportunities
When Michael Caine was a young actor, he was rehearsing an improv play and got stuck.
The actor in the scene before him had thrown a chair and blocked Caine’s entrance.
Caine alerted the director. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said, “I can’t get in.”
The director asked him, “What do you mean?”
“There’s a chair there,” Caine explained.
The director shot back an answer that stuck with Caine ever since. He said, “Use the difficulty.”
“If it’s a comedy, fall over it. If it’s a drama, pick it up and smash it.”
Use the difficulty.
Every Obstacle an Opportunity
In life, as it is in improv, we come across difficulties everywhere we turn.
It is up to us to view them as obstacles in the way of what we want or as props to help us accomplish our goals.
In Japanese martial arts, there is the principle of ‘Aiki’, or using your opponent’s force against him.
A fighter can neutralize a bigger, stronger foe by tripping him and redirecting his momentum to throw him to the ground.
It is using the difficulty to overcome your opponent.
As Ryan Holiday puts it in his book, ‘The Obstacle Is the Way’, “Within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.”
When Life Pushes, Pull
Seeing things this way has the potential to revolutionize our lives.
Early writings on Aiki called it “The most profound and mysterious art in the world.”
“One who masters it can be an unparalleled martial genius.”
So it is in all realms of life:
You’re a parent and it’s your toddler’s bedtime, but all he wants to do is play with cars. Use his momentum by reading a book about cars as the bedtime story.
Or, you’re an executive competing with a peer for a promotion. Promote your rival’s good work on a recent project to show the board your objectivity and ability to be a team player.
As Caine put it, “If you can use it a quarter of one percent to your advantage, you’re ahead, you didn’t let it get you down.”
As they say in Aikido, “When they push, you pull.” And then you win.
