5 Reasons Why You Should Play Angry Birds

Back in the old days, around 2009 or so, it seemed like everyone was playing Angry Birds. Everyone, that is, but me. My sons and their friends. Adults, teenagers, pre-teens, millennials - had their noses buried in their iPhones as they focused intently on controlling a menagerie of flying weapons. In my mind, playing was something to be avoided. I refused to get sucked in to the vortex.

A couple of years passed and, somehow, it happened. I downloaded the game and entered the world of Angry Birds. The addiction was instant. I erased all the other games on my phone. I gave up my beloved NY Times crossword. Angry Birds became my recreational activity of choice. Never mind that many of the people I knew had moved on to other diversions. For me, AB was a fun way to decompress, relax, and chill.

I got mad at myself - remembering all those times I made fun of the kids for being suckers. Thinking of all that time that I was wasting playing this maddening game. Frustrated by repeated failures at a given level. Obsessed by a need to achieve success and move on.

Reflecting on the dozens or hundreds (maybe thousands?) of times I've now played AB, a realization developed for me. Angry Birds can teach us a lot about performance, success and failure, and perseverance.

If you've never played, Angry Birds is essentially a set of puzzles. A player deploys a specialized assortment of angry birds individually (a team) to collapse an elaborate defense system thereby defeating the bad piggies and solving the puzzle. Each bird on the "team" gets a turn...sort of like in kickball or baseball.

What can you learn by playing? Angry Birds teaches five important lessons.

A great performance by one team member does not guarantee a win.
A poor performance by one team member does not guarantee a defeat.
There are several paths to a victory.
It ain't over, 'til it's over.
A plan is a good thing, but being flexible is critical.

Great performances are exciting and dramatic. They're fun to watch. They can be inspiring. They do not guarantee that you'll win though. Many is the team that went to defeat while a star excelled.

By the same token, a below average or poor performance can be overcome and victory gained in spite of it. Whether by luck, a great performance by someone else, or a glaring weakness in the competition, some teams find a way to overcome an individual  poor performance and win.

Victory often comes in unexpected ways. No two victories are ever exactly alike. For whatever reasons, each victory can seem like its very own special and unique experience.

For every team, in every situation that won at the last possible moment; on the last play; on the last shot; with no time remaining on the clock; in a great comeback; there was another team that lost; collapsed; choked; was defeated; that somehow stopped or fell short.

Good planning is essential, but things rarely ever go the way they're "supposed" to. You have to adjust to circumstances. Flexibility is crucial to success.