I barely eked past @cdixon and @lethys for the coveted second-to-last place in a five-team game of Carcassonne last night.

My strategy had been to make an early play for a central field, and then have a stake in one or two of the largest castles. Unfortunately, I didn't execute on this strategy well enough. I was one connecting tile away from getting two more followers onto the main field, which would have let me share the spoils of the biggest prize of the game.

What bothered me at the end was that I noticed that even if I had executed properly, my strategy wasn't a winning one. I'd have shot forward to second place, but I'd still have fallen short of victory.

It dawned on me when falling asleep last night that this scenario is exactly analogous to an instance of when you should pivot in a startup. If you're on a path that, even if you execute perfectly, you won't end up where you want to be, then you know it's time to pivot.