When Opportunism Becomes Strategy
Why you don’t have to choose between quick utility and long-term meaningfulness.
A popular distinction is that between opportunistic and meaningful action: Opportunism follows the path of least resistance – situational, instinctive, without moral reflection. The meaningful, on the other hand, requires engagement with what is valuable in the long term, even if it’s uncomfortable in the short term.
But there’s also a “both/and”: Reflectively useful action for an extended time horizon. You can choose from various opportunistic options the one that appears meaningful in the long run. You don’t have to choose between “quickly useful” or “long-term significant” – you can have both. Think of a chess player: They don’t calculate all possible moves until the end of the game (that would be impossible), but rather use heuristics – rules of thumb that enable optimal solutions with limited knowledge.
Today, heuristics are often better than detailed strategies. The world changes too quickly for five-year business plans. What we need is the ability to act wisely in the present while keeping tomorrow in view. That’s not opportunism – it’s reflective pragmatism. Useful behavior often must be decided quickly. There’s no time to think through all options. This is where heuristics come into play – mental models that allow you to make good decisions under time pressure. Our experiences teach and internalize heuristics: We sense which quick fix will still hold tomorrow and which is merely a bandage on a wound that continues to fester.
Bruce Lee said: “Be water, my friend.” The situational lifestyle of postmodernity has taught us to be flexible, to adapt, to follow the waves. But water without direction seeps into the sand. The art lies in remaining fluid without becoming arbitrary – acting opportunistically with a compass in your head that points to long-term values.