The Scribe at the Crossroads

Two scribes competed for work in a merchant town. Each could specialize in legal contracts or trade ledgers. The first scribe had a rare gift — he wrote legal documents twice as fast as anyone.

He considered his choices carefully. If his rival specialized in legal work, competing head-to-head still favored the faster scribe — merchants chose speed, and he won more commissions. If his rival specialized in trade ledgers instead, the fast scribe had the entire legal market to himself.

Either way — rival in legal, rival in ledgers — legal contracts paid the first scribe more than trade ledgers would have.

His apprentice asked, “Don’t you need to know what your rival will do?”

“That’s the point,” the scribe said. “I don’t. My best choice is the same in every case.”