look forward, reason backwards

I'm about half way through an interesting read: "The Art of Strategy" by Dixit and Nalebuff.  The book applies the principles of game theory to decisions made in life and business.  The authors advise that better decisions can be made by looking forward and reasoning backwards. Competitors will react in their interests to any move you make, so you must anticipate their moves before acting.  Seems obvious...but probably isn't followed as often as it should be.