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In understanding and utilizing the principles and wisdom of The Art of War, it's helpful to think of your success and fulfillment as a journey. It involves moving from where you are currently to where you want to be.
As such, in order to move safely and effectively on this path, you have to know where to look. In studying The Art of War for over twenty years, I've found that there are five metaphorical directions you must look in order to ensure you are progressing along the path of happiness and serenity. The first direction is forward. Looking forward means understanding your purpose, anticipating the dangers you may face, and keeping focused on advancing. For Sun Tzu, this is characterized by following the Tao, or the Way. The second direction is upwards. Looking upwards means understanding the values you want to uphold as you walk this path. These values characterize the ideal qualities or outcomes you want to prioritize and maintain as you keep on the path. For Sun Tzu, these values are clarity, readiness, and wholeness. They are governed by the factor of Heaven. The third direction is downwards. Looking downwards means understanding your situation - the challenges, opportunities, risks - and the principles you need to deal with it. For Sun Tzu, your situation and the principles you face relate to the Ground. The fourth direction is at your self. Looking at yourself means looking at your virtues, or your internal qualities and strengths - what is going to keep you committed and faithful to the path. For Sun Tzu, this relates to the factor of the General. The fifth and last direction is sideways. Looking sideways, right and left, tells you how effective you are at moving forward on the path. These are characterized by the three disciplines of calculation, positioning, and timing. For Sun Tzu, these three disciplines make up the Methods. There is one direction, for Sun Tzu, that you should never look, and that is backwards. For Sun Tzu, once you have set your purpose and are committed to a path, you must see it through. You must go deep and be united. This is the same in life. Don't look backwards. Don't run away. If the path is worth it, you must try to walk it.
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"One who, prepared, awaits the unprepared will win."
- Sun Tzu Resilience is a popular term these days. It connotes the ability to withstand or bounce back from tough situations. To keep one's head, one's composure, even in the face of crisis. While resilience may be an important attribute to have, the Sun Tzu Way is ultimately not a philosophy of resilience. Rather, it is a philosophy of readiness. Readiness involves the ability not simply to withstand tough situations, but to anticipate them - and to use them essentially to determine one's response. For Sun Tzu, this quality is crucial in war. It is not enough for an army simply to bounce back from a bad situation. To keep its head when times are tough. That may keep the army in the fight, but it is not enough to secure its victory. Rather, the army, led by a wise general, must be prepared to respond in all types of situations. This is why Sun Tzu details so many different scenarios in The Art of War - from easy situations where the army has a clear advantage to vague situations where it is difficult to get a read on what's going on to seemingly dangerous situations where it seems like there is no option but to fight, even to death. It is through understanding these different possibilities and knowing how and when to respond that the army is ready to use every situation as a means to secure total victory (quan sheng). In life, the same idea is true. Being resilient is not enough for you to achieve a sense of security (an). It's not enough to able to withstand or bounce back from a bad situation. You must learn to anticipate danger or risk, to prepare for it, to know how to respond a situation so that you end up in a better place than before. It's not just about keeping your head; it's about using it to get ahead. Wealth is a tricky concept. On the one hand, wealth provides us with a sense of security. If we are in trouble, or if we want to retire, having wealth can help give us peace of mind. On the other hand, wealth is also the source of great insecurity. Everyone wants wealth, so everyone competes for wealth.
In other words, having wealth brings us security; building wealth, on the other hand, is the source of our main troubles in life. Given how complex and competitive building wealth is, how do we navigate it? What principles can we apply from Sun Tzu on building wealth? After studying Sun Tzu for over twenty years, I've come to realize there are seven key rules that can be applied to building wealth. These rules are
Let's look at each rule in greater detail. Rule 1: Treat wealth as a means - not an end. For Sun Tzu, wealth, in and of itself, has no inherent value. Rather, it is a means to cultivating a sense of peace and security (an). As such, how much wealth you should have depends on what it takes for you to feel at peace and secure. The less you require in order to have a sense of an, the less wealth you need to acquire. This is why understanding your purpose is key, since it provides you clarity in determining what will allow you to cultivate an in your life. Rule 2: Ensure you're protected before acting. All wealth-building endeavors involve risk. The key is making sure you are protected in both time and money in case a particular endeavor fails. For Sun Tzu, this is critical. As he tells us, "The skilled warriors of the past first focused on not allowing [the enemy] to win, waiting for the enemy to allow [them] to win." In other words, protect yourself first, then try to win. When it comes to building wealth, the principle is the same. Before taking on any endeavor for gaining money, always make sure that failure would not leave you in a worse position than you were before. Never over-invest money you don't have. Never borrow money unless you have a solid strategy for how you will be able to pay it back, regardless of whether the venture is successful or not. Rule 3: Move into unoccupied areas in which you can dominate. The secret to building wealth is controlling "grounds" (Di) - that is, fields, markets, idea-spaces, projects, departments, etc. - where you can easily dominate. For Sun Tzu, you never want to compete for a ground that is already dominated by some other competitor. As he tells us, "The skilled warrior sends soldiers, but does not send them to soldiers." In trying to build wealth, focus on areas where you can easily dominate. Look at your strengths - your skills, your personal traits, your knowledge, your resources. What can you dominate in? In which areas do you have proven skills? Once you dominate one area, you can now move onto a bigger area to dominate. The key is never to find yourself competing for a market, job position, industry, etc. that some other person has dominated first. Wealth, for Sun Tzu, is built through the gradual control of these "grounds" - not through competing for one big ground. Rule 4: Prioritize other people's resources over your own whenever possible. For Sun Tzu, acquiring or using your own resources (money, time, equipment, effort, etc.) to build or secure wealth is not as valuable as using someone else's. As he writes, "One unit of the enemy's food is worth twenty units of our food. One picul of [the enemy's] fodder is worth twenty picul of our own." Before you think about risking your own money or equipment or time to build wealth, try first asking whether there is a way for you to use someone else's. Is there a way to get something for free or at a huge discount by getting it used? Is there a connection or friend that may be able to help? Is it more cost-effective to rent equipment? Is there a way to let insurance cover a portion or all of the risk? What can I steal from the Internet or history to help me? Don't always assume you have to do it yourself. Other people's resources - if you have access to them - are also part of your wealth. Rule 5: Pay a premium for good information. For Sun Tzu, the general or ruler should always be willing to pay a premium for access to reliable intelligence. As he writes, "One refusing to pay a hundred pieces of gold and thus does not know the enemy's situation is the height of inhumanity." You must prioritize information and learning in every wealth-building endeavor. It pays to know as much as you can not only protect against the risk, but be prepared to jump on opportunities that arise. Rule 6: Prefer quick, secure, yet modest gains over long, risky, but huge gains. For Sun Tzu, the biggest calamity in war is fighting a long, drawn-out war, regardless of the potential benefits. A long, drawn-out war sucks resources, costs lives, and opens a nation up to being attacked by neighboring countries. In life, this same principle applies. What you are after is a quick victory, one that doesn’t cost you much in time, effort, or money, but that can give you decent profits. For example, if you have to choose between job #1, which pay a lot, but comes with insane work hours and huge responsibilities and lots of restrictions in terms of decision making, and job #2, which pays less than than job #1, but offers you a lot more time and space to make decisions, job #2 would be the better choice. Though it’s less money, job #2 offers greater freedom and more time. Likewise, if you have to choose between client #1, who is willing to pay a substantial amount of money, but who comes with a lot of headaches and requires a lot of attention, and client #2, who pays less than client#1, but who is very easy to manage and requires little attention, then client #2 would be the better choice. Client #2 offers more time and freedom to acquire more clients like him. Rule 7: Conceal your moves. For Sun Tzu, concealment (cang) is the heart of security. You are best protected when you are the most concealed. As you are building your wealth, it is important never reveal exactly what you are doing. Doing so will only undermine your positioning. Rather, conceal your intentions and moves. Don't share your plans. Take small steps and occupy areas that are unoccupied (see Rule 3). As you gradually start to dominate in different fields or markets or project areas, you'll start to gradually build influence, and gradually the wealth will come. In the world of strategy, we spend a lot of time focusing on what a person should do. How should they respond? How should they react? What is the game plan?
But, for Sun Tzu, equally important is knowing when not to act. Knowing when not to respond, when to stay put or shut up or hold back or even withdraw. In war, this knowledge is critical. Not all opportunities are equal. Because mobilizing an army can be very expensive and dangerous, a general must make careful calculations if he's going to send his troops out. For Sun Tzu, we should only act when we have the advantage, when the moment is right. Timing is everything. In life, the same idea is true. Success in life depends not on constantly doing, doing, doing. That is a recipe for burnout. Rather, it comes from knowing when to say yes to certain opportunities and when to say no, or when not to respond. But how do you know when not to respond or act? How do you know when to say "no"? How do you develop this knowledge? Sun Tzu offers us four situations where it's better not to respond:
These situations apply equally to the armies of Ancient China as it does to us. Let's go into each situation in greater detail. IF THERE IS NOTHING TO GAIN "If there is no advantage, do not move." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, mobilizing an army to gain an advantage requires using resources. It requires coordination, money, food, and time. It also opens up an army to dangers, such as disease or fatigue. Thus, moving an army when there is no advantage to be gained is a huge waste of resources. While this reasoning may seem like common-sense, in our culture, it is very easy to get caught up in FOMO, or "fear of missing out." How many times do we subscribe to newsletters, websites, blogs, channels that end up just taking up space in home, phone, inbox, etc.? How many times do we accept an invite to an event or webinar that ends up just being a waste of time? How many times do we click on a news article or watch a video based on a scintillating headline, only to find out that it wasn't as exciting or interesting as we hoped? Take Sun Tzu's advice to heart: if there is nothing to gain, don't act. Don't respond. Don't subscribe. Don't attend. Don't read. Don't participate. Value your time and attention. Spend them on things that align with and support your purpose and help you along the Way (Tao). Ask yourself: Will this move me forward on the path I want to be on, or will it move me away from it? If it's away from it, you need to seriously reconsider whether you should give your time and attention to it. IF THERE IS NO DANGER "If there is no danger, do not fight." - Sun Tzu War is by its nature an intense and emotional endeavor. It is easy to get defensive and pitch battle when you see an enemy force nearby. But for Sun Tzu, this only makes controlling your nerves even more critical. Battles can be expensive - not just in terms of money, but lives. One should only engage in battle if there is a real danger, a real threat, to the army. Likewise, in life, especially in times of great social and political tension, it is very easy to get caught up in arguments and fights. Someone says something we disagree with, and we feel the need to speak up and argue with them. Someone criticizes something we said, and we feel the need to defend ourselves. Someone calls into question our idea or reputation, and we immediately try to attack them. These conflicts, arguments, and debates can suck up our mental and emotional energy, not to mention our time. The issue, though, with these situations is that often times, they can easily be avoided by simply not responding. Often times, they will go away by themselves. The next time you hear someone say something you disagree with or criticize you about something, ask yourself: Is there really any danger here? Or is it just my ego that wants to respond? Oftentimes, it is just our ego feeling threatened. Don't let it take control over your decision-making! You should respond defensively only if there is something real at stake - that is, if something or someone is threatening your ability to your ability to progress forward. IF YOU FEEL ANGRY OR RESENTFUL "Anger can return to happiness. Resentment can return to contentment. [But] a destroyed nation cannot return. Those who are dead cannot come back to life." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, the one of the worst times to attack is when one is angry or resentful. This is for two reasons. First, anger and resentment tend to disconnect us from reality. Behind every feeling of anger or resentment is a feeling of disbelief - disbelief at what someone has done or is able to do. Such a disconnection in war is very dangerous, as it allows us always to be surprised by our enemies. The second reason is because anger and resentment lead us towards destructive behavior. For Sun Tzu, destruction often costs more than simply getting over a perceived attack or grievance. We risk the lives of our soldiers, and thus the security of our nation, when we act from anger or resentment. For this reason, one should never act out of anger or resentment. A ruler should never dispatch troops or a general throw soldiers into battle out of anger or resentment. In your own life, the same principle is true. How many times have we said something out of anger, only to regret it later? How many times have we broken someone's trust or confidence in us by responding this way? How many times have we disappointed, scared, or hurt someone we loved because we responded from anger or resentment? Never act from anger or resentment, even if there is something to gain (for example, someone complies with what you want). In most cases, you'll end up cancelling out whatever gains you make. Doing this often just builds anger or resentment in the other person - not true cooperation. Instead, ask yourself: What will I gain from acting out of anger or resentment? What could I lose from doing so? In almost all cases, it's not worth the cost, and in most cases, it won't really get you anywhere. IF BY RESPONDING THERE WILL BE GREATER DANGER "If I know the troops can attack, but do not know the enemy cannot attack, my victory is half. If I know the enemy can be attacked, but do not know the troops cannot attack, my victory is half. If I know the enemy can be attacked, and know the troops can attack, but do not know the ground in battle, my victory is half." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, total victory (quan sheng), the ultimate goal of the general in war, is achieved through having complete knowledge or understanding of the situation. Knowing only whether you can attack, or if the enemy can attack, or if the ground is favorable, and not knowing all the others, puts your army at greater risk. Thus, for Sun Tzu, it is important to have a complete picture of the situation before committing troops to battle. Of course, this doesn't mean that the general will not act at all. Rather, he may try all sorts of things to get a better read on the situation. He may send a small skirmish to test the enemy. He may send spies to report back. He may try to build alliances with neighboring rulers. But when it comes to sending his soldiers into battle, it is only when the general has a complete understanding that he can confidently put his troops in danger. In your own life, this principle is the same. We are taught to act, act, act. To try our best, even if we fail. To be persistent and fight like hell and get back up if we are knocked down. But oftentimes, we can overextend ourselves. We get excited about some opportunity that turns out to be a wash. We are told by friends or experts to invest in some new scheme and end up losing our money. We burn ourselves out trying to make a certain career path or relationship work. While uncertainty and risk are natural parts of any endeavor in life, our role is not simply to accept them. Our role is to gain a complete understanding of our situation. We do not compete for half-victories. Of course, this doesn't mean that we simply do nothing. We can always do more to improve our situation. We can always learn more skills, gain more knowledge, acquire more resources or connections. But we should never compete for half-victories. So whenever an opportunity arises on your path, ask yourself: Do I have a clear understanding of how successful or helpful this opportunity would be? Is this something I can honestly say will benefit me, whether or not it ends up successful? If answer no to either question, you should definitely reassess. ~ All four of these situations have one thing in common: they are all distractions. Keeping to the Way (Tao) means being able to tell the difference between what will help you on the path or distract you from the path. So heed the advice: If there is nothing to gain, if there is no danger, if you are simply angry or resentful, or if it presents a greater cost or risk to you if it's not successful - then stop. Wait and assess. It's most likely not worth it. "A skilled military operation cultivates the Tao, yet preserves the Methods. Thus, one can become master of victory and defeat."
- Sun Tzu A popular notion in self-help and positive psychology is the concept that our feelings about the world is determined by our perspective - that is, how we judge it. This is a concept best expressed by Shakespeare in Hamlet when the titular character tells us: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." That is to say, if we think, or judge, an event to be bad, then we will feed bad (angry, anxious, etc.) about it. Thus, we are told, if we want to feel better about a situation, then we need to shift our perspective and view it differently. Cognitive behavioral psychologists call this technique "reframing." It involves taking a step back or away from the situation so that we can view it more objectively or positively. The more objectively or positively we view a situation, then the more objectively or positively we will feel, and thus respond, to the situation. So how does reframing work? Like trying on new glasses, you try different perspectives to help you view the situation differently. For example, if someone cuts you off on the highway, rather than getting upset, you can frame the situation differently saying: "Maybe this driver is an urgent situation or didn't see me." Or if you miss your bus, rather than get upset or anxious, you can frame the situation differently by saying: "Oh well, now I can get more reading done as I wait for the next bus to come." Or if you find out your star-colleague just quit her job, rather than panic for the work you might have to fill in for, you can frame it differently and say, "This gives me an opportunity to step up and improve my skills." On the surface, reframing makes sense. And indeed, it is a very effective tool for helping us feel and respond differently to situations that befall us. The problem with reframing, though, is that it doesn't address the real reason why we need to use the technique in the first place - the fact that we become rattled, angry, worried, etc. to the event in the first place. Why would we get upset when a driver cuts us off? Why would we panic if we miss our bus or a colleague leaves? The reason why we get emotional in these situations is not because of our thoughts, but because these emotions are natural responses to situations in which we feel a lack of control. As human beings, we have an inherent need to feel a sense of control over our situation - ourselves, our relationships, our future. This need is tied to our sense of calmness and well-being. When we feel in control of a situation, we feel calm and confident. When we don't, we feel emotional, anxious, upset. As bestselling author Robert Greene writes in The 48 Laws of Power, “The feeling of having no power over people and events is generally unbearable to us – when we feel helpless, we feel miserable.” No amount of reframing is going to get rid of this need. And no amount of objectivity or positive thinking is going to overcome it. These things may help us feel better about the situation and view it more calmly or positively, but unless we acknowledge and address this underlying need, we will always be at struggle with ourselves to maintain this positive or calm attitude. So how then do we approach situations that rattle us and gain real calm and composure? Or is the situation hopeless? As you can imagine, Sun Tzu provides a way. For Sun Tzu, the role of the general is to ensure the nation's security (an). He does this first by examining the Way (Tao). For Sun Tzu, this means understanding the purpose by which the ruler commands and unifies the people. If the purpose is clear and strong, then the Way forward is clear. Any events that occur - whether fortunate or not - will be reflected clearly in light of the Way. Next, he gathers as much information and intelligence as he can - about the ground, about the weather, about the enemy, about his own army and nation. Lastly, he takes this information and analyzes it, asking questions: What are we trying to do or achieve? What are all the obstacles we face? Where is the enemy strong or weak? Where are we strong or weak? Based on his answers to these questions, he develops a response to whatever situation is in front of him. This whole process is predicated on understanding the Way - that is, understanding how the ruler seeks to lead the people and whether this leadership is strong and clear. Without the Way, the whole analysis becomes useless. Likewise, this is the approach we need to take in our own lives. When an event occurs, we need to ask ourselves not simply "How can I view this differently?", but rather: "What does this mean in terms of my purpose?" How does it affect my path forward? Then we can better understand our own feelings and determine a response. If your sense of purpose is clear, then the meaning or impact of the event will be clearer to you. It won't easily shake you, because you'll have greater certainty of where you are on the path. As a result, you won't need to "reframe" your thinking after the event occurs, because your sense of purpose becomes your primary frame, your Way. It is the perspective by which you view life. If your sense of purpose is not clear, then it is important to go back to step one and ask: What is my purpose? What am I trying to ultimately do or achieve in life, and why? While reframing may help you in the moment to deal with a difficult situation, no amount of reframing is going to give you the answer to this question. And it is only by cultivating a deep sense of purpose that you'll be able to find real calm or peace. "On difficult ground, keep going."
- Sun Tzu In The Art of War, Sun Tzu places a lot of value on always being ready to face or deal with the enemy. Indeed, this emphasis on readiness is so important for Sun Tzu that I consider it one of the core values of the Sun Tzu Way (TSTW). Sun Tzu tells us explicitly, "One who, prepared, awaits the unprepared wins." In other words, readiness is a key factor for achieving victory. This sounds nice, you may be thinking, but what about emergency situations? What about really difficult situations that catch us off-guard? How would you use TSTW to deal with people or events you didn't or couldn't plan for? In truth, while Sun Tzu does stress the importance of planning and foreknowledge, he also embraces the fact that the unexpected is a feature of every battle. Wars are inherently chaotic. No general, no matter how skilled, can calculate or plan for everything. Nor does Sun Tzu expect him to. Indeed, readiness is not about predicting what's going to happen. Rather, it's about how well you are able to respond to the ever-changing situation before you. Master your response, and you control the situation. As such, there are four rules that I have drawn from reading The Art of War to help me in dealing with difficult, unexpected situations. They are
Let's go through each in greater detail. LET THE RIVER WATER SETTLE "When it rains and the river water rises, one who wishes to cross must wait for it to settle." - Sun Tzu The first rule in dealing with a difficult situation is to let the river water settle - that is, to wait for things to calm before taking action. Sun Tzu, of course, is speaking here of a physical river that an army is looking to cross, but we can use the imagery as a metaphor for our own lives. The pouring rain refers to a quick and sudden change that makes difficult what we are trying to do. We are trying to cross a particular river - i.e. get a promotion, land a client, get a date with someone we like. But then something happens that complicates this or slows down the opportunity: a recession hits, another person is competing for the same client, the person we wanted to date is still talking with their ex. Sun Tzu's advice for us is simple: stop trying to cross that river and just wait for it to settle. There are two aspects to this rule. The first echoes another rule that Sun Tzu tells, "Move if there is advantage, stop if there is not." There is nothing to gain by trying to continue on the path. Rather, you have to wait until you can reassess your situation. Perhaps the promotion is no longer available, but once things have settled, you'll be in a much better position to understand what opportunities are available. Perhaps the client will not go with your competition, but once things have settled, you'll be in a much better position to understand their wants and needs. Perhaps the person you want to date will not go back to her ex, but once things have settled, you'll have a better idea of where her head is at. Things will not always end up the way you want. The river you're trying to cross may not be the right river, especially after a storm. Continuing while things are crazy, though, will not make that any clearer to you. Wait for things to settle to determine if you really want to cross. The second aspect is to let the river water in your mind settle. When an event occurs that disturbs our plans, our minds can often get rattled. Waiting for the rainwater to settle also means letting your mind process what has happened. This is the time to take a step back and assess your emotional state. Ask yourself: How does this make me feel? Am I upset? Am I frustrated? Am I hurt? Embedded in this rule is the understanding that the river water will settle. As Sun Tzu tells us, "Anger can return to happiness. Resentment can return to contentment." Things may be hard, frustrating, and surprising now - but give it time, and it will settle. Then you can make your move. FIND THE HIGH GROUND "In general, the winning army prefers the high ground and hates the low, values the sunny side and despises the dark." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, the reason why the winning army prefers the high, sunny ground over the low, dark ground is because both height and light provide maximum visibility of your situation. Light allows you to see your situation, height allows you to see far and wide. The same idea applies to your life. It is easy to get caught up in bad news. Someone is spreading a rumor about you at work, someone gives a bad review of your business on the internet, a high-paying client decides to leave you, your significant other is questioning your future together. It's easy to respond with hurt, frustration, defensiveness. However, to effectively deal with your situation, you must try to see it from a clear and elevated perspective. This involves viewing your situation from two perspectives - from the perspective of purpose (yi) and from the perspective of compassion (ren). A question I try to ask myself in these types of situation is: How can I respond in a way that both allows me to move forward in my purpose and shows respect and dignity to myself and the people I'm dealing with? Perhaps this means confronting your gossiper in a calm and humane way. Perhaps it means responding to the poor review by apologizing and agreeing to certain concessions. Perhaps it means genuinely asking the high-paying client what you could have done differently to retain his patronage. Perhaps it means asking your significant other what future she wants and being honest about what you want in your future. The idea is not that you will get what you want - a colleague, customer, client, partner who loves you and will always support you. The idea is simply to position yourself so that you are better than before, that you have more understanding than before, and you know how to navigate towards your goals better. This requires keeping a clear head about where you currently are and where you want to be. MOVE QUICKLY THROUGH THE MARSHES "To leave salt marshes, just hurry through - do not stay." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, a marsh is a dangerous ground for an army to travel on. A marsh slows down movement and its insects can spread disease. As such, Sun Tzu's advice is to move quickly through marshes and stay far away from them. In life, the same advice is true. Often times we get ourselves in metaphorical marshes - sticky or competitive situations where we find ourselves trying to fight through them. We find ourselves in a big argument with someone, or in a long battle with a company's customer service department, or in a pissing competition with a colleague over implementing a new program. What tends to happen in these situations is that we get bogged down by endless responses, what author Robert Greene calls "tactical hell." This person responds this way, we react and respond another way, and so on. In the end, we find ourselves spending so much time arguing or fighting without anything substantial to show for it. Sun Tzu's advice is just as applicable for us as it was for the armies of his time: do not get bogged down by these situations. Act quickly to resolve them. Don't get drawn into an argument, and if you do, try to your involvement quickly. Don't get drawn into finding a solution through bureaucratic systems - try to find a quicker way elsewhere to get what you need, or, if possible, let go of trying to find a solution. If you find yourself competing with a colleague, then you've likely already lost. Cede victory and try to find another opportunity where you won't have competition. Avoid petty battles or battles of ego. These will only suck up your time. Resolve conflicts as quickly as possible so you can get past them. USE THE GROUND FOR ASSISTANCE "This is the army's advantage - the assistance of the ground." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, a winning army establishes readiness not by having the best supplies or equipment, but by understanding how to use the ground and its resources to its advantage. In difficult situations, it relies on what is available to it, not on resources it wished it had. This is the same mindset you must adapt. Using the ground for assistance means using what is available to you to resolve the problems you face. Often in the face of difficult situations, we tend to focus on what we don't have - money, time, energy, know-how. Rarely do we take a break and think about what we do have available to us - patience, understanding, friends, the Internet, etc. You must strive to be resourceful. Ask yourself: what resources or advantages do I have available to me? How could I use them to help deal with my problem? You may not have the resources to completely solve your problem, but you can always make your situation better. And often times that is enough to get you through whatever difficulty you are facing. ~ In short, following these four rules will not necessarily give you the exact result that you were hoping for. You may not be able to get that promotion, client, job, date, relationship. But these rules will guide you in understanding how to reframe and benefit from your situation so that you can ultimately be in a better position than before. And for Sun Tzu, knowing how to do that is the key to making yourself ready for anything that comes your way. The following is a great story about Sam Zemurray, the American businessman who made a fortune in the banana trade, that details Zemurray's adept use of Sun Tzu's principles. This passage is from Ryan Holiday's bestselling book The Obstacle is the Way.
"In 1915, deep in the jungles of South America, the rising conflict between two rival American fruit companies came to a head. Each desperately wanted to acquire the same five thousand acres of valuable land. The issue? Two different locals claimed to own the deed to the plantation. In the no-man’s-land between Honduras and Guatemala, neither company was able to tell who was the rightful owner so they could buy it from them. How they each responded to this problem was defined by their company’s organization and ethos. One company was big and powerful, the other crafty and cunning. The first, one of the most powerful corporations in the United States: United Fruit. The second, a small upstart owned by Samuel Zemurray. To solve the problem, United Fruit dispatched a team of high-powered lawyers. They set out in search of every file and scrap of paper in the country, ready to pay whatever it cost to win. Money, time, and resources were no object. Zemurray, the tiny, uneducated competitor, was outmatched, right? He couldn’t play their game. So he didn’t. Flexible, fluid, and defiant, he just met separately with both of the supposed owners and bought the land from each of them. He paid twice, sure, but it was over. The land was his." - Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is the Way, p. 98 ANALYSIS For Sun Tzu, the critical element in warfare is time. The longer you are doing battle, the more resources you will likely use up, including the momentum (shih) you need to overwhelm the enemy in battle. The quicker you are able to resolve a conflict, then, the more you are able to keep your resources and gains intact (quan). Sam Zemurray's handling of the battle with United Fruit over the five thousand acre plantation, though simple, displays a keen understanding of this concept. While United Fruit was willing to spend a lot of time, money, and energy to resolve the issue, Zemurray understood that time and money was not on his side. Being much smaller than the giant corporation, he knew he had to act quickly to get this conflict resolved so that he could move forward and expand his business. His solution displays precisely the five main qualities of a winning strategy (profitable, protected, easy, quick, and surprising), allowing him to achieve total victory (quan sheng) in this situation. Let's look at how:
In trying to understand the Sun Tzu Way (TSTW), I like to use the metaphor of a path or journey. This is in keeping with the Chinese word for "the Way" (Tao), which translates to mean "road," "direction," or "path." TSTW is not simply a bunch of tools or techniques for solving the challenges you may face, but a continuous process of cultivating a sense of security, peace, and fulfillment (an) throughout one's life.
This process can be understood in three distinct phases, with each phase carrying the one before it, reiterating itself in a continuous cycle. These phases, each starting with the letter P, are
Let's look at each phase in greater depth. PURPOSE "The Tao is commanding the people according to a higher, shared purpose. They can be given death or life, but they will not fear danger or betrayal." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, war is the path (Tao) of survival or destruction for a nation. A nation can only really survive war if its people are united and in harmony with the intentions of the ruler. This is what allows soldiers to act with courage and trust, not fearing death. To unite the people requires the ruler to develop and communicate a clear sense of purpose (what Sun Tzu calls yì) to the people - a compelling vision for the future. This purpose or vision is not simply about economic prosperity. Nor is it about developing a feeling of patriotism or nationalism. Rather, this purpose is spiritual in nature, guiding people in developing an elevated and deep understanding of their place in the universe. Thus, for Sun Tzu, the ruler is not simply an administrator, but a spiritual guide. As such, the first phase of following TSTW is developing a clear understanding of your purpose - what you want or were meant to do or achieve in life and why. This is something you must think deeply about for your life. Cultivating peace and fulfillment in your life will be difficult, if not impossible, unless you have a clear sense of the direction (Tao) you want to go in life. You must ask yourself: What am I here to do? What am I trying to accomplish? What change am I trying to make? What do I want for myself and others? Why do I want this? The clearer you are about this higher purpose, the clearer you understanding will be of how to manage the day-to-day situations, allowing you to better decisions that align with your overall sense of purpose. PREPARATION "Therefore, one who does not fully know the dangers of using the army cannot fully know the advantages of using the army." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, developing and communicating a higher sense of purpose is only the first step. It may help establish harmony between the people and the ruler, allowing the ruler to command the people as a unified force against a powerful enemy, but that in itself is not enough. War, by its very nature, is an economic affair. It sucks up valuable resources, including soldiers, weapons, time, money. The longer a war goes on, the more people will suffer and the weaker morale becomes. For Sun Tzu, it is the general's responsibility to understand and evaluate the dangers of going to war and to prepare the army against these dangers. This responsibility is reflected in Sun Tzu's word for preparation, yú, which means "to worry" or "to anticipate." The role of the general is to worry about the dangers, to contemplate them, and to ready the army to deal with them. This involves understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the army as well as the enemy and planning how the army will get the resources and capabilities it needs to defeat the enemy. Similarly, the second phase of following TSTW - preparation - involves understanding the dangers involved in pursuing your purpose (yì). As I've written before, a core tenet of TSTW is that life is war. In a universe governed by chaos and competition, the universe will not simply stand aside so that you can achieve your life's purpose. It will provide obstacles to your path. Your role, as general of your life, is to understand and evaluate these obstacles and prepare yourself in dealing with them. You must understand what your strengths and weaknesses are. You must understand what difficulties will likely arise if you take action to pursue your purpose. And you must develop a strategy that allows you to navigate these obstacles so that you can advance forward. Ask yourself: What are the risks involved? What skills, resources, capabilities do I need to be successful? What do I need to know? It is only by taking these precautions that you can take your sense of security (an) into your own hands, allowing you to cultivate it as long as you are on the path. PROGRESS "Therefore, [the army] is as swift as the wind; as gentle as a forest; as invasive and plundering as fire; as unshakeable as a mountain; as difficult to see as the shade; as stirring as a thunderclap." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, preparation is what keeps the army protected, allowing it to conserve resources and build up a strong defensive position against the enemy. However, preparation is not enough to achieve a skillful victory over the enemy. To do that, the army must accumulate an overwhelming set of advantages that tip the balance of power in its favor. This set of advantages gives the army momentum (what Sun Tzu calls shih), which it can use to surprise and overwhelm the enemy. For Sun Tzu, there are many ways the general can accumulate advantages over the enemy. These include building alliances with neighboring rulers; plundering the enemy's fields for food; capturing the enemy's soldiers, weapons, and equipment; taking control of territory the enemy has ignored; converting the enemy's soldiers, officers, officials, and even spies into his own spies; and luring the enemy with false baits (for example, misinformation) that take the enemy off his original course. Using these advantages, the general effectively weakens the enemy's position, creating multiple avenues for attack. As a result, the winning army has such an overwhelming advantage that it is as if the enemy is already defeated. As Sun Tzu famously tell us, "the winning army first wins, and later seeks to do battle. The defeated army first battles, and later seeks to win." Thus, for the third and final phase of following TSTW, our focus is on progress. Continual, unrelenting progress. Sun Tzu's term for progress is jìn, which means "to advance" or "to move forward." By continually accumulating advantages and eliminating obstacles in one's way, one continually moves forward on the path. No advantage is too small. Every new connection you make, every relationship you strengthen, every client you acquire, every skill you develop - these all help you move forward in your path. Therefore, the quicker you can accumulate these advantages, the more momentum (shih) you can build, and the greater your chances of success. For this reason, speed (su) is an important factor - both for Sun Tzu's winning army and for you. As a result, you want to continually ask yourself: What little advantages can I gain for myself right now? What opportunities can I jump on to help my situation? What obstacles can I remove from my path right away? What can I do immediately or in the near future to improve my situation? What can I be doing on a regular basis to gradually move forward? The most important thing to remember is that progress is essentially about control, what Sun Tzu calls zhì. This refers to the ability to create positive outcomes and/or prevent negative ones. What you are after is a greater sense of control in your situation. The more positive outcomes you can create in your life - e.g. wealth, love, health, joy - and the more negative outcomes you can prevent - e.g. poverty, resentment, anxiety, sickness, frailty, etc. - the calmer, more peaceful, more serene your life will be. In other words, if you are not able to generate more positive outcomes in your life or prevent negative ones, then you are not progressing. So ask yourself: What am I able to do now that I wasn't before? Am I in a better position than I was before? Do I feel more in control of my situation? ~ In short, the three phases here describe the path of the Sun Tzu Way. Living a life of an - of peace, serenity, calm, security - is essentially a result of clear purpose, obsessive preparation, and an unrelenting focus on increasing one's sense of control. Walking this path may not be easy, but with a 2,500 year old battle-tested philosophy to guide you, you cannot go wrong. A core principle is an essential condition that leads to a certain result. It can be used to guide or inform one's decisions and actions.
Having studied The Art of War for over twenty years, I have found that there are three critical principles that serve as the foundation for the Sun Tzu Way. These principles are the same that guide and protect the skilled warriors of the past in achieving total victory (quan sheng), and that can guide you in your own endeavors. These principles are
These three principles, though presented separately, are actually inseparable, working with and reinforcing each other. Let's look at each in depth. COHESION "One whose upper and lower ranks share the same sense of purpose will win." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, the winning army is one that has a strong sense of unity, acting with one mind, regardless of status or rank. Each member of the army, from the general all the way down to the lowest-ranking soldier, must share a common understanding of what they are trying to do or achieve and why. For Sun Tzu, war is inherently chaotic and dangerous. Without a strong sense of purpose that binds everyone together, there will be no unified force to resist an invading enemy and ultimately keep the nation. Thus, an army that is united in purpose and whose activities are coordinated to serve this purpose is the first condition for achieving continual success. This fact is what I call the principle of cohesion (hé). In life, the concept of the same. As humans, we all struggle with acting with one mind. We all have dreams, but are too lazy or scared or disappointed to pursue them. We all want to improve our health or relationships or finances, but feel - either due to our habits or past trauma or upbringing or intimidation - that we are incapable of really changing ourselves or our situation. In other words, we are divided within ourselves. True change can only occur by overcoming this division and uniting the different parts of ourselves under a singular purpose so that they can cohere and work together. Applying the principle of cohesion to your own life requires cultivating a clear sense of purpose (yi) - a clear understanding of what you are ultimately trying to do or achieve in life and why. With this understanding, you can then look at the different aspects of your life. You can ask yourself: What is serving my purpose? What aligns with it? What is holding me back from acting with one mind? Of course, cohesion is just the first step. But it is the most important one since without it, success is impossible. CONCEALMENT "Those skilled in defense conceal themselves in the nine grounds below." - Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, the best victory comes from the army occupying a strongly guarded position from which it can strike, and subsequently defeat, an enemy who is unaware or unprepared. As he writes, "the skilled warrior stands on undefeated ground, and does not miss the enemy's defeat." Achieving this kind of victory requires hiding (cáng) one's positioning from the enemy. As such the principle of concealment is a critical principle in The Art of War. The skillful general knows how to prevent his enemies from having an accurate or clear understanding of his army's situation and abilities. If the army is far from the enemy, he tries to make his army look near. If the army is big, he tries to make his army look small. He obsesses over covering over his army's situation, spreading misinformation to the enemy and always looking out for the enemy's spies. Doing this allows the army to occupy positions without the enemy being aware, thereby allowing the army to be both protected and ready to attack an unsuspecting enemy. Thus, the principle of concealment is critical in allowing the general set up his army for victory. In your own life, you may think you do not need to use concealment or deception to achieve success. You are not an army in Ancient China. Truth is, the principle of concealment is as necessary for you as it is a general in Sun Tzu's time. The world is marked by competition. And not just competition in terms of jobs or business or funding - but in terms of attention. Everything and everyone - from the shows we watch to our friends to our kids to our spouse to videos to books to colleagues, and so on - is competing for our attention, our focus, our affection, our acceptance, our interest. This has two important consequences for us. First, if we reveal our goals or intentions to do something, someone or something will provide resistance. This is because our intention to do something means we are putting our focus, our attention towards it. And because the people and media around us is constantly clamoring for that very focus, it will try to divert it. Friends, family, partners, or media may tell us that we shouldn't go that route; it's too risky. Or that we should go a different route - to do what other successful people have done. The biggest point of resistance will likely be ourselves. Our tendencies towards self-doubt or laziness will creep in. At first we may be excited, and then as time goes on, when things get hard or boring, we'll fall off. The second consequence is that in trying to influence others and achieve big things, we too must compete. And in a world of where so many things are competing for their time and attention, people are resistant to give you attention or focus, especially if they know what you are up to. Thus, the principle of concealment has two benefits. First, it protects you from the opposition you may receive from others or even yourself in trying to achieve something. Second, it helps avoid the resistance you may get from trying to engage with and influence someone else. In implementing the principle of concealment in your life, use the following rules to help guide you:
CONTROL "Therefore, the winning army is like using yi to weigh against zhu. A defeated army is like using zhu to weigh against yi." - Sun Tzu In this quote, the terms yi and zhu here refer to measurements of weight. Yi outweighs zhu probably by a factor of hundred or so. For Sun Tzu, a winning army is not simply one that defeats its enemy, but one that has attained an overwhelming number of advantages over the enemy. As such, its victory is secure. Securing victory is not a matter of having the strongest or sharpest or bravest soldiers. Rather, securing victory is a matter of controlling (zhì) the ground. This is known as the principle of control. For Sun Tzu, the ground is not simply a physical place, but the army's situation in relation to the enemy. It is the context of the engagement and the set of options available to each. The army who has control over the ground thereby controls the advantages and options that the ground offers. Thus, for Sun Tzu, the winning army is constantly maneuvering itself into a position of control (zhì quán) before it engages the enemy. The skillful general never focuses on how to destroy or defeat the enemy in battle. Rather, he always has his mind on how to establish a position of control on the battlefield so that the army's victory is not in danger. As such, he is always calculating the advantages and disadvantages of every move. He mobilizes his troops only when there is an advantage and fights only if there is danger. And he strikes only when and where the enemy is unprepared. He avoids direct confrontation when he can and keeps his army mainly in wait until an opportunity to attack or move presents itself. In moving only to gain advantages and fighting only when necessary, he slowly builds up a position of control that allows him to secure his victory over the enemy. In your own life, this same principle holds true. Success in life depends on your ability to increase your sense of control over your situation. What you must strive for is not achieving a benchmark or big achievement, but to secure a position of control within your environment. This ultimately is what will allow you to feel a sense of an - peace, calmness, security - in your life. In utilizing the principle of control in your own life, use the following rules to guide you:
These three principles make up the foundation of the Sun Tzu Way. It is by following them consistently, committing yourself to them, that you will secure success in your life and cultivate a deep sense of an, or peace, in your life. In a previous post, I wrote about why Sun Tzu advised against ever acting out of anger. Anger, by its nature, is a destructive emotion. People who are angry are driven to put down, insult, ridicule, or otherwise hurt someone else. The Sun Tzu Way is not based on destruction, but on growth and security. It's aim is to find the best solution for all parties, not just yourself (what Sun Tzu calls quan, or wholeness, a core value of the Sun Tzu Way).
Even more, behind every angry reaction is a sense of disbelief. That is to say, anger signals one's inability to accept reality. For Sun Tzu, this is dangerous, as a general needs to keep a cool head in order to understand his situation clearly. This sounds nice, of course, but you may wondering: what happens when I do get angry? How do I deal with anger in a way that is productive and doesn't get me in trouble? My immediate suggestion would be to take a deep breath so you can calm your brain down enough to think. After that, there are two simple questions I suggest you ask yourself before taking any immediate action. These questions are
Likewise, in life, every action bears a cost. An angry-driven mindset is not thinking about how to make your situation better. Rather, it is driven to think about how to hurt something or someone. Asking these questions may not get rid of your anger (for that, I suggest following my "letting flow" technique), but it will allow you to reframe your thinking so that you are acting strategically. |
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