Skilled Warrior Case Study: Benjamin Franklin & Isaac Norris

"The skilled warriors of the past..."
- Sun Tzu

The Sun Tzu Way is a philosophy that has been practiced by shrewd warriors of life, across nations and cultures, for thousands of years. Its principles, though articulated most concretely in Sun Tzu's text, are timeless and universal. For this reason, periodically, I will be sharing case studies of figures throughout history who demonstrate the practical and effective use of Sun Tzu's philosophy.

In this post, we'll look at a famous encounter between Benjamin Franklin, our founding father, and a colleague of his who gave him serious trouble in Franklin's early political career.
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SKILLED WARRIOR CASE STUDY: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND ISAAC NORRIS

"He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged."
 - Ben Franklin

In 1736, the wealthy and charismatic merchant Isaac Norris received, out-of-the-blue, a polite note from a colleague of his – Benjamin Franklin.  At the time, both men served as members of the colonial legislature for Pennsylvania.

The appearance of the note must have seemed strange, since only a short time before Norris had strongly opposed Franklin’s reappointment to the position of clerk for the legislature.  Although Franklin, after a much heated debate, eventually won the reappointment, the opposition from Norris must have been unwelcome.  Norris himself was not too fond of Franklin, perhaps due to envy towards Franklin’s own popularity and achievements.

The note to Norris, however, had nothing to do with politics.  Apparently, Franklin had ascertained that Norris owned an extensive library of rare books, and that there was one book in particular, which just so happened to be a favorite of Norris’, that had caught Franklin’s interest.  He would be incredibly grateful, Franklin told Norris, if he might be able to borrow the book for a few days.

Taking the opportunity to showcase his eminence as a scholar and wealthy businessman, Norris sent the book to Franklin right away.  Within a week, Franklin returned the book, along with another note expressing his immense gratitude to Norris for the favor.

Immediately, doubt started creeping in Norris’ mind.  Franklin not only shared the same interest in rare books, but he (Franklin) acted the perfect gentleman, returning the book as promised and demonstrating humble gratitude for the favor.  How could Norris continue to hold ill-will towards a man who acted so respectably?  And what would that say about himself, who loaned Franklin the book?

At the next meeting of the legislature, Norris approached Franklin and engaged him in friendly conversation, something he had never done before.  From then on, Norris became one of Franklin’s strongest political allies, a relationship lasting until Norris’ death in 1766.

ANALYSIS
The opposition that Isaac Norris had first shown Benjamin Franklin in the colonial legislature had deeply worried Franklin.  Norris was wealthy, well-educated, and ambitious, “with talents,” Franklin tells us, “that were likely to give him, in time, great influence” over the other members of legislature.  Although Franklin was able to win the vote for reappointment, he could perceive the potential problem of having Norris as an adversary in the legislature.

In resolving this predicament, Franklin showed expert use of the Sun Tzu Way to enact his own success.  Let’s examine how.

First, Franklin examined his situation.  Franklin knew that if he became openly more antagonistic towards Norris, confronting him publicly at legislature meetings, he would only strengthen Norris’ negative feelings towards Franklin.

On the other hand, Franklin also did not wish to gain Norris’ “favor by paying any servile respect to him.”  What Franklin wanted was the ability to push forward his career unopposed and, hopefully, with Norris’ respect and support.

Articulating what he wanted to achieve, Franklin moved on to gathering some intelligence about Norris.  Observing Norris closely at legislature meetings and using insiders to accrue information, Franklin was able to glean two important facts about Norris:

1. Norris courted attention and sought to be liked and admired by everyone in the legislature.  This is most likely the reason he envied Franklin (who was very well-liked and admired) and opposed him.
2. Because of his wealth and education, Norris had accrued a large collection of rare books, of which Norris was very proud.  Having such a collection helped to promote an image of eminence in his community.

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​Using this intelligence, Franklin was able to craft a simple plan to influence Norris indirectly. He decided he would ask if he could borrow a book (Norris’ favorite) from this special library, and then return the book and show extreme gratitude for the loan.  Such a plan had three key elements.

First, by requesting something completely irrelevant to politics, Franklin was able to lower any suspicions Norris may have had regarding Franklin trying to win political favor.

Second, by honing in on Norris’ prized library, which represented Norris’ deep rooted need for being seen as noble and preeminent in society, Franklin appealed to Norris’ vanity.  In addition, Franklin was also able to establish common interest with Norris, making Norris more open to liking Franklin since they shared apparent similarities.

Third, by requesting a favor with which Norris, due to his vanity and lowered suspicions, was almost sure to comply, Franklin was able to instill doubt in his colleague.  Norris’ opinion of Franklin would have to change, or else he wouldn’t be able to justify to himself why he had lent Franklin the book in the first place.

In this way, Norris’ opinion of Franklin changed and he was able to see Franklin as someone whom he could support, not oppose.  Using this simple, yet shrewd strategy, Franklin was able to secure Norris’ respect and support and enjoy an alliance that helped push him forward politically.

We can see here how Franklin integrates the four qualities of a winning strategy (profitable, easy, quick, and surprising), allowing him to overcome the obstacle he was facing and achieve a better position than he was in before (quan sheng). Let's look in greater detail at how he did this:

1. Profitable. Franklin's strategy would be profitable. If successful, it would help him win an ally or at least reduce Norris' opposition to him in the legislature.
2. Protected. Franklin's plan had little downside. If it failed (i.e. if Norris simply refused to lend him the book), then it would have no real cost to Franklin.
   
3. Easy. Franklin's plan was very simple to execute: ask to borrow the book and return it. There was nothing complicated about the approach.
4. Quick. In addition, Franklin's plan, being uncomplicated, could be implemented quickly.
5. Surprising. The effect on Norris was surprising, catching him off-guard and forcing Norris (subconsciously) to look at Franklin in a more positive light.

The result? Benjamin Franklin wins an important ally who is able to strengthen his positioning in the colonial legislature - a quintessential example of quan sheng (total victory) that defines Sun Tzu's ideal outcome when facing challenges.