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"The difficulty of armed struggle is in using the indirect to serve as the direct, using danger to serve as advantage. Thus, [the enemy's] path may be indirect, but entice him [to it] by means of advantage, and your last [soldiers] will issue forth as his first ones arrive. This is the knowledge of one who calculates the indirect and direct."
- Sun Tzu In Sun Tzu's time, most generals, when deciding to contend for a specific advantage (e.g. a specific ground, an alliance, etc.), directed their army to take the quickest, most direct route, hoping to obtain the advantage before their enemies were able to. For Sun Tzu, though, this is a mistake (for reasons he expounds in the next few passages). Rather what the general should do is make the indirect route seem like it is direct, to make danger seem like advantage. By doing this, he can entice his enemy into taking the indirect route towards danger, allowing his last troops to leave just as the enemy is arriving. In other words, the skilled general doesn't simply compete with the enemy for some contested advantage; rather, he first lures his enemy away from the advantage (for example, by showing a weakness in his defense, an alluring opportunity to attack), and then mobilizes his troops to take the real advantage. Such skill is not easy. It requires understanding how to calculate the direct and the indirect routes as well as the dangers and advantages so that one can effectively deceive the enemy. But, for Sun Tzu, learning this skill is essential to overcoming the dangers of armed struggle. Such is the case in your own life. In your path to success, you will need to gain some sort of advantage - a scholarship, a job position, a relationship, a client, etc. Rather than competing with someone else for this advantage, it is much more important to lure this person away from the advantage. Send them down a longer, more circuitous path. Give them something that will take their attention. You should never compete with someone else for the same advantage.
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"In general, the way of military operations is
- Sun Tzu The title of Book 7 is "Armed Struggle." While this passage seems to talk about a single general, it is important to understand that Sun Tzu means both sides follow military operations this way. This is the meaning of the "struggle": like two opponent chess players setting up their pieces across from each other on the board, the generals of the opposing sides must set up their armies and start thinking about how they will employ their troops to gain a position of advantage over their enemy. Sun Tzu tells us that nothing is more difficult than deciding, after the army is assembled and encamped, what the army should contend for and how should they contend for it. One must choose where one is going to mobilize the army, what grounds the army should occupy, what pathway should they follow, what advantages they are hoping to find. These are all decisions that, if made wrong, could be disastrous for the army. Thus, Book 7 will delve into why it is important to understand the dangers of employing the army, since, as Sun Tzu tells us in Book 2, "one who does not fully know the dangers of using the army cannot fully know the advantages of using the army." In life, your situation is the same,. Once you've determined the path of success you wish to start, you have to be clear about what you are contending for and how you will contend for it. Are you really going to take the same path that everyone else is taking? Is it really the best move to spend thousands of dollars or go deeper into debt to do that education program? Should you really take that job with long hours or long days of travel away from your family just to get higher pay? Are you really going to take on any client just to get money for your small business? Are you really going to exclusively date that one person who doesn't have a job or a stable life just because they are "fun"? Your success depends on the choices you make. If you do not think about the risks of certain choices, the dangers they may provide you, then you open yourself up to more and more expensive disasters down the line. What you contend for and how you contend for it should be your first considerations before you take on any endeavor or journey. "One who is able to adapt to the enemy and obtain victory is called 'divine.' Thus, of the five phases, none is constantly victorious. Of the four seasons, none hold a constant position. The day is short or long; the moon is dead or alive."
- Sun Tzu In this final passage of Book 6, Sun Tzu links the army's ability to be "like water" and adapt to the enemy with Heaven, calling this ability "divine." Such an ability is considered "divine" because it adheres to the same principle that governs the movement of celestial bodies (like the sun and the moon) and the effect this movement has on us (i.e. in the form of the seasons). Sun Tzu's point, though poetic, is clear: because it imitates the changing nature of nature itself, an army that is responsive to its enemy, adapts to its enemy's movements, appears natural - as natural as the passing of the seasons, the changing length of days, the waxing and waning of the moon. This effect is powerful because it makes it difficult for the enemy to know what the army is planning. In life, you must take heed of this understanding. Taking a formless position makes your actions appear natural and mysterious to others. Just as it is difficult to comprehend why nature operates the way it does, people will find it difficult to understand why you are acting the way you are acting. Being unable to comprehend your actions, you will have an advantage in making any competitive moves. "The army's positioning should imitate water. Just as water avoids the high and rushes to the low, the army's positioning must avoid the full and strike the empty. Just as water follows the ground, which determines its flow, the army responds to the enemy, who determines its victory. Therefore, the army does not have constant force, just as water does not have constant form."
- Sun Tzu This is probably one of the most important passages in Sun Tzu, which describes how he envisions the army. For Sun Tzu, formlessness does not mean the army should have no positioning. Rather, it means that its positioning is completely dependent on the enemy - on the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. And thus, its positioning is always changing according to the enemy. The army should never attack where the enemy is strong, but always aim for where the enemy is weak - where he is least prepared, where he is fewest, where he is not expecting. This is the driving principle for Sun Tzu's strategy. As it should be for you, as well. Never go into a situation with a pre-determined strategy or plan. Your first step must always be to study the situation, understand your options, and choose the option that allows you to move forward with the least amount of resistance. "Therefore, his battle victories do not repeat, and his responding positions have no end."
- Sun Tzu This passage harkens back to the previous Book on shih, where Sun Tzu tells us that it is through proper-surprising that one creates endless variations of achieving victory (5.4). For Sun Tzu, the winning combination of concealment and surprise allows one to continuously change one's position in response to the enemy's weak points. Because every enemy is different, one's strategy always changes. Yet the principles of attack - concealment and surprise - never change. "Therefore, the ultimate military position goes as far as formlessness. If formless, then the deep gaps cannot be pried into, the wise cannot plan. Determine your position, and you let slip victory over the many. The many cannot be aware. All may know the position by which we achieve victory, but none may know the position by which we created victory."
- Sun Tzu As he has stated many times before, victory in battle, for Sun Tzu, depends on one's ability to be concealed (or formless) until one can surprise the enemy at the points where he is weak. This is true especially if one's army is smaller than the enemy's. The element of surprise is crucial. If the enemy knows the position by which one strives to achieve victory, he can easily defend against it. In your own life, concealment is equally as important. Conceal your intentions, conceal your strategy, conceal your positioning. People may be able to see that you achieved a certain position of success, but they should not be able to see all the little maneuvers you had to do to get there. Everything rests on your ability to keep your situation hidden. "Therefore, lure him, and you know his calculations for gains and losses. Feint him, and you know his logic for moving and stopping. Position against him [in battle], and you know his ground for dying and living. Compete with him [for resources], and you know where he has more than enough or is lacking."
- Sun Tzu This passage details precisely what Sun Tzu means when he says to "know" the enemy (3.10). Knowing the enemy means understanding how the enemy will respond to various situations - that is, how the enemy thinks and what he values. So, for example, luring the enemy tells you what the enemy is hoping to gain or avoid losing. Feinting the enemy - that is, pretending to attack one place - tells you how the enemy moves. Positioning your soldiers in battle shows you how the enemy will prepare to fight. Competing with the enemy for a certain ground tells you what the enemy needs. Thus, for Sun Tzu, there are four key pieces of information the general must gather about his enemy's thought process:
All four of these key pieces of information allows one to do what Sun Tzu prescribes earlier in this Book. So understanding how the enemy calculates gains and losses allows one to "trouble him," "starve him," and "stir him" (6.2). Understanding how he reacts to danger allows one to "go out to where he does not hurry" and "hurry to places he does not expect" (6.3). Understanding what he is willing to fight for or is willing to concede to allows one to control the time and place of battle (6.7). Understanding what the enemy is lacking or has in excess allows one to "rush to the enemy's weak points" (6.6). As you can see, then, for Sun Tzu, having control over the battle relies on knowing the enemy - knowing how he thinks, how he makes decisions. In life, these same pieces of information are valid. Whenever you are competing you must determine:
This becomes the basis of your strategy. To figure these things out, you'll have to employ the tactics Sun Tzu advises. Lure your competitors with the prospect of some gain - for example, a rumor about you, a dissatisfied review, etc. - to see if they take the bait. Feint your opponents by threatening them in some area - for example, perhaps your business will take on a feature they offer - to see how they respond. Take a stance on some area - for example, attacking them in public - to see if they take up the fight. Compete with them in some area - for example, for a certain client or market - to see how desperate they are for the resource. Remember: the ultimate goal is to control the dynamic of the competition. If you have control over how your competitors respond, no matter how big or strong they are, then you have the advantage. "By my estimation, though the soldiers of Yueh were many, what was their advantage in victory? Therefore, it is said: 'Victory can be achieved.' Thus, even if the enemy is many, he can be made not to fight."
- Sun Tzu Here Sun Tzu provides a historical reference to the soldiers of Yueh to support his argument. Yueh was a southern state in Ancient China that was the enemy of Wu, the state Sun Tzu would come to serve. Despite Yueh's superior numbers over Wu, Wu would often win the battles. Sun Tzu's point is simply to reinforce his points before - that absolute numbers do not matter. What matters is concentrating resources towards the enemy's weak points, i.e. where the enemy is not concentrated. "If one knows neither the ground of battle nor the day of battle, then the left cannot assist the right, the right cannot assist the left, the front cannot assist the rear, the rear cannot assist the front. What is the situation if [one's enemy] is ten li away, or as close as one li?"
- Sun Tzu For Sun Tzu, knowledge is the key to preparation. Without knowledge, one cannot coordinate a cohesive response. It is through attacking the enemy's knowledge - their ability to know where and when an attack is coming - that one is able to divide the enemy. A divided enemy allows one to concentrate one's forces at the enemy's weakest points, even if the enemy is numerous. Take this to heart in your own life. Keep your intentions concealed. Don't let your competitors know when and where you are going to make a move. Your goal is to catch any competitor, especially if they have more resources than you, unprepared. As Sun Tzu tells us in Book 3, "One who, prepared, awaits the unprepared will win." "Therefore, if you know the ground of battle and know the day of battle, then you can be a thousand li (away) and still join in battle."
- Sun Tzu The foundation of success for Sun Tzu is knowledge. This is the pillar upon which everything else rests. As Sun Tzu tells us in Book 3, "[K]now the other and know the self, and in one hundred battles, there will be no danger." It is important to know, though, that what Sun Tzu means by "knowledge" is not how we normally think of knowledge. We tend to think of knowledge as "holding facts in our minds" - for example, knowing Abraham Lincoln is our 16th president or that two plus two equals four. We call this kind of knowledge "declarative knowledge." What Sun Tzu means by knowing the ground and day of battle is different from this kind of knowledge. What Sun Tzu means by knowing the ground and time of battle is determining what is the most advantageous place and time for battle. Determining this is a matter of carefully analyzing the five factors mentioned in Book 1 (The Way, Heaven, Ground, General, and Methods). Thus, the knowledge that Sun Tzu is speaking of is not simply the ability to articulate facts (i.e. what has happened), but to determine what the best course of action is and when the best time to take this course is, given one's current understanding of the situation. We can call this kind of knowledge "decisive knowledge." For Sun Tzu, decisive knowledge gives one a sense of control (zhi), which is why he tells us that if you know the time and place of battle, "you can be a thousand li away and still join in battle." (A li is about a third of a mile, so over 300 miles away). This is because deciding, based on analysis, the place and day of battle allows you to march unhampered, take up a position that the enemy cannot attack, and attack where the enemy is unguarded (see 6.4). In your own life, you need to develop your capacity for decisive knowledge. You need to look at your situation, analyze it, and determine when and where you are going to make your move. After knowing this, you can plan a route to effectively getting there. It is important to note that decisive knowledge is not absolute. Your situation is constantly changing. In these situations (as we'll see in later Books), you'll need to hold your position and wait. But you always decide these decisions based analysis of the situation. |
