Spreading the Message of "Knowing the Big Tangible Picture"

I did a presentation on strategic decision-making through the use of the Chinese strategic principles at a local MBA school this past week.

Most of the lecture encompassed the fundamentals behind the Art of War, the seven strategic classics, the basics of our Compass process and the importance of assessing the "Big Tangible Picture."

I asked the students the following question, "... Have any of you ever spent one hr per week, assessing the 'Big Tangible Picture?' ..." There was only one person who responded with a yes. (I expected that number was going to be no more than one or two.) She was immediately rewarded with a hardback copy of Ralph Sawyer's Art of War.

Later on, two of the students talked to me about the importance of planning. I responded with this question, "How can you plan (efficiently) for anything when you don't know what's around you? ..."

One of them told me that the philosophy of his operational group was based on Liddell Hart's maxims of strategy.

My view on the Liddell's strategic principles was, "... Planning against a weaker opponent is usually easy. When you are competing against competition who has the same amount of resources (as you do) and a larger manpower, what is your strategic counter? ... Would you be fully prepared against them as you would be against a smaller opposition? ... In Asia, the smaller and medium-sized companies utilized the principles of the Seven Strategic Classics and other relevant strategy classics (in their ventures) . ... They assessed the "Big Tangible Picture" before deciding anything strategically. ... They are focused on not committing macro errs. ... Are you doing that? ..."

Their response was, "No matter what, we are going to out plan them."

Compass Rule:

Assessment precedes planning and preparation. ... Preparation precedes performance.

Comprehending your terrain and the participants within it, is usually the first step. Knowing their goals, their objectives and their time cycles is the next step.

# Side bar: Liddell Hart's book presents eight good points on planning offensive campaigns. It is a good guide for the novice strategic planners who possessed an abundance of resources. For those who compete against larger opposition (with an abundant of resources), we recommended the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China and the 100 Unorthodox Strategies.