Pragmatic Practices (5): The Dao of the Strategists

“These are the ways that successful strategists are victorious. They cannot be spoken or transmitted in advance. ... Before the confrontation, they resolve in their conference room that they will be victorious, have determine that the majority of factors are in their favor. Before the confrontation they resolve in their conference room that they will not be victorious, have determine few factors are in their favor.

If those who find that the majority of factors favor them, will be victorious while those who have found few factors favor them will be defeated, what about someone who finds no factors in their favor? When observing from this viewpoint, victory and defeat will be apparent."

- Art of War 1 (Paraphrased from the Sawyer's translation) ”

We believed that the ancient Sunzi strategists used a net assessment process that was based on these factors. If used correctly, this process could quantify the possibility of victory.

When Sunzi left the Wu State, he took his trade secrets with him. He did not believed in giving it away to the people who were not appreciative of his strategic skills. Many years later, the Yueh state annexed the Wu State.

Notes From the Compass Desk

One can only achieve that viewpoint of "planning one's way to victory" if they are able to find the path of least resistance through the practice of sound and solid assessment.

Most amateurs believed that they can plan themselves to victory with simple quotes and minimal answers. If they do not understanding the settings of their days, there is a possibility of being involved in long and tiresome struggles. It usually costs them a great amount of resources. In summary, the amateurish approach demoralizes the team.

We at Compass360 Consulting have been experimenting with this concept for many months. If you are interested in learning about it, please contact us.