The Art of War's Chapter 13: Gathering Intelligence

Intelligence gathering is always in motion. One can see it from one professional sport to another.   It also happens in politics and business.

This is how the game is being played in a competitive economy.  

Is it ethical?  This depends on how one practices the art and the science of gathering intelligence. 

Exploiting the intelligence in a productive mode is another story.

Gathering Intelligence in the Information Economy
On the web, elite class business rivals usually visited each other and see nothing.  The context is generalized. The numbers could be deceptively published. How do they get the strategic advantage?

Start from ground zero and begin your journey by reading Chapter 1 and Chapter 13 of the Art of War. Connect the content between those two chapters and the other chapters through the use of the various strategic factors and you might reap the rewards.  You might also understand the framework of our process model.  Some parts of it could be found here.

The Fallacy of The "Planning to Win" Approach
The planning stage of any strategy is worthless if the researched information has minimal value. One can only adjust so far especially when the timeline factor and the resources factor become prevalent.

Eighteen months ago, we met amateurs who claimed that they can plan their way to a victory. Their concept of scheming and planning was near-perfect. They believed that their plans will prevail repeatedly. 

It helped that these  "wonder kids"had the advantage of a rich uncle.  They  sometime practiced the  micro approach of "one shot one win" or  the approach of "adjusting to the situation until it is right."  Both approaches become worthless if the tactician does not comprehend the rate of change and the possible adjustment strategies of the opposing  tactician.  

In rare situations, they were defeated by another competitor, with less resources. Their usual reasoning was that it was an incident of bad mojo or poor mindful awareness.  

Grinding, grounding and pounding was their usual style.  They definitely did not practice the Li Quan view of contesting.

Sooner or later, these amateurs will meet a strong competitor who has greater resources and smart strategic thinkers.  Then they will realize that their "kitchen sink" approaches do not always work.  There is a small possibility that their stronger competitor will not be gracious.

Thoughts From The Compass Desk

The Art of War essay or any of the popular strategy classics do not really explain how to operate in this situation.   So, what is the  answer?  

Do you think that the so-called strategy experts possessed the answer?

Send us a message and we might tell you.