Profiting in the Competitive Economy by Utilizing The Secret Behind Sunzi's Art of War Principles

 

(updated on 11.01.13, at 1118 hr)

The key to successfully defeating any competitor with minimum damage is knowing how to thaw their plans. Collecting information is the first step.

The Art of War readers (aka. The Cult of the Art of War) usually like to talk about the content from Chapter Four (Strategic Disposition) Chapter Five (Strategic Power) and Chapter 6 (Weak Points and Strong Points) of the Art of War essay. This is due to their inclination to act on instinct.  Their belief is that they can plan their way to win regardless what the odds are. This approach only works if the competition is weak and that the risk consequence of failing is not lethal.

However, the real secret is knowing how to specifically assess one's competition in the context of the 13 Chapters.  ... You do know how to do that. Do you? 


The Solution: The Sunzi's Strategic Approach 
To fulfill the mentioned goal, one must know how to properly gather relevant intelligence without being noticed and the approach for assessing it promptly.

The successful strategists only plan when he/she knows their goals and the configuration of their strategic foundation.

The successful strategists only know whether their goal is possible when he/she understands the configuration of their terrain and their situation

The successful strategists understand the configuration of their terrain when he/she knows what are the influences that affects it.  

The successful strategists understand the way of the influences when he/she knows the matrix of connectivity.

Those mentioned steps are all do-able when one knows the approaches for collecting those specific intelligence and assessing it promptly.

The Basics of the Compass Process Model
When you are able to complete the first step, you are one step closer to becoming two steps ahead of the competition. Click here and here for more information on the "two steps ahead" strategic approach.

Comments From the Compass Desk
Those with an interest in the historical practice of spycraft might find Dr. Ralph Sawyer's discussion with Dr. Mark Stout, Historian at the International Spy Museum, of some great interest. It has recently become freely available as a "spycast" at www.spymuseum.org/spycast, date of August 5th. (Time constraints precluded pursuing the numerous contemporary implications but Qin's historical employment of subversion to conquer the realm is discussed in Sawyer's classic Tao of Spycraft.) 

Click here for more information. 

Reading Chapter 13 of the Art of War could only go so far.  The ultra class professionals usually read this classic whenever they need a new idea.

We highly recommend to our serious strategic readers to listen to the Sawyer's discussion before  to focus their time and their effort on reading  Dr. Sawyer's The Tao of Spycraft. They will learn the true essence behind the origin of a non-stopping strategic exploitation.

The reading is quite dry. However, many of our associates of all sorts also highly recommended this book.  If you want to profit in our "extremely" competitive economy, focus on securing the path of least resistance by centering yourself first.  Then, proceed toward reading this classic book.

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