A Question for the Perceptive Strategist

Source: Random

(updated) 

Sunzi essay states that there are  five general types of obstacles that the perceptive strategist could encounter in any strategic endeavor. 

Mountains, valleys, rivers, flat lands and salt marshes are those five.  (Some translations have categorize mountains and valleys as one type.)

Regarding to specificity, there is a difference.


The Question of the Day
How  does one applies this perspective to their strategic endeavor? 

Another View on the Sunzi's Victory Temple Model vs. The Moscow Rules.

Source: Random

(updated) 

My associates and I are not in the intelligence business.  Nor do we play the role of intelligence gathering operators on a TV show. However, we just possess an "above average" comprehension of how to connect the exploitation of  strategic intelligence to the strategy game.

Review of the Moscow Rules
Moscow Rules are a set of guidelines used for chaotic situations.    ... Click here for more information

The Sunzi's Victory Temple Model
The Sunzi's Victory Temple model requires someone to be deliberately mindful of their terrain and beyond, the past events, the present moment and the projected future before concluding a decision.  This strategic intelligence-driven model/methodology operates on the premise of identifying the factors that leads to the development and the implementation of a strategic multiplier. 
  While Moscow rules are designed for those who cannot and/or would not spend some time, reading the circumstance while  enjoying the act of pulling a bunch of rules from their "deriair,"

Their frame of reference is quite finite and is usually based on incomplete information.

Certain surviving parties who have used it, succeeded  for various reasons. We assessed that their superior tactical acumen was not the main reason.  The incompetency and/or the un-mindfulness of their opposing counterparts are usually the primary origin of their success.

In the field game where a decision can mean life and death. It does not matter whether the below average decision maker got lucky with a bad decision or a good decision maker got screwed with a good decision and bad circumstances.  Completing the objective while surviving is the name of the game. 

Sooner or later, the decision maker will regress to their mean. 


The Two Questions of the Day
In a chaotic setting where you have the advantage of time, do you think with your basic instinct?  Or  do you strategize?

The True Motive Behind Scripting The Starter Plays

One of the grandest traditions in the game of coaching football is the practice of scripting one's offensive starter plays, for the purpose of identifying the motives and the methods of their opposition. 

The originator of this moderately simple but innovative practice was Bill Walsh, the architect of the West Coast Offense and the former head coach of the San Francisco Forty Niners between 1979-1989.  

Beside the implementation of the script, Walsh also innovated the short-range passing attack portion of the West Coast Offense and the ratiocination for building a world class organization.

Under the leadership of Coach Walsh, the San Francisco Forty Niners won three Super Bowl Championships.  Some members of his football family have also won Super Bowls and many college bowls.

Click here on the brief history and the technicalities for scripting the starter plays

The Psychology of Scripting the Starter Plays
Before knowing the true motive behind scripting the starter plays, the smart strategist must know the following target points for scripting the starter plays: 

• the technical weaknesses of the opposing defense (field players and sideline players);
• the confirmation of the tactical deficiencies of the opposing defense; 
• the identification of situational proclivity of the defensive playcaller;  
• the approach for staging the opposing defense for adjustment plays and 
• the staging of plays that would exploit their true inefficiencies.

By performing the above five points, the successful strategist is able to influence the opposing defense to be reactive.   

With the right play and the proper execution, this "real time" process enables the offensive coordinator to know when to call the game-changing play.  

(More to come.)

The Intricacies of Scripting Plays  
To properly develop the script of starter plays, the offensive coordinator must have the drive to knowing each and every technical deficiencies of the defense and possessed the mindset to measure and manipulate the defensive play caller and the defensive team who are operating on the field.  

When the script is working, the offensive coordinator and his scouting team begin to notice the confirmation of the targeted defensive player's base tendencies in various tactical situations (i.e., the "down and distance" situations, etc.) and their reactions to certain offensive formations, alignments, shifts and motions.

The Question of the Day

One of the unique challenges of running a scripted play while adjusting to the constant shifting of the defensive line and the constant threat of delayed blitzes and multiple blitzes from different directions. As a strategic thinker, do you know how to capitalize on that?

Side Notes
Connecting the principles from the Sunzi's essay to the process of scripting is a metaphysical challenge for the amateurs. Having the drive to seeing the Big Tangible Picture while possessing the technical foundation of strategic thinking is the key to building a good starter script.

The alpha fundamental to becoming successfully competitive is to properly assessing the strategic situation while performing one or more of the following points:

• Building the starter script and the master script of plays on the strengths and the weaknesses of players on both sides
• Implementing the starter script properly;
• Knowing when to adjust to and from the starter script; and 
• Convincing the offensive team to believe in the tangibility behind it.

The Final Note
We will publish our "Scripting" book sometime in the future.

Succeeding in the Information Economy by Assessing the Big Tangible Picture (Using the Game of Go Analogy)

Go is essentially a form of harmony. Go in the 21st century will have to be go of the 'harmony of the six points - the four quarters, the above and the below.' As in life we will need to view the whole rather than the part. Japanese go has focused too heavily on the local (joseki) rather than the whole for 300 years. The reason the Chinese and Koreans are overtaking the Japanese is that they are closer to achieving this whole-board view. 

Go Seigen, 9p, 1994

source: Gobase.org

The Question of the Day

How do you utilize the whole-board view to assess the Big Tangible Picture (BTP)?

Side Note 
Click here and here for some hints. The mastery of this information enables you to do this.

More on How to Become Strategically Two Moves Ahead of the Competition

Lets begin this post with the question.  ...  

It is an interesting question for those who are competitive.  Now, click here for part one of the answer (It offered the perspective from the Art of War and another viewpoint from the game of Go (Weiqi).)

The Next to the Final Stage of the Answer
This is not a game theory situation, where there is a direct contest between two principals and everything is near-obvious.  

In a competitive situation where there are many pertinent strategic and tactical factors.  
Finding what relevant factors is in play is the challenge. 

Depending on the quality of information and the number of participating competitors,  the situation could become quite complex.

The clues to this approach can be found in the first two sections of Jiang Tai Gong (JTG's) Six Secret Teachings and chapter one of the Art of War.

Step One: Understand the scope of the situation.  
By being two steps ahead of the game,  the successful strategists can play the Jiang Tai Gong approach of pre-positioning and luring.  

You can find a good example in the 2010's Samurai movie classic "The 13 Assassins" where the protagonists knew the route, the strategic power and the tendencies of their target. 

Then, they altered their target's grand setting for the purpose of influencing him toward their lethal trap while transforming other portions of their own setting for the purpose of gaining a higher state of strategic power.

Sun Bin at Mai Ling is a good historical example.  ...  We will post the additional steps in the future.

Minor Jottings
Unlike what the Cult of the Art of War espouses to their followers, one cannot learn this skill from reading the Art of War.  It offers to the novices a mere glimmer of hope.   As many of us know, that the attribute of hope is not a strategy or a destination.  

Retrospectively one needs a methodology that offers an overview that depicts the connectivity and the tangibility of their situation.  ... A good methodology emphasizes on the practice of assessing, positioning and influencing.

The Practice of Strategic Assessment
Good strategic assessment begins by knowing the Big Tangible Picture of each principal in terms of their objectives, their approaches, the means and the modes.  ... Understanding the complexity, the connectivity, the consistency and the continuity of a Big Tangible Picture are some of the key points to a good strategic assessment.  

Those who are competitively ambitious, could build this exotic skill through the game of Go (weiqi) where misdirecting and luring are the norms.   He or she might get lucky in understanding the mechanics of these grand concepts after playing a minimum of 10 thousand games.  

So, how did we learned this unique concept?  We spent numerous hours talking to the various "no-name" experts who indirectly revealed their views on strategy to us.   ... Humorously, those who know, don't really say.  ... They have only offered their hints to us through their stories and their actions.  After awhile, we built the skillset of knowing what are the factors behind any strategic situation and how they all connect in certain situations. 

Q: So, do you know how to be strategically two steps ahead of your competition?

#

Profiting in the Competitive Economy: How to Become Strategically Two Moves Ahead of the Competition

Before contemplating on the next strategic move, the successful strategist always asks himself, "How do I know if I am one or two moves ahead or behind my competition?"

A: The answer is in the Sunzi's  Art of War

" ... If I know my team can attack, but do not know the competition cannot be attacked, it is only halfway to victory. If I know the competition can be attacked, but do not realize our team cannot attack, it is only halfway to victory. Knowing that the competition can be attacked, and knowing that our army can attack, but not knowing the terrain is not suitable for combat, is only halfway to victory. Thus one who truly knows the army will never be deluded when he moves, never be impoverished when initiating an action.

Thus it is said if you know them and know yourself, your victory will not be imperiled. If you know Heaven and Earth, your victory can be complete. ... " 

- Paraphrased from Sun Tzu's Art of War 10 (Sawyer's translation)

This is one' of many approaches to staying one to two steps ahead of the competition. 

Compass Principle

By anticipating two steps ahead of your customers and/or your competition and having the half step advantageous move, one is ahead of the strategy game

The Question of the Day:

• Why would any successful strategist make a strategic move that offers the advantage of being an half step ahead?  

The Answer 
"One who excels at competition will await events in the situation without making any movement. When he sees he can be victorious, he will arise; if he sees he cannot be victorious, he will desist. Thus it is said that he does not have any fear, he does not vacillate. Of the many harms that can beset an organization, indecision is the greatest. Of disasters that can befall an organization, none surpasses doubt."

"One who excels in competition will not lose an advantage when he perceives it or be doubtful when he meets the opportunity. One who loses an advantage or lags behind the time for action will, on the contrary, suffer from disaster. Thus the wise follow the time and do not lose an advantage; the skillful are decisive and have no doubts. He strikes like a sudden clap of thunder, which does not give time to cover ears; strike like a flash of lightning, which does not give time to close the eyes. Advance as is suddenly startled; employ your team as if deranged. Those who oppose you will be destroyed; those who come near will perish. Who can defend against such an attack?"

"Now when matters are not discussed and general preserves their secrecy, he is superior. When things are not manifest but he discerns them, he is wise. Thus if superior and wise, no enemies will act against him in the field, nor will any state stand against him."  
- Tai Gong  ( Paraphrased from The Six Secret Teachings, 26)

Ask your local Art of War (AoW) strategy expert if he or she knows the answer.  By looking at a copy of the Seven Strategy Classics and some of the other arcane classics, you might find the right answer. 

What is the Way of Aggressive Competition? 
(from Jiang Tai Gong)
"The offensive disposition of any relevant competitor should change in accord with the movements of their opposition. And changes coming from the confrontation between the two parties. Unorthodox and orthodox tactics are produced from inexhaustible resources of the mind. Thus the greatest affairs are not discussed, and the employment of manpower is not spoken about. Moreover, words which discuss ultimate affairs are not not to be discussed openly. The employment of manpower is not so definitive as to be visible. They go suddenly, they come suddenly. Only when someone who can exercise sole control over the team, without being governed by other men, is a strategic weapon."

"If your plans are heard about, the competition will implement counter strategies. If you are perceived, they will plot against you. If your objectives are known, they will put you in difficulty. If you are fathomed, they will endanger you."

"Thus one who excels in competition has already won before the deployment of manpower. One who excels at eliminating the misfortunes of the people manages them before they appear. Conquering the competition, being victorious by being formless. The superior competitor has won before engaging in contest. Thus one who fights and attains victory in using extreme measures is not a good strategist. One who makes preparation after the contest is started, has been lost is not a superior sage. One whose skill is the same as the masses is not a superior artisan."

"In unique competitive matters, nothing is more important than certain victory. In employing one's manpower, nothing is more important than obscurity and silence. In movement, nothing is more important than the unexpected. In planning, nothing is more important than not being knowable. To be the first to gain victory, initially display some weakness to the enemy and only afterward do battle. Then your effort will be half, but the achievement will be doubled."

"The Sage observes signs from the movements of Heaven and Earth and knows its principles. He observes the movement of the sun and the moon and understand their seasonal activity. He follows the cycles of day and night, taken them as his constant. All things have life and death in accord with the principles of Heaven and Earth. Thus it is said that if one fights before understanding the situation, even if he is more numerous, he will certainly be defeated."

Another Question 
Why is Jiang Tai Gong's Six Secret Teachings important to the hardcore strategists?

The Answer (partial)
" ... Although the Art of War remains the only book known in the West, the Wu-tzu and Six Secret Teachings proved to be highly important sources for military wisdom over the centuries, and the latter continues to be held in higher esteem among contemporary PRC military professionals. .."  -  Ralph Sawyer

If the PRC military professionals are reading it, why are you not reading it?

Comments From The Compass Desk
The strategists who wants to stay ahead of the competition, must know what dots to connect and how to connect them.  

We will continue this topic on Wednesday. 
#

Profiteering in the Competitive Economy through Sunzi's Art of War

One of the most difficult challenges for most Chief Decision Makers is to understand the Big Tangible Picture.within one's competitive settings and beyond.

Profiteering in our risk-driven competitive economy means that one must have the skillset to identify the technicalities within the Big Tangible Picture (the bigger tangible picture of their marketplace and beyond) while avoiding the intent to concentrate on competitive myopia.  Instead of focusing on the competition, this arcane category of strategic focal points usually enables the chief decision makers to capitalize on the unseen opportunities. 

#

The Compass A/E Process
Following is an abridged abstract on the basic framework of our process

What are the Five Critical Strategic Factors?

The Dao Factor

• This factor represents the matrix of connectivity that links the various strategic and tactical factors into one Big Tangible Picture (BTP).

The Rate of Change Factor

• This factor focuses on the change rate of each individual strategic and tactical factors. 

The Strategic State of the Grand Situation Factor

• This factor focuses on the specific attributes behind each individual strategic and tactical factors. 

The Efficacy of the Strategic Leadership Factor

• This factor focuses on the specific attributes that determine whether the competitor has the leadership to adjust to the grand situation. 

The Effectiveness of the Implemented Logistics Factor

• This factor focuses on whether the logistics are consistent or exceed the criteria of the strategic standards . 

#

Interacting the Five Critical Strategic Factors 
with the Five Competitive Forces 

Copyright  2008-2013 © Compass360 Consulting

Copying, posting and reproduction in any form (
without prior consent) is an infringement of copyright.

The above chart shows the relationship between the Five Critical Strategic Factors and Michael Porter's Five Competitive Forces. 

By comprehending the connectivity behind the configuration of their targeted marketplace from the different perspectives while being mindfully aware of the constant motion of the five competitive forces, one could understand the strategic efficiency of their competition. 

If used correctly, the chief decision makers is able to prioritize the order of competitive forces.

Our future white paper (and strategy book) will explain the unique connection between these two grand sets of concepts and the approach to understanding where are the threats and where are the opportunities.

Connecting the 
Five Critical Strategic Factors 
to The Compass Matrix

Copyright  2008-2013 © Compass360 Consulting

Copying, posting and reproduction in any form (
without prior consent) is an infringement of copyright.

The above chart shows the grander overview between the Five Critical Strategic Factors, one's own strategic state and the other external (marketing) forces. 

The Compass Chart

Copyright  2008-2013 © Compass360 Consulting

Copying, posting and reproduction in any form 
(without prior consent) is an infringement of copyright.

This Compass Chart is based on the macro concepts of Sunzi's The Art of War.

The intent of this chart is to assist the implementer in identifying the strategic efficiency of each competitor within their own strategic setting and beyond.  The next step is to determine whether the act of thawing their plans is probable. 

There is more than context and Chinese characters behind this exotic chart. Can you decipher the motive and the method behind this visual enigma?  It only took some of our associates who quite understood the gist of the Art of War and the rest of the Eight Military Classics of Ancient China (The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China and Sun Bin's Military Methods) about five years to "compass" the motif of this chart.  In our case, it took eight minutes of our time. 

If someone sends us the proper answer, we will send him or her a copy of Dr. Ralph Sawyer's Essence of War. Are you game? 

By understanding the configuration of the chart, one can also use it for a wide array of worst case scenarios.

The Question of the Day
By understanding the connectivity within your competitive setting and beyond, would you try to achieve "the strategy heaven" while avoiding "the tactical hell"?

Minor Jottings

An non-innovative trust fund baby asked us, "Why don't you surrender your know-how to everyone? ... It will benefit those who are competitive? ... Don't you believe in the greater good?"

By being the grand enthusiasts of Jiang Tai Gong's essay on strategic warfare, we observed the essence of the following grand principle of Six Secret Teachings:

Preserving the Advantage

King Wen asked Tai Gong:"How does one preserve the state's territory?"

Tai Gong said: "Do not estrange your relatives. Do not neglect the masses. Be conciliatory and solicitous towards nearby states and control all that is under you. Do not loan the authority of state to other men. If you loan the authority of state to other men, then you will lose your authority. Do not hurt those of lower position to benefit those of higher position. Do not abandon the fundamental to save those that are inconsequential.

When the sun is at midday, you should dry things. If you grasp a knife, you must cut. If you hold an axe, you must attack."

"If at the height of the day, you do not dry things in the sun, this is termed losing the opportunity.

If you grasp a knife but do not cut anything, you will lose the moment for profits. If you hold an axe and do not attack, enemies will attack instead."

"If trickling streams are not blocked, they will become great rivers. If you do not extinguish the smallest flames, there is nothing much you can do when it turns into great flames.

If you do not eliminate the two-leaf sapling, you might have to use the axe to remove it in future." "For this reason, the ruler must focus on developing wealth within his state. Without material wealth, he has nothing with which to spread beneficence or to bring his relatives together.

If he estranges his relatives it will be harmful. If he loses the common people, he will be defeated. "

"Do not loan sharp weapons to other men. If you loan sharp weapons to other men, you will be hurt by them and will not live out your allotted span of years."

King Wen said:"What do you mean by benevolence and righteousness?"

Tai Gong replied: "Respect the common people, unite your relatives. If you respect the common people, they will be in harmony. And if you unite your relatives, they will be happy. This is the way to implement the essential cords of benevolence and righteousness."

"Do not allow other men to snatch away your awesomeness.Rely on your wisdom, follow the norm. Those that submit and accord with you, treat them generously and virtuously. Those that oppose you, break with force. If you respect the people and trust, the state will be peaceful and populace submissive." - T’ai Kung Liu-t’ao (Six Secret Teachings)

More on this topic can be found in the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China.

Side Note 
The Chinese strategy essays have always emphasized the importance of maintaining one's advantage as long as possible. This could only occur when one has mastered the art of quietude and possessed the metaphysical means to connect the modes to it.

# # # 

Understanding the Competition #3

wikimedia.org

Some of our readers will be predicting the victor of today's Super Bowl game. The assortment of factors that they will be employing to conclude their prediction are quite interesting.

Here is an abridged list of those factors:

• the outcome of the last few games;
• the team colors;
• their favorite uniform numbers;
• the number of All- Pros in each team
• the sentimental reasons;
• the performance quality of the quarterbacks;
• the wins and losses record for each team;
• the current streak of wins;
• the recent two minute scoring drives;
• the number of sacks per game; and
• the number of interceptions per game.

A View From The Compass Desk

The amateurs preferred to look at the big data behind the game. Our preference is to focus on the long data regarding to each team and then summarize some of those data in reference to a set of relevant strategic factors. 

Here is our abridged listing of general strategic factors that we are using to predict the possible winner:

• the injury factor;
• the better defense;
• the balance of the offensive game;
• the quality of competition;
• the balance factor;
• the giveaway and takeaway factor;  (our favorite statistic.)
• the terrain factor;
• the ability to score fast;
• the team's speed to adjust;
• the red zone efficiency factor;
• the momentum of winning over superior competition; and 
• the quarterback ability to adjust to an extreme pass rush.

Do your homework! 

Focus your attention on understanding who has the better strategic power in terms of their competitive disposition, their capitalization of opportunities, their effectiveness of timed execution, their display of illusions and reality. Identify the various categories of mismatches (i.e, offense vs. defense, QB vs. MLB and FS, the offensive line vs. the defensive line, etc.) and you might discover who could be the winner before the game begins.

By analyzing the connectivity behind the various specific match-ups in certain situations and the possibilities in reference to the rate of change, the cause and effect and the probable momentum, one can predict the possible outcome.

Analyzing the ranking of key performance metrics of each team is the first step. Identifying the configuration of their strengths and weaknesses and what are their tendencies in certain tactical situations are what counts

Following is an abridged listing of those situations: 

• The Niners could start their offensive game by employing various run plays against the Ravens "questionable" run defense while the Ravens will begin their attack by going long and deep with a two-three receivers alignment against the Niners "Bend Don't Break" Defense.   We expected the Niners to counter their nickel and dime defense.
• The Ravens attempting an up-tempo no huddle approach against the Niners 
• The Niners spreading the Ravens defense and then run short range pass plays and trap plays with the quick-footed LaMichael James and the speedy Vernon Davis against the slower Ray Lewis and non-agile Bernard Pollard.
• The Ravens countering with pass plays with Ray Rice against the Niner's "Bend and Don't Break" defense
• The Niners will successfully running an assortment of new plays (variations from their previous plays).  
• The Ravens running an assortment of disguised blitzes and man to man coverage  against the Niner's offense.
• The Niners running a series of flood plays that deceptively manipulates a targeted player into making a bad decision. 
• The Ravens attempting the "Alley Opps" pass plays with Anquan Bolden  and the deep pass plays with Torrey Smith against the Niner's cornerbacks especially early in the game.
• The Niners defense forcing the Ravens QB to run out of pocket with a four to five man rush, causing his passes to be intercepted.

Subjugating the Competitor's Foundation

In the college and professional sports, almost each everyone know the basic tendencies of their future competitors. 

To prevent the competitors from knowing one's habits, the Niners possesses one of the largest offensive playbook in the NFL. The late Bill Walsh and his many prodigies are known to possess a very large playbook.  The current Niners braintrust have learned from the Virtual Walsh.

Beside running their myriad of jumbo packages and their wham plays, we expected the Niners to isolate the TE on an one on one isolation against the slow linebackers in some pass situations.  the Niners could also run the pitch option and the pass action pass from their pistol formation against the older and slower Ravens defense. 

Targeting the Weak Points

Good competitive strategists usually target some of their "wear and tear" plays on the inspirational leader/chief decision makers.  The psychological reasoning is quite obvious. We expected the Niners to target some "spread (zone) and isolate" a fast  player onto Ray Lewis while the Ravens will go deep and long against the Niners "Bend Don't Break" Defense.

Food for Thought 

• The turf of the dome usually favors the faster team. Based on the assessed data, which team is favored?
• What is the possibility of the Niners defense knocking out the Ravens receivers?
• Based on the last seven games, how effective is the Raven's run defense?
• The team that takes the lead into the fourth quarter, will they effectively be able to "ground and pound" their opponent to a state of "tap or snap"?
• The team that is running behind, will they be able to effectively "spread and shred" their competitor's prevent defense?

Big Tangible Picture

We believed that both coaches have a deep understanding of the tendencies of each other so well that they might play it conservatively in the beginning of the game. 

During the game, many of the armchair quarterbacks will be expecting Coach Jim Harbaugh (the Niners head coach) and Coach Greg Roman  (the Niners offensive coordinator) will be looking for poor defensive responses on certain plays while creating new opportunities through the various schemes of mismatching.  Vic Fangio (the Niners defensive coordinator) will attempt to identifying the offensive play-calling tendencies of Coach Caldwell (the Ravens offensive coordinator)

We expected that Coach John Harbaugh (the Ravens head coach) to strategically change the tempo of their game whenever the Ravens are in trouble.


Based on history, we also expected that Coach Roman  is going to implement his arsenal of unorthodox plays to unnerve the competition during the early stage of the game. 

Side note:  Unorthodox stratagems (trick plays) sometimes do not matter in a near-predictable setting if one's team has the superior (and experienced) manpower who could adjust to any unique changes.  The Niners has a tactical tendency of using unique formations, multi-personnel packages, shifts and motions to deceive their competition while the Ravens has the habit of executing play action passes.  ... We will discuss the rules of implementing unorthodox stratagems and the approach for playing the contrarian card in a future post.


Point, Counterpoint and Counter, Counterpoint
Regardless that the Niners having more offensive weapons and more speed, the Ravens team has the emotional reason and the spiritual leader.  How would each team subvert the emotional foundation of the other?

Here are the clues:
"Concentrate every effort on subduing its heart and mind." -Military Methods 33

"The expert in using the military has three basic strategies which he applies: the best strategy is to attack the enemy's reliance upon acuteness of mind; the second is to attack the enemy's claim that he is waging a just war; and the last is to attack the enemy's battle position (shi).   -Sun Bin's The Art of Warfare , Chapter 34 (Fragments),  

Summary

Due to the settings of the competitive terrain and the comprehension of both teams tendencies by both coaches, some of us are thinking that the total score of this game is going to be one or three points within the over/under number of 47 points.

Offense thrills the masses.  But it is the defense that wins the championship.

The Questions of the Day

So, what strategic and tactical factors have you been using to assess your company and your competition?
# # # 

The Answer (3)

Lets begin this post with the question. It is an interesting question for those who are competitive.  Now, click here for part one of the answer (This post offers the perspective from the Art of War).  If it does not make sense, then click here for part two of the answer (This post offers another viewpoint from the game of Go (Weiqi).)

The Next to the Final Stage of the Answer
This is not a game theory situation, where there is a direct contest between two principals and everything is near-obvious.  In a competitive situation where there are many involving strategic factors.  Depending on the quality of information,  the situation could be quite complex.

The clues to this approach can be found in the first two sections of Jiang Tai Gong (JTG's) Six Secret Teachings and chapter one of the Art of War.

Step One: Understand the scope of the situation.  
By being two steps ahead of the game,  the successful strategists can play the Jiang Tai Gong approach of pre-positioning and luring.  You can find a good example in the 2010's Samurai movie classic "The 13 Assassins" where the protagonists knew the route, the strategic power and the tendencies of their target. Then, they altered their target's grand setting for the purpose of influencing him toward their lethal trap while transforming other portions of their own setting for the purpose of gaining a higher state of strategic power.

Sun Bin at Mai Ling is a good historical example.  ...  We will post the additional steps in the future.

Minor Jottings
Unlike what the Cult of the Art of War tells their followers, one cannot learn this skill from reading the Art of War.  It offers to the novices a mere glimmer of hope.   As many of us know, that hope is not a strategy or a destination.  Good strategic assessment begins by knowing the Big Tangible Picture of each principal in terms of their objectives, their approaches, the means and the modes.  ... Understanding the complexity, the connectivity, the consistency and the continuity of a Big Tangible Picture are some of the key points to a good strategic assessment.  

Those who are competitively ambitious, could build this exotic skill through the game of Go (weiqi) where misdirecting and luring are the norms.   He or she might get lucky in understanding the mechanics of these grand concepts after playing a minimum of 10 thousand games.  

So, how did we learned it?  We spent time talking to the various no-name experts who indirectly revealed the clues to us.   ...  Humorously, those who know, don't really say. They only offered their hints to us through their actions.

If your in-house strategists do not possess this unique skill, they will fail you in a chaotic competitive situation.


Sun Bin was a student of Wang Xu. In his school, he and his classmates were first instructed to the concepts of Jiang Tai Gong's Six Secret Teachings .  Sun Bin was later given a copy of Sunzi by his instructor. We wagered that he re-learned the approach of "baiting and luring" from reading chapter one and two of that essay and practiced it a few times before ever implementing it in a macro situation. 

Three Pragmatic Questions for Our Hardcore Strategic Audience

Anytime, there are associates (or pseudo experts) who tell us at that they really understand the essence behind the Chinese strategies. We would usually asked them a minimum of 36 questions. 

So far, no one have gotten past the 70% mark. The passing grade is 88%. ... 

Following are three of those 36+ questions:

1. What is the grand distinction between Jiang Tai Gong's Six Secret Teachings, Sunzi (Sun Tzu) the Art of War?
2. What are the applicational differences between Jiang Tai Gong's Six Secret Teachings, Sunzi (Sun Tzu) the Art of War?
3. How does one uses the concepts and principles from Jiang Tai Gong's Six Secret Teachings and the Huang Shek Gong's Three Strategies in a strategic assessment scenario?

If you get the right answers for those three questions, we will send you a free copy of Dr. Sawyer's The Essential Art of War. 

More to come.

The Dao of the Unorthodox (Surprise) Approach or Play #6: The No-Huddle

The success of New England Patriots no-huddle offense can be based on Tom Brady the Pat's QB understanding of their competitor's tendencies in certain situations.  

Side note: We are presuming that this Belichick senior advisor who specializes in exotic strategic activities, is the "brain trust" behind that specific task.

Their no-huddle approach is based on the following steps

• Calls a specific formation (with a base set of tactical plays) from the line of scrimmage; 
• Reads the defensive reaction of the competition; and 
• Responds by adjusting the routes to the reaction.

Primary receivers run their designated route or the alternative route while secondary receivers either execute their "check and release" routes. Proper observation of the competitor's defensive alignment is the key to their adjustment.

This "read and respond" approach only works if the play caller's team have prepared themselves by mastering the entire set of relevant scenario adjustment plays for each formation.

Notes from the Compass Desk

The no-huddle approach has been used in the military and the other professional sports.  It is only a matter of time that certain business organizations utilize a similar approach to dominate their marketplace.

Knowing the objective and the approach for defeating a competitor is slightly easy.  The first step is knowing the tendencies of the competition.  Understanding the tendencies allows one to know the objective of one's competitor.  

Building the executable means that connected the modes to the approach is the other key to building one's strategic power.

You do know how to do both tasks.  Do you?