The Cult of the Art of War

The Fantasy of the Sunzi Cult   The Fantasy of the Sunzi Cult  
In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy ís country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
--- Lionel Giles

Sunzi cult have always preferred to talk about the philosophical 

In most  conflicts, there are body counts.  People like to  

I have met those 
The more in

Today is your day.  .. 

Your Competition: The Cult of The Non-Experts

It amazes us that there are people who have tried to become experts by reading the first 100 links of various topics that they were searching on.

They understand what the topic is about and how it works in terms of generality without the specificity behind it.

These same people rarely ever think about  contingencies and can barely think one move ahead.   

They go with their heart without understanding how it connects to the Big Tangible Picture and/or  ever contemplating on the consequences of failing.  

This same group of non-mindful people tell their followers to believe in magical thinking and that there is another chance for all situations. 

This is your competition.

The 26 Replies by The Cult of Art of War on Why Their Sunzi Strategies Fail

Following is a listing of the top 26 replies by The Cult of Art of War whenever their Sunzi strategies did not work:
26. Where were you when this problem occurred?

25.  I was busy shopping for that special tramslation of Sunzi that I saw Wesley Snipes was reading in the Passenger 57 movie.
24.  I was too busy quoting Michael Douglas lines from the Wall Street movie
23.  I was too busy watching the Art of War movie marathon on the Grit channel.
22.  I was taking inspirational advice from a female strategist (from the East Coast) who claimed that being happy is everything.  
21.  You don't say.

20. That’s weird…

19. It’s never done that before.

18. It worked yesterday.

17. How is that possible?

16. It must be a tactical performance problem.  Therefore, the fault is not mine's.

15. What did I say to get the team to walk out on me? 

14. There has to be something funky in the implementation of the tactics.

13. I haven’t practiced that Sun Bin tactic (or that stratagem from 36 Strategems)  in weeks.

12. We must utilized the wrong translation of Sunzi

11. It’s just some unlucky coincidence.

10. I can’t think of everything !

09. Someone told me if I read Sunzi before the meeting, that I will win.
08. It works, but the tactic hasn’t been thoroughly tested yet.

07. Somebody must have changed my instruction. Identify that "meathead." 

06. While my goal is to triumph over the competition without a bloodshed , I just had to go opposite.
05. Even though it doesn’t work, How does it feel?

04. You can’t use that tactic with my team.

03. Why do I have to assess the situation, don't you know who I am?

02.  My version of Sunzi did not resolve my inner demons

01. It worked on my head while I am sniffing crack 

April First: The "Perfect" Day To Honor the Cult of the Art of War

Source: The Atlantic
( updated on 04.09.15, 12:00 noon )

The number of ways that the amateurs have conceptualize the essence of Sunzi's essay on strategic competition- (Sunzi's Art of War) into rules and simplifications, have somewhat "confounded" us (for a brief moment) in terms of their naivety.

These amateurs really believed that the utilization of heuristic rules, simple graphs and Venn diagrams could solve the complexity of life.

Some of these result-oriented winners usually look at life in terms of a black box.  They are rarely ever concerned about the inner workings of the box as long as the grand benefit of the projected result outweighs the drawbacks.  Simultaneously, these people rarely consider the possible "reciprocity" from their actions.

Because of their social-economic standings, they really believed that most of their life is like a "1+1=2"  equation.

In a complex (disinformation-driven) society like ours, is the number "1" really a number "1" ?


Hagy's Book
Click here  on how Jessica Hagy simplifies the message of Sunzi.

Visually and conceptually, her book is superb for the "simple solution-driven"novices and the pseudo cult leaders who loathed deep thinking and long memories.

It is perfect for the pop culture-driven society who are always demanding simplicity in their empty lives.

In summary, some of us have seen the book, and liked it for its visual content.  The context is great but the details are missing.

We recommended this book for the newbies and the novices who preferred a simple perspective for solving problems and who are participating in other minor competitive situations.

The Questions of the Day
Q: Regardless of the simplicity of her view, do you think that you can succeed with that two-dimensional perspective  in a complex, multi-dimensional strategic situation while the clock is ticking?

Q: If there is an err in your decision, are you able to absorb the after-effect? . . . Or will your associate asked their own pawns to target their "finger of blame" at someone else for the obvious reason?

Q: Do you think that the knowledge of knowing the different philosophic approaches to solving strategic problems (from the Art of War), will help you in a competitive situation that encompasses the essence of complexity?

Q: Do you know how to pinpoint the correct set of tactical means that connects the wide array of operational modes to that suggested approach?

Q: Instead of spending your time assessing the Big Tangible Picture (identifying the catalyst level within the abyss of complexity and conclude the advantageous exception in a cyber minute), are you going to search for that unique set of favorite quotes that would inspire you to greater heights?

Q: When the "feel good" magic of the book disappears and the reality of your life creeps back into the attic of your mind, how are you going to decide your next move?

Q: Are you going to contact your guru and ask for "a clear shine" of a solution?

Thoughts From The Compass Desk
In summary, do you think that there is more to the concept of "tangible strategy" than the current "simple" broadcast of Sunzi's Art of War principles?

To the Cult of the Art of War, enjoy your day.  ...

#

It is time for us to return to some serious fishing.

Fantasizing in the Information Economy with The "Art of War "Cult (1)

The Cult of The Art of War are in love with the concept of preaching and teaching the principles from Sunzi The Art of War (AoW).  ... They reminded me of a Sunday school's bible class where the teachers constantly recite the individual quotes without ever discussing the specifics behind the quotes in terms of a particular situation. 

An inspirational message can only go so far. ... Heaven helps those who are following these idiots. 

Beside not knowing the approach to connecting the right practices to the principles, these pseudo experts do not know how to assess a situation in terms of risk, uncertainty and volatility. 

Q: So, why are they teaching this fluff to their flock? 

A: No one cares about their reasoning. They just wanted to inspire their flock.

Side Notes

We have personally felt that there are numerous bogus experts who have tainted the true message of the Art of War.

Some of these bogus experts believed that the Art of War essay (or The Prince essay) is the absolute answer to outwitting their competitors. They also spent an abundance of time, emphasizing on the message of  "rah-rah" leadership  and self-empowerment while presenting an amateurish view of planning. 

This perspective indirectly means that these people could barely assess the predictability and the complexity of a situation without ever knowing how to assess its disposition, its momentum of change and the reality from the abyss of illusions.


Some of the serious strategy professionals quietly viewed this perspective as a moral hazard.  . . . However, these "thoughtless carbos" have served the immediate wants of the mindless masses. 

Why do some of these pseudo experts claimed that they know the Art of War when they do not comprehend the process of assessing their strategic settings?  After awhile, we stopped wondering about the reasons of that behavior.  ... In the information economy, deception is the norm.  ... The masses love the message of a "simple but irrelevant"  solution in a complex world.   ...  The flock that followed these pseudo experts, deserve the obvious  

Happy April Fools Day!

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.

///

Succeeding in the Competitive Economy: Building The Competitive Mojo Before The Game

Building The Mojo 
Various players would do certain rituals to start up their competitive mojo.  Wade Boggs, the former Bosox 3rd baseman starts his ritual by eating some sort of chicken meal before a game. Where Tim Lincecum, the S.F. Giants  Cy Young winning pitcher would regularly eat In and Out's "Double-Double" burgers before a game and/or after the game. .

Wade Boggs would also fielded 150 ground balls before a game.  

Steve Young, the famous S.F. Niners quarterback used to vomit before a football game while his teammate Ronnie Lott would read Sunzi The Art of War. Bill Walsh, the late great Niners coach used to visualize himself behind a glass wall before the game.  The practice of this unique exercise stabilized his emotions and enabled him to stay focused on the  the game.  He would then look at his master script before doing anything else. (The last two practices are some of our favorite psychological preparation tactics.)

Dominik Hasek, the former great goalie of Detroit Red Wings used to stretch continuously before the game and during the breaks within the game.  This act of stretching enabled him to become one of the greatest hockey goalies.  Do you know why it works?

The former Oakland Raiders quarterback, Ken Stabler was famous for drinking Jack Daniel's whiskey before and after the game.  

One Celtics point guard preferred to sprint around the arena as a part of his pregame ritual. The current S.F. Niners QB Colin Kaepernick also performed a similar routine.  ... Do you know why it works?   ... Some athletes would also consume gallons of coffee or cans of Red Bull before the game begins. The reasoning should be obvious. 

So, what set of "competitive mojo accelerating" practices have you been utilizing? Has it always connected you to your well-being?

Other Unique Practices
From the Six Secret Teachings book, Jiang Tai Gong suggested the act of fasting before making a consummate decision..  

Thoughts From The Compass Desk
In some cases, one must have a competitive drive to do anything relevant. Knowing the approach to energized oneself is quite the challenge.

To build the competitive mojo, one must be consciously aware of their own internal being. Studying it through a book is not going to help anyone. 

There are many ways to achieve this arcane feat. Our friends at Cook DIng's Kitchen are profound practitioners of the internal martial arts and have advised us that one of the most effective practices is the Yi Quan's standing post. 

The intent behind this practice and other rituals is the centering of oneself psychologically and spiritually.

We will review more on the topic of "The Art of the Focus" in a future post.

Side note
The Cult of the Art of War has a tendency of preaching that that one becomes competitive by reading the Art of War. From our observations and our experience , that tactic does not work unless that person has successfully compete at that present level or above.  In an extreme situation, the amateur "Art of War" reading competitor would be slaughtered like a lamb.

Proper Preparation Prevents Pissed Poor Performance #4

"The will to prepare is usually greater than the will to win." 

Being technically prepared is easy is for the amateurs.   They are usually psychologically unprepared for most uncertain situations.

Building the skill of being psychologically prepared is a balance of art and science.

Good psychological preparation and some unique experience usually minimizes the fear of pain, the fear of loss and the feat of uncertain extremity. 

Unlike what the Cult of the Art of War preaches, one cannot gain this unique state of awareness from reading the Art of War or any books. It is another  fallacy by those amateurs. Those who claimed that point, never competed in an extreme setting.

Our friends at Cook Ding Kitchen, explained to us that the proper practice of internal martial arts is one of the few ways to gain this level of awareness.  In the field of internal martial arts, the experienced instructors referred this level of experience as a skill.

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. 

Learning About Leadership From The Amateurs

There is nothing like the non-professionals who have never done any dirty work from the field level, telling the other amateur professionals how to be a leader.

If those five virtues ("wise (zhi), trustworthy (xin), humane (ren), courageous (yong) and strict discipline (yan)") of leadership are not embedded in the conscious of the readers, the possibility of understanding it thoroughly is a long shot.

One cannot read something and understand it immediately. It has been suggested that one have to undergo each of the five virtues from a deep "field" experience before studying it from a content perspective. 

To get the tangible view of the Bigger picture, it is important to understand it from a context view. Learning, experiencing and finally leading through example is a difficult process for most amateurs.

Those who lead from the front, are usually the first targets.  Then there are those who lead from the rear, are sometimes the manipulators.  From what position does one begins the act of leadership?

It depends on the Big Tangible Picture (BTP).  Always read the entirety of the BTP before making a decision.  It is that easy.  ... Of course, you have to know how to assess it.  Do you?

If the entirety of the BTP cannot be secured, a process model is needed for the purpose of understanding the risk specifics of their position.

# # #
December 16, 2007

Phenomenon

The Newest Mandarins

By ANNPING CHIN

Lei Bo is a philosophy graduate student in China whose faith is in history, and by habit he considers the world using the thousands of classical passages that live in his head. Three years ago he was studying in an empty room in the School of Management at his university in Beijing when students began to amble in for their class on Sun Tzu's "Art of War," a work from either the fifth or the fourth century B.C. Lei Bo decided to stay. He had taken two courses on "The Art of War" in the philosophy and the literature departments, and was curious to see how students in business and management might approach the same subject. The discussion that day was on the five attributes of a military commander. Sun Tzu said in the first chapter of the book, "An able commander is wise (zhi), trustworthy (xin), humane (ren), courageous (yong) and believes in strict discipline (yan)." 

The students thought that a chief executive today should possess the same strengths in order to lead. But how did the five attributes apply to business? Here they were stuck, unable to move beyond what the words suggest in everyday speech. Even their teacher could not find anything new to add. At this point, Lei Bo raised his hand and began to take each word back to its home, to the sixth century B.C., when Sun Tzu lived, and to the two subsequent centuries when the work Sun Tzu inspired was actually written down.

On the word yong (courage), Lei Bo cited chapter seven of The Analects, where Confucius told a disciple that if he "were to lead the Three Armies of his state," he "would not take anyone who would try to wrestle a tiger with his bare hands and walk across a river [because there is not a boat]. If I take anyone, it would have to be someone who is wary when faced with a task and who is good at planning and capable of successful execution." No one ever put Confucius in charge of an army, said Lei Bo, and Confucius never thought that he would be asked, but being a professional, he could expect a career either in the military or in government. And his insight about courage in battle and in all matters of life and death pertains to a man's interior: his judgment and awareness, his skills and integrity. This was how Lei Bo explored the word "courage": he located it in its early life before it was set apart from ideas like wisdom, humaneness and trust. He tried to describe the whole sense of the word. The business students and their teacher were hooked. They wanted Lei Bo back every week for as long as they were reading "The Art of War."

Scores of men and women in China's business world today are studying their country's classical texts, not just "The Art of War," but also early works from the Confucian and the Daoist canon. On weekends, they gather at major universities, paying tens of thousands of yuan each, to learn from prominent professors of philosophy and literature, to read and think in ways they could not when they were students and the classics were the objects of Maoist harangue . Those inside and outside China say that these businessmen and -women, like most Chinese right now, have caught the "fever of national learning."

Scholars, however, are cautious. They revel in the possibility of being able to study the classical texts without an ideological tether. But they warn that this kind of learning cannot be rushed and does not lend itself to easy adaptation. The classics are not simply primers on how to succeed or lessons in the glory of the Chinese nation. Having survived the ravages of the Maoist era, when Confucius' call to "revive the spirit and the practice of the earlier rites" was derided as "an attempt to reverse the course of history," the classics must not lose their distinction in the hullabaloo of the market economy or under the pressure of globalization.

These scholars are also doubtful that the "fever of national learning" will last. They see it as a political event, staged by party leaders to celebrate national pride. But students like Lei Bo and many of his classmates and friends discovered the joy of reading classical texts long before the political rally began. One friend became enamored with books when he was a toddler, and by the time he was in junior high, he was poring over intellectual and political history from the 11th and 12th centuries. Another was drawn to the sound and beat of classical poems ever since he could remember, and so now he is studying Tang poetry in graduate school. Lei Bo's journey was more tortuous. (Unlike his two friends, whose parents are factory workers and farmers, his father is an environmental scientist and his mother, a librarian.) After being steeped in Marxist education, Lei Bo took a sharp turn in college while he was pursuing a degree in chemistry. He became disenchanted with communism and was deeply suspicious of any political philosophy that encouraged fixation on a single goal without any regard for the grim consequences this could have. He aired his displeasure on a Web site, which led to a brush with the public-security police.

It was readings in Western philosophy that saved him from more serious trouble. Translated works were widely accessible in China when Lei Bo was an undergraduate. Habermas, Heidegger, Arendt, Popper, Foucault and Derrida were all popular then, and now Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss have been added to the list. Chinese men and women, especially the educated young, are book-hungry, and writings in Western political philosophy offer them several ways out of the firm grip that Marxism has had on their reasoning and their judgment. Lei Bo latched on to Heidegger, who alerted him to the importance of historical thinking and historical imagination; his writings convinced Lei Bo that any experience is inseparable from its past and future.

This, however, does not mean that Lei Bo avoids the more pressing subjects of the day. Now in China, he says, it is the students in law and the social sciences who call for more personal freedom, and it is also this group that sees great promise in the concept of democratic government.

But students studying history and philosophy seem to ask more questions. They want to know whether there is an appropriate way to pursue the idea of freedom; whether this chase, which is often complicated by the tangles of human relationships and life's unwanted circumstances, can become a test of one's interior strength. Learning the texts, for them, is learning to think. Lei Bo and his friends, for instance, found resonance in Confucius' description of freedom at the age of 70: "I was able to follow what my heart desired without overstepping the moral bounds." They thought that this was perhaps the most perfect freedom one could experience.

In speaking with Lei Bo and other students, I've been struck by the clarity of their convictions about China's past and future. They understand why Confucius described himself as a transmitter and not a creator and why he said that he "had faith in antiquity." History does not just provide actual lessons from the past, but, more important for the students, history gives them the chance to consider the right and wrong of human judgment even though the deeds were done long ago. And for this reason, they are taking the long view of their country's future and are reluctant to put their hope in any sort of quick fix or in any ideal, even one that is as appealing as democracy. They want change but are not ready to consider drastic corrections, not until they have absorbed what is stored in their history and cultural tradition. They are not utopians. They want reforms but, for now, only as measures to check the totalizing tendencies of their state. And, some of them ask, was this not the intent of the founding fathers when they wrote the American Constitution?

Annping Chin teaches in the history department at Yale University. Her most recent book, "The Authentic Confucius: A Life of Thought and Politics," has just been published.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/magazine/16wwln-idealab-t.html?ref=magazine

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

The Aftermath of Poor Strategic Assessment

From SF Gate.com
" ... Among the most bitter disputes between the two cities is over library services. Piedmont pays Oakland $350,000 annually for the use of its libraries. In 2011, Oakland, facing severe budget cuts, slashed library services and asked Piedmont to increase its share to $395,000 annually. After all, Oakland taxpayers pay $20 million a year, or about $50 for every resident, to support the libraries. Piedmont residents, by comparison, pay just $35 annually.
Piedmont said no, on the grounds that any California resident can obtain a free Oakland library card, and theoretically Piedmont isn't required to pay anything at all. After months of negotiations, Piedmont still pays just $350,000.  ..."

A Deal is a Deal
The well-to-do citizens of Piedmont always had very experienced lawyers who could out-strategized  Oakland's under-experienced lawyers with minimum effort. 

By assessing the data in terms of the Five Critical Factors, the Oakland lawyers would not have made the blunder of agreeing to a static number.   (Somewhere deep in our blogs, one might find the specifics behind our interpretation of the Five Critical Strategic Factors.  ... The basics can be found in the first chapter of the Art of War. Knowing how to use it for assessing the Big Tangible Picture is a special arcane skill that most members from the Cult of the Art of War do not possess. They are too busy memorizing all 300+ principles.)

Those who cannot think and strategize ahead regarding to connecting the specifics to the Big Tangible Picture, usually falter in their implementation.
  
Establishing a self-serving deal is 9/10th of the game.  ... Escaping with it is the other 10th.  ... 

In summary, "the letter of the lawful deal" overrides "the spirit of the deal."

The Compass Rule of API (3)

Assess, Position Influence.  That is what most people instinctively do.  They really do not observe, orient, decide and act.  It is an intellectual myth. Those who do, are dreamers or armchair intellectuals who have no sense of mindful awareness. 

Assess, Position and Influence

Assess
After observing their strategic situation and its connection to the Big Tangible Picture, most relevant field strategists assessed their chances  of prevailing before making a decision to commit their time and resources.  This stage also determines where they must positioned themselves before the act of influencing. 

Position
The Position stage is based on the Big Tangible Picture (BTP), their orientation, their disposition and their decision.  The Compass strategists now plan and prepare for the influence.

Influence
The Influence stage concentrates on the conceptual output from the positioning.  [ ...]

If the influence does not work, the strategists return to the assess stage.  Does it sound easy and obvious?  

There are more steps and detailed specifics to our Assess, Position and Influence process.  We will cover that and how it connects to the Grand View, Strategic View and the Tactical View in our future book.

Side note
Those wanna-be "Art of War" cult armchair strategists and weekend warriors should spend some serious time re-reading the classics and mindfully  experience what some of those  strategic classics were striving to say.  Reading the right translations is the first step.   Seeing how it works in real time is the challenge. Embodying the principles requires a certain process model and a unique sense of perception.  

Fwiw, visiting Asian restaurants and learning bad martial arts are not going to improve their strategic skills.

Defining the objective of the situation and the tactical approach to match it is quite difficult.  Building the means to connect the modes to the tactical approach is the grander challenge.

So, is the answer in your copy of the Art of War or PMI's Book of Knowledge?  

Be the professional that you aspired to be, read the Seven Strategic Classics.  Understand the schema of the Big Tangible Picture is the first step.

Summary
"Psychology is Strategy."  - Wang Xu (a paraphrase)


Successful strategists are focused on seeing the Big Picture and not losing the war while the experienced tacticians directed their time, their attention and their resources on winning the significant battles.  Those who properly performed the steps of Assessing, Positioning and Influencing, are strategically efficient.  

One of the Compass keys is to understanding the behavior psychology behind the chief decision makers.

If you are interested in our unique process, please contact us. 

Pragmatic Practices (7): The Dao of the Strategists

Every successful sport organization has their set of secret and non-secret strategic and tactical practices. Lets start with the near-secret stuff.

For the San Francisco Forty Niners, it is the videos of Bill Walsh teaching the fundamentals of West Coast Offense to his players.  The Bob McKittrick's videos on blocking schemes  are also quite interesting and valuable. 

Bill Walsh, the late head coach of the San Francisco Forty Niners, ran a starter list of 25 plays that served various purposes during the game time. It has been rumored that his "game changing" play was nicknamed "Play 9." With most pro football teams, their "Play 9" is to assign the flanker to run  a specific "deep go" route in an advantageous one on one situation.

New England Patriots

Bill Belichek, the current head coach of the New England Patriots manages a defensive list of 50+ different alignments. He never calls the same defensive play twice during the game. His common practice is to utilize many situational defensive formations for the purpose of confusing their opposing offensive playcallers.  In terms of command and control, Belichek leads a discipline-driven team.   We will touch more on this topic later.

Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox

It has been rumored that the Boston Celtics and the Boston Red Sox are obsessed with their "Moneyball" approach. Much of their strategic moves are influenced by the numbers that are derived from their computerized database.

Green Bay Packers

The success of the Packers can be attributed is their evaluation of talent and their own version of the West Coast Offense.

Summary
Every successful organizations and teams exploited their own well-tested and full-weathered process to the fullest.  Within each process, there is a weakness.   Do you know what is it? ...

Food for Thought

So, what are the arcane trade secrets of the Art of War (AoW) strategists? Ask the Art of War cult if they know it. ... There is more to this classic than the process of espousing a few quotes for each situation.

Through the comprehension of the strategic classics, one understands the approach of  reading one's own grand situation and while having the mastery of the required basics.  In summary of the situation, the score will take care of itself. 

The Cult of the Art of War (2)

The "Art of War" cult has a tendency of preaching and teaching the Art of War principles through an abyss of myths.

Following is an abridged list of this cult's special activities:

• Following the exploits of the many irrelevant celebrities and the various Machiavellian business leaders who claimed that they have read the Art of War;
• Believing that they will understand the Art of War principles because their in-laws are Chinese and that they get a chance to eat tons of free Chinese food;
• Believing that they will understand the Art of War principles by watching a selective set of movies (i.e., Red Cliff, Seven Samurai, Wall Street, The Art of War, etc.);
• Believing that collecting many of the various interpretations of the Art of War, would gain them the "vision" of Sunzi; and
• Believing that some of their competition would drop dead because of the sighting that they are being seen with a copy of the Art of War.

On the 1st of April, the only fools are those who followed the novices who are incorrectly preaching and teaching the principles from the Art of the War.

Side note: We will add more humorous points about the "Art of War" cult in our future posts.

The Question of the Day

Since you are a strategic thinker, how do you use the eight strategic classics (Seven Strategic Classics and Sun Bin {or Sun Pin's} Military Methods) to advise your friends in the area of strategic competition?

While the "Cult of the Art of War" uses the AoW principles for "quick fix" challenges, the professionals emphasize on the utilization of the Eight Strategic Classics principles for a myriad of high- reward competitive situations.
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The Cult of the Art of War

Whenever the neo-amateurs decided to capitalize a specific topic and connected it to pop culture, the outcome becomes obvious. ... The exploitation of the topic does not have to be correct as long it generates some cash.

Comedy does create cash. Today's fad is tomorrow's digital waste.

Will the constant reciting of the book makes the reader a better basketball player? What do you think?

We will touch more on the Art of War Cult" topic in the future. ...

Jiang Tai Gong: The Supreme Strategist

An associate of ours wrote the following essay on Jiang Tai Gong for Jade Dragon.com. (With his permission, we took the liberty of optimizing some parts of it .)

Updated on 11.08.13

In our global society, Sunzi’s (Sun Tzu) Art of War is known as the most well-written and popular strategy classic from China. Some of the other popular Chinese military classics are Sun Bin’s The Art of War, Huang Shek Gong’s Three Strategies and Wuzi’s Art of War. Before Sunzi’s Art of War was written, there was Jiang Taigong’s (JTG) Six Secret Strategic Teachings (also known as The Six Strategies of War).

Jiang Taigong was a real historical character named Lu Shang (also known as Jiang Ziya) who, in the 11th century BC, became advisor to King Wen and his son King Wu, founders of the Zhou dynasty (1122-771 BC). He was supposedly instrumental in aiding the fall of the Shang Dynasty (approximately 1700 BCE - 1045 BCE) and in establishing the Zhou (1045 BCE – 221 BCE). He was the prime minister for the first Zhou emperor and his loyalty and farsightedness in governing spread his fame throughout China.

The legend of Jiang Taigong captured popular imagination. Jiang Taigong is honored throughout Chinese history as the first great military advisor and the father of strategic studies.

He was credited with the feat of writing the first military strategic book Liutao (Six Secret Strategic Teachings). Liutao has been considered a highly important and proven source for military wisdom over the centuries, where it continues to be held in high esteem among contemporary Chinese strategy professionals.

History

Note: The many interpretations of Jiang Tai Gong’s biography propelled this writer to focus on the apparent.

Jiang Taigong (first known as Lü Shang of Lù-shi clan) was later known as Jiang Shang, then Jiang Ziya and Jiang Taigongwang).

As Lu Shang, he served King Zhouwang, the last ruler of the Shang dynasty (16th to 11th century BC) as an expert in military strategic affairs. The Shang ruler was a tyrannical and corrupted ruler who spent his days carousing with his favorite concubine Daji and mercilessly executing or punishing honorable officials and all others who objected to his ways.

After many years of working for the Shang ruler, Lu Shang detested him so much that he hoped that some day someone would call on him to help overthrow this evil tyrant. One day the Shang ruler came up with the extravagant goal of building 'Lu Tai' (deer platform) palace that would glorify him as a deity. This task became such a burden to the people that the hungry and sick were dying in the countryside.

Lü Shang abandoned his post and left with his wife Ma-shi to go to the west. They suffered many years in poverty and his wife later left him. During that period, Lu Shang knew that he would have another opportunity that would utilize his talent. All he needed to do was to be patient. Lu Shang waited till he was 72 years old for the next opportunity to come along.

Source: aggas2nd.blogspot.com

Meeting King Wen
After his wife left him, Lu Shang went to Wei-shui River (near today’s Xi'an) to fish, knowing that the future Zhou ruler Wenwang (located in central Shaanxi) would come along one day and meet him. The opportunity occurred one day, when King Wen decided to go hunting in the area near the river, where he saw Lu Shang sitting on the grass, fishing with a bamboo pole that had a barbless hook attached to it. (Some claimed that there was no hook on the line.) The hook was then positioned a few feet above the surface of the water.

This unique act of fishing is based on Jiang’s theory that the fish would come to him of their own volition when they were ready. This action requires the fisherman to be patient and devise the philosophy of "if one waits long enough, things will come their way."

As King Wen of the Zhou state (central Shaanxi), saw Lu Shang fishing, he was reminded of the advice of his father and grandfather before him, which was to search for talented people. In fact, he had been told by his grandfather (the Grand Duke of Zhou), "… that one day a sage would come and help him to rule the Zhou state."

When King Wen saw Lu Shang, he immediately felt that this was an unusual old man and began to converse with him. He discovered that this white-haired fisherman was actually an astute political thinker and military strategist. This, he felt, must be the man his grandfather had mentioned. He took Lu Shang as his coach to the court, appointed him the role of prime minister, and then gave him the title Jiang Taigongwang (Hope of the Duke of Zhou). This was later shortened to Jiang Taigong.

The Lesson

One account of Jiang Taigong's life, written long after his time, said he believed that " … a country could become powerful only when the people prospered. If the officials enriched themselves while the people remained poor, the ruler would not last long. The major principle in ruling a country is loving the people through the reduction of taxes and slave labor. … " By following those ideas, King Wen immediately and rapidly strengthened the prowess and power of Zhou state.

After King Wen died, his son King Wu, who inherited the throne, decided to send troops to overthrow the King of Shang. But Jiang Taigong stopped him, saying: "While I was fishing at Panxi, I realized one truth—if you want to succeed you need to be patient. We must wait for the appropriate opportunity to eliminate the King of Shang."

Soon it was reported that the people of Shang were so oppressed that no one dared to speak. King Wu and Jiang Taigong decided this was the time to attack, for the people had lost faith in the ruler. ( You can find  that  specific point listed in Jiang's book)  A bloody battle was fought at Muye (35 kilometers from the Shang capital Yin, now Anyang in the Henan province).

With battle drums beating in the background, Jiang Taigong charged at the chief of the troops, with 100 of his men and drew the Shang troops to the southwest. King Wu's troops then moved quickly and surrounded the capital. Many of the Shang troops defending the capital were untrained slaves. They immediately surrendered, enabling Zhou army to capture the capital.

The Shang king set fire to his palace and perished in it. As for Daji, one version has it that she was captured and executed; another version was that she took her own life. At that moment, King Wu and his successors established the rule of the Zhou dynasty all over China.

Jiang Taigong was made the duke of the State of Qi (today’s Shandong province), which thrived with effective communications between the king and the people. He also assisted in building the economic state of Zhou dynasty.

After some time, Jiang Taigong retired from his post before King Wu became wary of him.

The Other Lesson

There are many variations related to the biography of Jiang Taigong. The two situations "Meet the King Wen" and "Advising King Wu" has been used on many levels to explain the significance of patience and control. The story also presents a sophisticated message that is applicable in any strategic scenario: "Wait until circumstances favor you."

Trivia (mainly rumors) related to Jiang Taigong:

• It has been said that Fan Li, Zhang Liang, and Zhuge Liang were also readers of the Jiang Taigong’s book for the ideas on the myriad approaches of prevailing over their rivals with great resources
• Wang Xu (also known as the Master of Ghost Valley) who started the first academy of military studies during the Warring states, taught the concepts of Jiang Taigong writings to his students. His top students were Sun Bin, Sui Chang and Zhang Yi
• Sun Bin also received this book first and later received the Sunzi text from his teacher Wang Xu
• In the river near Xi'an there is a big stone with an indentation that said this was the spot that Jiang Taigong resided in his act of fishing
• Rumors have stated that the following strategic classics were also attributed to Tai Gong: Huang Shi Gong Ji (Huang Shi Gong's Records) [later Sui Dynasty]; Huang Shi Gong San Lüe (Huang Shi Gong's Three Schemes); and Yin Fu (Concealed Symbols)
• Many legends on Jiang Taigong were collected in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and can be found in a fictional work Fengshen Yanyi (Tales of Gods and Heroes)
• There are various parts of China and Asia that honor the achievements of Jiang Tai Gong

Other Matters

During his retirement, Jiang Taigong took time to write a manuscript on how to effectively lead an empire based on his conversations with King Wen and later King Wu (who succeeded to the throne on Wen's death). This manuscript was Tai Gong Liu Tao (translated as “Tai Gong's Six Secret Strategic Teachings”). It is consisted of advices on how to organize a potential empire, military advice describing methods of insurrection and revolution that were instrumental in the overthrow of Shang dynastic rule, and a wide range of strategic insights and tactical instructions in every arena of human activity.

Six Secret Strategic Teachings (Six Secret Strategies of Conflict)

The Six Secret Strategic Teachings is a good book for "newbies" who are interested in strategic consulting and advising or understanding how the world works. 

These six chapters guided the readers in the art and science of effective strategy and leadership from a top to bottom mode.

The first two "chapters" deal with the duties of the organization and the natural transition of power to the principal rival if the organization fails. This scenario can be described as a "respective" interplay of "yin and yang."

1. The Civil Strategic Secret: The first chapter stresses the importance of recruiting talent, managing the organization, and valuing developing a proper relationship within your client and your own organization. Once the bond of absolute trust is established, they will do almost anything for you.
   
   
2. The Military Strategic Secret: The second chapter accentuates the importance of how to prevail over the opposition and how to build a territorial domain by the following actions: Cultivating yourself and organizing your own group in order to govern your external settings and pacify the world. The concept of "conquering without a single tactical battle" is also greatly emphasized. (It is similar to Sunzi's concept of "winning a war without a battle.")
   
   
3. The Dragon Strategic Secret: The emphasis is on how to lead wisely through various situations by understanding the developmental stage of the operational command, the organizational order, and the liaison.
   
   
4. The Tiger Strategic Secret: The emphasis is on the tactical essentials, including matters related to proper logistics.  
    #  Side note: Logistics is the prevailing factor that wins the grand war not the tactics.
   
   
5. The Leopard Strategic Secret: This chapter focuses on the tactical specifics for identifying the critical path toward the completion of one's objective
   
   
6. The Dog Strategic Secret: This final chapter focuses on the tactical specifics for trapping the target (i.e., encircling and intercepting). There are also good pointers on selecting and training the desired professionals for a team and coordinating the personnel's and resources toward the target.

This book was compiled into a single body of strategic work known as Wujing Qishu (also known as The Seven Martial Classics) during the Sung dynasty. It was designated as an essential material for the imperial military examinations and thus came to inexplicably affect subsequent military thought. Separately each of these seven classics complements each other in terms of strategic leadership.

This set of classics was read by military officials and high government officials for many hundreds of years. It also played a great role in the socialization of scholars, officials, and military officers.

Conclusion

The thoughts of Jiang Taigong have been known for 3000 years ago and we believed that it remains relevant for today's CEOs, managers, and leaders.

His concepts of effective strategy and leadership have been widely reinterpreted and applied in the corporate world today. A sound appreciation of Jiang's concepts is a requirement for both sophisticated and budding strategic leaders.

As mentioned before, reading this essay is a good fundamental start for those who wanted to start an uprising in their strategic setting.

# Side Notes

Two of the most important contents of this book can be found in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 (civil secret teachings and martial secret teachings). 

It delineates the art of "suggesting ideas and perspectives" to people.  These two chapters also outline what unique points to observe for.  Those who are in the consulting business, might find these points to be quite useful. 

One significant lesson that can be learned from reading Jiang's essay was the importance of "thinking grand " in one's own aspiration.

The other lesson is knowing the position where one stands in the political-economic-social value chain. By carefully reading this essay with a critical eye, one learns the reason behind that point. ....

The Three Categories of Strategists

Inspirational leaders have a tendency of emphasizing on bold and empty messages. The messages do not mean much to their flock after the broadcasting is over.

The next category is that small group of professionals are those who are obsessively focused on understanding the target, their logistics and the communications channels within the organization.   Their grand objective is to prevail with the maximum strategic effectiveness.

The last category are the massive group of strategists, which is usually consisted of amateurs.  They loved to discuss their favorite tactical measures. Some of them are just operating from a handful of tricks while the rest are "one trick ponies."  

So, which of the three categories are you positioned at?

Ruminations From the Compass Desk

We have noticed that the many so-called Sunzi experts have a tendency of telling their followers that all they needed to know about strategy was to follow the principles from the Art of War. Most of them do not know how to assess an opportunity with the Art of War principles.  Interestingly, most of them do not know much about the various operational measures and the unique particulars that are concealed within the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. 

One reader of their view found this "pseudo expert" from the Sunzi's Art of War Cult to be quite amusing and shallow. His view is an extension of his "know how."

To prevail in any competitive situation, one must comprehend the specifics for mastering the means and modes.  Spending some time collecting the data, can be a challenge.

Side Note  (New  update:  10.26.14)
Click here on a modern day version of Jiang Tai Gong with a different twist.

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