The Wu Xing Wu Ying Bk Prjt!

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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.  

You need a methodology.  ... 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 to us.   ...  Humorously, those who know, don't really say.  ... They have only offered their hints to us through their stories and their actions.

So do you think the possession of  this unique skill, will assist you in a chaotic competitive situation?

Sun Bin 
What happens to those who are two moves behind?
They can be gamed into
Depended on their They can "game" their competition into a very quick downfall.

Sun Bin was a student of Wang Xu (aka Master Ghost Valley).   

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 have surmising 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. 

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One of the many objectives of a successful strategist is to become two moves ahead of the the competition.

Side note: This is is an oldie but goody subject matter with a few technical updates.

Minor Jottings 

For specific strategic modeling, we utilized an exotic process model that integrates the concepts and the principles from Jiang Tai Gong, (the Father of Chinese Strategic Studies and the writer of Six Secret Teachings), Sunzi's AoW and other strategic essays. 

The Jiang Tai Gong approach of strategic development is quite different from Sunzi's Art of War. It emphasizes that proper intelligence gathering begins by observing the projection of the chief decision makers while profiling their motives and their methods.  

This approach enables the successful strategist to understand how the configuration of his strategic situation operates from a top down perspective while maneuvering from the ground level. 

We will touch on that topic one day.

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.  .. 

A Near Summation of Zhang Liang's History

One of our favorite strategists is Zhang Liang. 

Click here on his  role on the battle of  Gaixia,

Click here on his wikipedia profile


One can see him in the Last Supper and The White Vengeance.

/// Applying the Bill Walsh's 25 Opening Plays (Starter) Script to Competitive Business Situations ///

One of the most shared traditions in the sport of football is scripting the first 15 to 25 plays against the opposing defense.  

As mentioned previously, it is designed to perform the following objectives:

• Reveal the general intent of the competitor;
• 
  

   

In business, one

Global TRIZ Day

On October 15, some idea generators (engineers, strategists, etc.) celebrate the birthday of Genriсh Altshuller (inventor of TRIZ) and Global TRIZ Day. His methodology could be beneficial to the problem solvers who deal with problems relating to technology, scientific, social, environmental, political, etc.  The Triz methodology only works effectively when or if the implementers can properly assess the Dao of their object.

Culture is Strategy (Thoughts From The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China)

(updated on 10.03.17)

 To establish a positive strategic culture, it begins with quality leadership.

Following is a listing of those components that establishes this category of leadership:

• the strategic direction (from the senior executives);
• the power and authority;
• the quality of Command and Control;
• the quality of Unity;
• the Dao of Field Managers;
• the quality of strategic organization, administration and discipline;
• the proper evaluation of  people;
• the proper employment of people;
• the motivation of the field expeditors;
• the psychology of competition;
• rewards and punishments; and 
• instruction and training.

 More to come.  ... 

Some Notes From Sawyer's Lever of Power

Following is the text from the back cover

Despite being disparaged as the refuge of the weak and pernicious, the chosen mode of Asiatic and other duplicitous peoples, ever since antiquity deceptive measures have enabled dramatic battlefield success by acting as a “lever or power.” Historical records unequivocally show both China and the West have virtually unbroken traditions of innovating deceit and employing deception. Western tacticians theorized less, but they well recognized the advantages of deceit, maneuver, betrayal, and false treaties.

            Lever of Power comprehensively examines deception’s historical evolution in China and the West; provides extensive translations of important Chinese, Greek, and Latin military writings on the concept; and characterizes the chief measures in terms of method, dynamics, and objective. Numerous important, commonly recognized historical exemplifications – many still assiduously studied in PRC think tanks -- are provided for each category, resulting in a fundamental study of deception that synthesizes theory and illustrative case studies.

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"Ralph Sawyer, a leading student of intelligence and strategy, is the world’s authority on Chinese theory and practice about these matters. The research is phenomenal and the book summarizes his ideas with power and elegance. No one interested in deception and strategy can afford to miss it.”

Dr. John Ferris, Authorized Historian, GCHQ

Professor of History, University of Calgary

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Ralph D. Sawyer is a historical scholar and strategic consultant who has specialized in Chinese military and intelligence issues for five decades. His well reviewed analytical writings include the companion volume, The Tao of Deception: Unorthodox Warfare in Historic and Modern China, The Tao of Spycraft, Ancient Chinese Warfare, Conquest and Domination, and Fire and Water. His highly praised translations, all of which feature extensive historical introductions, range from the groundbreaking Seven Military Classics of Ancient China through Sun-tzu’s Art of War, Sun Pin’s Military Methods, the Hundred Unorthodox Strategies, Strategies for the Human Realm, The Tao of War, and Zhuge Liang: Strategy, Achievements, and Writings. A long term Fellow of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies and a visiting scholar at numerous institutions, he continues to be a Senior Research Fellow with the Warring States Project.

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Click here if you are interested in purchasing this book.