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Lessons From the Art of War
Lessons From the Art of War
By Adam Sinicki
The
Art of War is a famous treatise by one Sun Tsu designed to teach
emperors and strategists how to win wars (as the name might suggest).
Since then though it has been used by business men and women,
teachers, pick-up artists, sportsmen, modern strategists and even
chefs
to
become more tactical and to ensure that victory is ensured in all
that they do. But can a book written thousands of years ago really be
relevant to these people? Can it be relevant to you?
The
answer is a resounding yes, and while a lot of these revered books
turn out to be highly dated when you actually get around to reading
them (*cough* The Book of Five Rings *cough*), The Art of War is
nothing less than profound even now and its lessons can apply to
everyone
and
every
situation.
If
you have any kind of problem in your life its worth consulting, but
if you're not the type for reading translations of ancient texts
written in poem, some of the best quotes and lessons are detailed
below for your convenience. What the Biomatrix has done here is to
give you the power to WIN.
1.
All
War is Deception
The power of deceiving the enemy is the most powerful weapon you can
wield in war and here you should look at the techniques of a magician
in misdirection. Later we will mention how important it is to know
your enemy, and so likewise by spreading a campaign of
'misinformation' about yourself you can trick the opponent into
thinking they know where your weaknesses lie and
actually
playing into your hand. This is why few things can teach you as much
about how to succeed in life, war, business and romance as a game of
poker.
Be
extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely
mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be
the director of the opponent's fate.
2.
Be
the dark horse. Even more than just deceiving your opponent you
should deceive them in such a way that they believe you to be
inferior. This way they will not prepare for you as thoroughly and
you will have the element of surprise. You want them
to underestimate you and lower their guard. Likewise if you are the
dark horse then other enemies might defeat each other allowing you to
move in when they are weaker and pick up the pieces. This is exactly
how Stalin won the election to become the successor to Lenin – by
allowing his competitors to think him beneath their notice, the 'Grey
Blur' as they called him. This meant that they directed their efforts
towards damaging the reputation of each other so that Stalin had
seriously diminished opposition when he decided to make his move.
Pretend
inferiority and encourage his arrogance
3.
Carefully
choose your battles. In The Art of War, Sun Tsu talks at length about
observing the heavens and the Earth before going to battle by which
he meant choosing the weather and the location to suit you.
For
example in a skirmish a smaller army might choose to face a large one
in a narrow pass as this way the large army can't surround them and
use their greater numbers to their advantage. In other words, if the
odds are not stacked in your favour in any encounter then think
about how they
might become
stacked in
your favour by
choosing the time and the place you make your stand. There are three
factors in any confrontation: you, the opponent, and your
surroundings – the surroundings is one that either of you can
control.
He
who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be
victorious.
4.
To
win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of
skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
This
quote, which is one of Sun Tsu's most famous quotes said that the
true victory was to win without ever fighting. In other words if you
can defeat the enemy through tactics rather than confronting them
then you will save yourself resources and the bad feelings that come
from a confrontation that will make you enemies. Likewise if you
defeat a village but destroy it in the process then you will have
lots of money to spend repairing it, rather than an opportunity to
benefit from its resources.
There
is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.
It
was Machievelli who wrote a similar treatise 'The Price' who said
that the way in
which a king
comes to power will in many ways define how he is subsequently seen
by his followers.
Learn
to suppress or incorporate enemies rather than crush them.
Incorporating enemies into your structure is something that Mussolini
called 'transformismo' and here he would invite political opponents
to hold positions on his team so that they were distracted, felt
trusted rather than 'pushed out', could empathise more with him about
the realities and difficulty of the task in hand, and were right
where he could see them. In most cases they would end up as valuable
members of his party that brought something new to the table.
5.
Make allies – as Sun Tsu points out one of the quickest ways to
grow in strength is to make allies. If you have a problem with
someone too powerful to take on on your own then, bide your time and
get more people behind you. In the workplace this might mean getting
petitions to take down a bad manager, or in the family it might mean
getting your family members to address one wayward character
together.
I myself have since mused that it is most prudent to side with the
strongest only if you are the weakest as this is the only way you can
take out those who are just stronger than you. If you are average in
strength, then you should team up with others who are weaker than
you. The reason for this is that then when you take out the strongest
you will end up as the strongest yourself. In other words, side with
ten weaker opponents and take out the three stronger ones and you
will then be the strongest player on the board.
6.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. This is actually where that expression
came from and it's very true. Knowledge really is power and if you
know yourself and the enemy then even better. As
Sun Tsu put
it:
Know
the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be
in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your
chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant of both your
enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.
So if you're going into competition with someone, for a job, in
sports or in love then you should spend as much time
as
possible researching the opponent as possible. At the same time if
you do not know yourself then you will not be aware of the chinks in
your armour and know which parts to guard, nor your strengths so that
you know how best to strike.
7.
Opportunities
multiply as they are seized
This
is less instruction and more an observation but it is true of many
areas in life. For instance in money – the more money you make the
more you can make
through investments. Likewise in your career, the better you do the
more new offers you will receive.
8.
Regard
your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the
deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons and they
will stand by you even unto death.
A nice quote that teaches how to truly win the respect and confidence
of your followers. Something that many managers would do well to
consider.
9.
The
general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without
fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do
good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
To be truly powerful you must do away with your own ego. As we've
already mentioned you need to 'pretend inferiority' and to do this
you need to give no regard to how you might look in doing so.
Likewise you shouldn't refuse to back out for the sake of your own
pride. To be successful you need to be singular in your pursuit of
your goal and not let emotion get in the way. It's worth actually
practising saying things that make you lose face to
get better
at forgetting your 'image' and crafting one that is beneficial to the
task in hand (it also allows you to be kinder and more honest and is
very liberating).
Interestingly in the Bushido code of the samurai they are taught
similarly not to fear death and to live their life around the idea of
a glorious death. Of course this created fighters with absolutely no
fear and who lived very much in the moment and to the full. I'm not
suggesting that, but if you can get over the fear of losing it will
make you far more likely to win.
10.
Victorious
warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to
war first and then seek to win.
This means several things. Firstly it means to choose your fights and
to pick the conflicts you know you can win. At the same time though
it also means to ensure that you are going to win
before you
go into battle. Make sure all of the pieces are in place, and make
sure that you have everything you need to win. The actual fight
itself is really elementary and is just a matter of 'sealing' the
deal. Think of what this means to sports – before two boxers fight
one is already destined to win. This is based on who has the better
skill and the better training so the actual fight itself is really
just a formality. The fight is not won in the ring, it's won in the
gym.
Copyright 2012 The Biomatrix.Net
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Lessons From the Art of WarBy Adam Sinicki
The Art of War is a famous treatise by one Sun Tsu designed to teach emperors and strategists how to win wars (as the name might suggest). Since then though it has been used by business men and women, teachers, pick-up artists, sportsmen, modern strategists and even chefs to become more tactical and to ensure that victory is ensured in all that they do. But can a book written thousands of years ago really be relevant to these people? Can it be relevant to you? The answer is a resounding yes, and while a lot of these revered books turn out to be highly dated when you actually get around to reading them (*cough* The Book of Five Rings *cough*), The Art of War is nothing less than profound even now and its lessons can apply to everyone and every situation. If you have any kind of problem in your life its worth consulting, but if you're not the type for reading translations of ancient texts written in poem, some of the best quotes and lessons are detailed below for your convenience. What the Biomatrix has done here is to give you the power to WIN.
1.
All War is Deception
The power of deceiving the enemy is the most powerful weapon you can wield in war and here you should look at the techniques of a magician in misdirection. Later we will mention how important it is to know your enemy, and so likewise by spreading a campaign of 'misinformation' about yourself you can trick the opponent into thinking they know where your weaknesses lie and actually playing into your hand. This is why few things can teach you as much about how to succeed in life, war, business and romance as a game of poker.
Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate.
2. Be the dark horse. Even more than just deceiving your opponent you should deceive them in such a way that they believe you to be inferior. This way they will not prepare for you as thoroughly and you will have the element of surprise. You want them to underestimate you and lower their guard. Likewise if you are the dark horse then other enemies might defeat each other allowing you to move in when they are weaker and pick up the pieces. This is exactly how Stalin won the election to become the successor to Lenin – by allowing his competitors to think him beneath their notice, the 'Grey Blur' as they called him. This meant that they directed their efforts towards damaging the reputation of each other so that Stalin had seriously diminished opposition when he decided to make his move.
Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance
3. Carefully choose your battles. In The Art of War, Sun Tsu talks at length about observing the heavens and the Earth before going to battle by which he meant choosing the weather and the location to suit you. For example in a skirmish a smaller army might choose to face a large one in a narrow pass as this way the large army can't surround them and use their greater numbers to their advantage. In other words, if the odds are not stacked in your favour in any encounter then think about how they might become stacked in your favour by choosing the time and the place you make your stand. There are three factors in any confrontation: you, the opponent, and your surroundings – the surroundings is one that either of you can control.
He who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.
4.
To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.
This quote, which is one of Sun Tsu's most famous quotes said that the true victory was to win without ever fighting. In other words if you can defeat the enemy through tactics rather than confronting them then you will save yourself resources and the bad feelings that come from a confrontation that will make you enemies. Likewise if you defeat a village but destroy it in the process then you will have lots of money to spend repairing it, rather than an opportunity to benefit from its resources.
There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare.
It was Machievelli who wrote a similar treatise 'The Price' who said that the way in which a king comes to power will in many ways define how he is subsequently seen by his followers. Learn to suppress or incorporate enemies rather than crush them. Incorporating enemies into your structure is something that Mussolini called 'transformismo' and here he would invite political opponents to hold positions on his team so that they were distracted, felt trusted rather than 'pushed out', could empathise more with him about the realities and difficulty of the task in hand, and were right where he could see them. In most cases they would end up as valuable members of his party that brought something new to the table.
5. Make allies – as Sun Tsu points out one of the quickest ways to grow in strength is to make allies. If you have a problem with someone too powerful to take on on your own then, bide your time and get more people behind you. In the workplace this might mean getting petitions to take down a bad manager, or in the family it might mean getting your family members to address one wayward character together. I myself have since mused that it is most prudent to side with the strongest only if you are the weakest as this is the only way you can take out those who are just stronger than you. If you are average in strength, then you should team up with others who are weaker than you. The reason for this is that then when you take out the strongest you will end up as the strongest yourself. In other words, side with ten weaker opponents and take out the three stronger ones and you will then be the strongest player on the board.
6. Know thy self, know thy enemy. This is actually where that expression came from and it's very true. Knowledge really is power and if you know yourself and the enemy then even better. As Sun Tsu put it:
Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant of both your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.
So if you're going into competition with someone, for a job, in sports or in love then you should spend as much time as possible researching the opponent as possible. At the same time if you do not know yourself then you will not be aware of the chinks in your armour and know which parts to guard, nor your strengths so that you know how best to strike.
7.
Opportunities multiply as they are seized
This is less instruction and more an observation but it is true of many areas in life. For instance in money – the more money you make the more you can make through investments. Likewise in your career, the better you do the more new offers you will receive.
8.
Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons and they will stand by you even unto death.
A nice quote that teaches how to truly win the respect and confidence of your followers. Something that many managers would do well to consider.
9.
The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
To be truly powerful you must do away with your own ego. As we've already mentioned you need to 'pretend inferiority' and to do this you need to give no regard to how you might look in doing so. Likewise you shouldn't refuse to back out for the sake of your own pride. To be successful you need to be singular in your pursuit of your goal and not let emotion get in the way. It's worth actually practising saying things that make you lose face to get better at forgetting your 'image' and crafting one that is beneficial to the task in hand (it also allows you to be kinder and more honest and is very liberating). Interestingly in the Bushido code of the samurai they are taught similarly not to fear death and to live their life around the idea of a glorious death. Of course this created fighters with absolutely no fear and who lived very much in the moment and to the full. I'm not suggesting that, but if you can get over the fear of losing it will make you far more likely to win.
10.
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
This means several things. Firstly it means to choose your fights and to pick the conflicts you know you can win. At the same time though it also means to ensure that you are going to win before you go into battle. Make sure all of the pieces are in place, and make sure that you have everything you need to win. The actual fight itself is really elementary and is just a matter of 'sealing' the deal. Think of what this means to sports – before two boxers fight one is already destined to win. This is based on who has the better skill and the better training so the actual fight itself is really just a formality. The fight is not won in the ring, it's won in the gym.
Copyright 2012 The Biomatrix.Net
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