Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Preface from the Author

This book is an exploration of the writings of Sun Tzu. It is not a

retranslation; it is not even a new interpretation. It is, rather, an
explanation: a gentle effort to bring the deep meaning contained in
Sun Tzu’s concise, classical writing to the modern mind with the
context and elaboration required to absorb his ideas.

At its core, “Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’” is about excellence:

excellence in the self, excellence in strategy, and excellence in
execution of that strategy. It is not about excellence for its own sake;
rather, the modern strategist should emulate Sun Tzu and keep one’s
eyes on the prize.

For Sun Tzu, strategy was a means to victory. Good strategy was
never a goal in and of itself. Through smarter war-making, came
victory; through victory, peace. Through peace, the nightmare of war
came to an end. This is why Sun Tzu applied his entire intellectual
being to mastering its secrets.

The “modern strategist” is someone trying to apply reason to

accomplish goals in the modern era. Though Sun Tzu is studied by
militaries around the world, most strategy is now exercised in the
world of business. Where Sun Tzu sought to bring value to his
sovereign, his army, and his people, modern strategists have a
different set of stakeholders. Even so, the core principle is quite
similar.

To borrow a parable from another strategist, legendary samurai

Miyamoto Musashi: by learning about success in a different
profession, one can learn about success in one’s own. Success has its
own flow and pattern, and these can be learned. Musashi himself
studied carpentry at the foreman level and later, painting; these skills
gave him greater insights into swordsmanship and strategy, two
things he combined with peerless excellence in his own era. So it is
that non-generals can learn a great deal from Sun Tzu.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Strategy: What Is Of Vital Importance?

Even though Sun Tzu himself was a general, he was also a manager.
Even though Sun Tzu was not a sovereign, he was also a leader. Not a
single word in “The Art of War” reflects a selfish view of himself; Sun
Tzu wrote for the benefit of others, that others might benefit from his
wisdom and bring benefit to their own sovereigns. Those worthy of
this knowledge would grasp it; those unworthy would find these
lessons as meaningless as slapstick comedy. Whatever benefits Sun
Tzu gained personally from this knowledge were obtained solely as a
result of bringing value to others.

Sun Tzu wrote,

“War is of vital importance to the state; hence it is a subject

of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”

These words were written during the “Spring and Autumn Period” of
China, thought of as a long transitional period between eras of
dynastic unity and stability. In Sun Tzu’s time, he was of one of seven
states vying for supremacy, dancing on the bones of what had once
been a unified Chinese Empire. War was not simply a matter of
defending the “Han” people against foreign invasion; Chinese fought
Chinese in wars over land, wealth, and influence. Indeed, the rise of
the great Chinese philosophies was as a result of brilliant men seeking
to escape from the shackles of what they viewed as a sort of
permanent quasi-anarchy.

In this “period,” lasting for centuries, war became an inevitability

rather than an occasional plague. Previously, armies were led by the
retainer thought by the sovereign to be the best suited for the job,
strictly on a temporary basis. Thus, with war becoming more regular,
an incentive was created for a small class of professional
commanders – generals – who would lead the mass conscript armies
into battle and increase their odds of success.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Even as the men themselves were conscripts, Chinese warfare

already featured the chariot – mentioned in Sun Tzu’s writings but
soon abandoned in favor of more conventional cavalry – and
crossbows, even at a time centuries before the birth of Julius Caesar,
even before the army of Alexander the Great brought the Persian
Empire low and advanced as far as India before turning back. Armies
were highly sensitive to morale; desertion was a constant fear which
Sun Tzu spent a significant number of words addressing, seeking to
use generalship and circumstances to reduce this ill as much as
possible rather than simply crack the whip more.

This is the context in which Sun Tzu wrote the above introduction. To
him, war was not the health of the state; war was the potential death
of the state, a cataclysm similar to a national heart attack that
needed a general to perform CPR and save the nation from defeat and
collapse. Even in “victory,” survival usually meant a massive
expenditure of men and materiel that impoverished the entire society,
making observations better suited to Adam Smith than Napoleon.

Thus, in modern terms, Sun Tzu was wholly motivated by a single

objective encompassing his entire strategy: delivering value to his
stakeholders. To Sun Tzu, this meant to bring victory in the quickest,
least bloody, least expensive, least ruinous manner possible.
However, recognizing that ideals of victory that he held, such as
winning without fighting, were most difficult to achieve in the real
world, Sun Tzu devoted himself to understanding the variables of
warfare (in this sense, his “constants” are not things that remain
unchanged; they are rather, things that vary enormously, but which
must be examined without fail or exception), the strategies that bring
about victory, the fallibility of man, the blending of offensive and
defensive tactics, adaptability to an infinite variety of circumstances
with an infinite variety of tactics, and best practices for managing a
large organization of human beings.

Sun Tzu’s stakeholders were:

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

• His sovereign;
• His army;
• And the public at large of his nation.

This view of stakeholders was then, and is now, remarkable in its

breadth.

Many believed then, and a good many believe now, that someone
serving a particular leader should absolutely never regard this as
“public service”; the individual serves that specific leader as a
retainer, serving at his pleasure and leaving at his whim. Judging “the
public” to be an amorphous mass with no single will that cannot and
must not be valued anywhere nearly as high as the interests of the
sovereign, this manner of retainer seeks to please his sovereign
alone, only caring for the public to the extent that this is convenient
for the sovereign’s interests. By the same token, the army is viewed
as a tool; and if a tool is not used, what good is it? Therefore, the
army must be used, period. Furthermore, the army must be used for
the maximum advantage of the sovereign without any concern for the
public at large.

Sun Tzu recognized this view as short-sighted, politically motivated

nonsense. The inter-connectivity of all things – as consistent with his
Taoist philosophy – makes plain that the sovereign may be the ruler of
the people, but he is dependent upon them; the army may be a tool
of the sovereign, yet it is dependent on both the sovereign and the
people. Even in an autocratic, monarchical system, to act without the
interests of the people in mind is to act with disregard for the self,
even when viewed in an entirely selfish manner. Indeed, even the
much-maligned Machiavelli wrote about the good of the people,
abandoning notions of republicanism to try and shape good behavior
by appealing to the base selfish interests of political princes. (Not that
he really succeeded in this.)

Thus, by keeping wars short, by eschewing glory-hound behavior in

himself and counseling against it in others, and even by seeking to

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

forage on enemy territory and capture chariots and re-purpose them

for his own force, Sun Tzu acted in a manner narrowly tailored to
helping those he viewed himself as having an obligation to hold dear
to him, even though this assuredly meant delivering death,
destruction and plunder to neighboring states. Even here, Sun Tzu
sought to end wars quickly and with a minimum of fighting so as to
minimize the damage to neighboring states, for what is the point of
destroying the village to save it? …Particularly if it’s your sovereign
who’s going to rule that village. It’s more like, “If you buy it, make
sure not to break it.”

When Sun Tzu narrowed “The Art of War” to, well, the art of war, he
knew exactly who his stakeholders were; he did not over-extend
himself in trying to speak as to philosophy, economics, or other
things. He dealt narrowly with what his specialty was, and in that
supposedly narrow niche, discovered and propagated knowledge that
can only be considered vast, flowing like a vast river rich in natural
bounty. In doing so, Sun Tzu was not “simple,” but rather, concise; his
writings contained vast knowledge boiled down to the minimum
number of strokes on papyrus or cuts into a bamboo strip as required
to convey it to those capable of absorbing the knowledge.

In seeking to learn from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War,” you should ask
yourselves the following questions.

• Who are your stakeholders?

• Which stakeholders take top priority?
• How inter-connected are your stakeholders?

This will assist you in assessing what is of vital importance to your

stakeholders. After all, if you are managing a corporation, you would
clearly regard your shareholders as those you are directly responsible
to; yet your shareholders are indirectly dependent upon your
relationship with your customers. Hence, to paraphrase Sun Tzu,
customer relations are of vital importance to the modern corporation;
on no account must they be neglected. When you understand how the

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

idea works, this phrasing not only sounds good – it actually means
something to you.

Or, to use my old adage from my time as a Japanese to English

translator: Context is King. Really, all strategy is about putting things
in proper perspective.

Like all good Asian ideas, it’s short and concise, it sounds simple, and
it’s a lot harder than it sounds. It is also, like all good Asian ideas,
richly rewarding, a river full of life and bounty, drawn from many
tributaries but flowing with the force of a single unifying idea.

This is the essence of all strategy.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

The Importance of Planning

Sun Tzu wrote,

“Now, the general who wins a battle makes many calculations

in his temple ere the battle is fought.”

Note that in Sun Tzu’s time, temples, being large buildings full of
noble purpose, were employed as military headquarters on the eve of
marching out to campaign, so this is where plans were formed or at
least, finalized.

“The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations

beforehand. “

This principle is easily summarized as: winners plan ahead. Even if

winners are prepared to alter their plans according to circumstances,
they nonetheless make plans to begin with; and all making of plans
begins with a careful assessment of all the circumstances forming the
background of a conflict.

To wit:

The Moral Law: The motivating factor behind unified

collective action; the strength of overall leadershp.

Heaven: The times and seasons, the weather factors, the

broad, over-arching environmental factors.

Earth: The specifics of the terrain as they apply to field

operations.

The Commander: Who leads what force? What is his or her

nature, or adaptability to circumstances?

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Method and Discipline: Which side is more organized and

better supplied? How strong is the organization?

These are the “Five Constants” of warfare as judged by Sun Tzu,

being factors which must be assessed at the outset of any conflict to
shed light on the relative strengths of both sides. After all, only a fool
plans against an opponent with strength clearly superior to his own in
the exact same manner as an opponent with strength weaker than his
own. Also, it’s not just about the aggregate level of strength; it’s who
is responsible for these strengths and weaknesses, what they are in
detail, where those strengths and weaknesses lie, when those
strengths are in effect, and thus, as a result of the preceding, why
advantages or disadvantages exist. Only with this knowledge can
strengths be evaded and weaknesses exploited in an intelligent,
systematic manner.

A higher level of wisdom is to understand that the point of planning is

not the formation of the plan. (I realize this will seem highly counter-
intuitive.) The point of planning is to assess the strengths and
weaknesses of both sides in this level of detail. This being done, the
strategist can depart from the plan on the basis of knowledge, not
ignorance.

“Knowing yourself” and “knowing your enemy” was not some sort of
abstract Taoist mysticism to Sun Tzu; he was a general, not a
philosopher. He wanted to know himself, and his enemy, in concrete
terms of direct relevance to planning for victory in the most effective
and efficient manners possible. Only by rationally assessing reality as
it is, not as one wishes for it to be, can a person develop a strategy
that has a firm basis. In this way, even if the means are not part of
philosophy themselves, the end result feels like an extension of
natural law.

After all, Sun Tzu counseled to be like water, following the path of
least resistance, yet striking with the force of a raging torrent. This is

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

the result of not so much the plan, as the depth of the knowledge that
was obtained in the formation of one.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

The Moral Law: The First Constant

One of the more fundamental concepts in Sun Tzu is “The Moral Law,”
one of the Five Constants of warfare, as translated by Lionel Giles in
1910. Regardless of the label we use for it, Sun Tzu’s definition serves
well:

“The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord

with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their
lives, undismayed by any danger.”

Thus, “The Moral Law” is the unifying cause that unites a nation, an
army, or a corporation; it is, in a more military sense, the mission. In
business, this is what constitutes the content of the mission
statement to all stakeholders.

Sun Tzu’s concept of generalship is public service, albeit for a ruler

who, in his day, was a king, and thus a law unto himself. Nonetheless,
the same core principle holds: a nation with a stronger reason to fight
and more vibrant leadership has an advantage in war. This advantage
is far from absolute; it is merely one of five constants Sun Tzu writes
of. However, its importance cannot be dismissed.

In American history, various self-appointed missions have come and

gone. One of the more notable ones in war was that expressed by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his “Day of Infamy” speech; he laid
out to the nation a great cause justified any hardship and any
sacrifice in obtaining what was considered to be righteous vengeance
against Japan, in addition to full war against Japan’s ally, Germany, in
ending further threats to American soil. What matters here is that the
American people were heavily motivated by the idea behind American
involvement in the war, now that the war had been brought to
America (from their layman’s perspective).

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

The Moral Law is unity of purpose. Unity of purpose, in turn, provides

the motivation for those participating in the organization to act, to
follow orders, to obey regulations, and to further the interests of the
leader. It is the foundation of organized action. Its importance must
not be dismissed.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Heaven: The Second Constant

“Heaven signifies day and night, cold and heat, times and
seasons.” Thus, Heaven signifies the broader environment of a
conflict, regardless of the nature of that conflict.

Some say that Napoleon studied Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War”
extensively in developing his military strategies. However, if this is so,
Napoleon blinded himself to the constant of Heaven when he invaded
Russia in ignorance of the seasons, and was thus defeated by the
Russian winter far more than any battlefield setback up to that point.
This is one aspect of Heaven.

However, for the modern American businessman, the fiscal year,

S.E.C. filing schedules, the filing of taxes, and public disclosure laws,
are every bit as important and ever-present as the seasons and the
phases of the moon. This is the broader legal environment within
which a corporation exists. Ignorance of Heaven is simply not
acceptable.

Each strategist is responsible for understanding the context of his or

her battlefield. Let each of us meditate on what constitutes our
broader environment, and how we may take this into account as we
conduct our business.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Earth: The Third Constant

“Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and

security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life
and death.”

And so, “Earth” represents the terrain.

“Earth” represents the details of the environment that may change

greatly, even over a short distance. Ignorance of these details courts
disaster.

When real estate agents speak of the three factors affecting the value
of a piece of land as “location, location, location,” they are speaking
of “the Earth.” When Chinese house hunters recoil in horror at a
property because a street is aimed directly at the front of the house
perpendicular to that which runs in front of the house, thus bringing
evil directly to the front door according to feng shui, this is a
consideration of “the Earth.” However, this does not mean physical
terrain alone.

There is a different kind of terrain: the human terrain. Humans vary

greatly from place to place, and even from individual to individual; it
is in-depth knowledge of the differentiations between people, their
thinking processes, their actions, and their deeper human nature, that
provides the strategist with a great advantage. Everyone can see
what is on the surface; the strategist looks deeper to see what is
intangible, invisible to the naked eye.

This is how the strategist finds advantage where others do not.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

The Commander: The Fourth Constant

“The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity,

benevolence, courage, and strictness.”

Those accustomed to believing Machiavelli’s “The Prince” was the

only work on strategy read in older times may find these words
surprising; worse, they may assume such words to be hypocritical
nonsense. However, Sun Tzu was quite serious: how a Commander, or
one acting in a similar capacity, treats his enemies, should not have
any bearing on how he treats those he counts as subordinates, peers,
allies, and sovereigns.

To be wise is not to constantly seek to impress others with one’s

wisdom; it is to speak with the words that are necessary. To be sincere
is not to reveal all of one’s secrets; it is to be truthful with what one
does say. To be benevolent is not to be soft; it is to act in the best
interests of others in the long run, rather than for short-term gain. To
be brave is not to be reckless; it is to discard useless fear and
hesitation to take advantage of the critical moment. To be strict is not
to be cruel; it is to ensure that one’s instructions are obeyed, so that
the Commander’s words are treated with respect and not contempt,
and for the organization to function effectively.

Those who are deficient in these virtues are not guaranteed to fail.
However, they are making implementing their strategies more
difficult by sowing doubt and dissent. Only by building trust,
communicating effectively, and having a well-founded reputation that
inspires respect, can a leader truly use his organization in a dynamic
and effective manner.

Above all, the Commander should separate war from peace and never
conflate the two. His enemies should know how he treats his friends,
and his friends should know how he treats his enemies; in this

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

manner, his friends will not want to become his enemies, yet his
enemies, will wish to become his friends.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Method and Discipline: The Fifth Constant

Sun Tzu refers to “method and discipline” as the fifth constant, which
refers to two separate things.

First, there is the process by which the organization is managed; this

includes logistics, the science of getting resources from where they
are gathered to where they are needed most, in addition to the
process of communicating instructions and receiving feedback to
manage the organization effectively.

Second, there is discipline, which is how the people are managed. For
this, I will proceed directly to the passage that follows.

“In which army is there greater constancy, both in reward and

punishment?”

Our modern world holds a common saying that reads: “No good deed
shall go unpunished.” When an organization not only lets good
behavior go unrewarded, but in effect, rewards bad behavior by its
employees and managers, the effect is cancerous, crippling
operations by removing the incentive for the rank and file to report
problems up the chain of command, act on their own initiative to
mitigate or eliminate problems before they become critical, and
creating long-term resentment against the commander or executive’s
leadership. This is a poor way to handle an organization.

As with taxes, punishing good behavior will result in less of it;

rewarding good behavior will result in more of it. However, both
rewards and punishments must be seen as consistent, or they will not
be considered fair. A leader who is strict, but fair, will be respected
where one who is indulgent or biased will not be. Even if a leader is
loved, because he is liberal with rewards, a lack of consistency in
enforcing his rules and punishing violations thereof will lead to

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

contempt, and the organization can then be compared to a group of

spoiled children, unfit for any practical purpose.

However, should a leader treat his subordinates with respect,

rewarding the behavior he wishes to encourage with benevolence,
sincerity, wisdom, and above all, consistency, he will not only be
respected, but trusted and admired. This is a certain path to victory.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Sun Tzu and his Greatest Caveat

Sun Tzu wrote,

“According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify

one’s plans.”

Consider that this phrase emerges in a chapter on the laying of

favorable plans for victory. Consider that generals throughout history,
in times both modern and ancient, are reluctant to change their plans
after having committed to them. Furthermore, changing one’s plans is
usually interpreted by others as a sign of weakness, lack of
preparation, and even laziness and stupidity. To alter the direction of a
large organization is to encourage disorder in the ranks, lack of faith
in the leadership at the top, and presents a muddled picture to
stakeholders large and small.

Such considerations were not invented in modern times. If a general

altered his plans, word of it would surely get back to the advisers of
the sovereign; the general’s political enemies would pounce upon the
change as a sign of unsteady leadership, hinting – or perhaps
lobbying – that a change in command should take place so that
someone else can have a turn at either implementing the original
plan, or at forming a new plan without the taint of unsteadiness.

Why, then, does Sun Tzu write this?

Sun Tzu’s primary focus and overriding goal was to deliver value to
his stakeholders: his sovereign, his soldiers, and the civilian
population that sustained both his sovereign and his soldiers through
taxation, which is simply a word for appropriating the labor and hard-
earned money of the public. He was not in public service as a military
professional for glory or the sake of history. He did not put blinders

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

over his eyes. He saw, through the experiences of others as well and
his own, a simple, salient fact:

Reality must intrude.

Even if one can be said to have a perfect plan, there can still be
imperfect circumstances. To be so devoted to one’s plan as to never
change it; so in love with it, so wedded to it that it must never be
altered in any way: this is to flagrantly ignore reality. War, among
other activities, takes place in the real world, not on a chessboard. To
lose a match at chess is to temporarily lose a few pawns until the
next game. To lose in war means for many soldiers to die. To lose may
even result in an entire state perishing. As Sun Tzu was well aware of,
the dead cannot be brought back to life.

Sun Tzu’s message is to never be so committed to your plan that you

are unprepared and unwilling to depart from your plan to take
advantage of a genuine opportunity for victory that you did not, or
could not, anticipate. Nor should the leader be unwilling to depart
from his plan to avoid some great disaster that otherwise awaits him.
To do otherwise is to allow stubbornness and recklessness to rule the
self and condemn others to misery and loss. That is the opposite of
delivering value to one’s stakeholders.

This also applies to “The Art of War” itself: never be so mesmerized

by even this wonderful, rich book into thinking that it shall help you
form plans that cannot and should not ever be altered according to
circumstance. That would be wasting an important message from the
original author.

Reality must intrude upon all plans. The wise strategist sees this not
as a menace, but as an opportunity.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

All Warfare Is Based Upon Deception

Some would call the title of this post the “most quoted” quote of Sun
Tzu’s entire book. However, I dislike the emphasis many place on
learning “The Art of War” through disjointed quotations. Chapter I has
a significant section on deception, but readers of this isolated quote
might never learn the context associated with it. Allow me to explain.

When Sun Tzu elaborates on deception, he begins:

“Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable;

When using our forces, we must seem inactive;

When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are

far away;

When far away, we must make him believe we are near.”

A reader might glance over this and be tempted to remark, “Well, that
sounds easy.” It most assuredly is not.

When in a conflict against fellow human beings, the opponent is a

fellow man; being a fellow man, he is familiar with the patterns that
accompany readiness to attack, signs of inactivity, and indications of
proximity or lack thereof. These are signs that armies and other large
organizations give off without conscious thought or effort. While not
every leader or strategist is well versed with the subtleties that
accompany them, they are all familiar with the bold strokes that
accompany an armored cavalry thrust from a General Patton, as one
example. These are things that are hard to conceal, yet easy to
detect.

Thus, something more is required. This is the role of deception.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Unable to simply show the enemy nothing, the strategist instead

shows his opponent something that the opponent wishes to see and
wishes to believe. Having shown something, but having shown this
something in a way that creates a false impression, the enemy is
seduced into deceiving himself.

I should point out right now that Sun Tzu, a man who strenuously
preached the importance of benevolence and sincerity in a
commander’s personal dealings – not only with his peers and his
sovereign, but spies and others in uniquely vulnerable positions
where trust is a greater commodity than money – in no way supported
deception as a way of life in general. He supported the use of
deception in war. This is a critical distinction.

Sun Tzu continued,

“Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush
him.”

Why feign disorder? Feigning disorder works because of a simple,

time-honored principle: if you look like a sucker, someone is going to
try and “sucker punch” you. This is also true in martial arts. A skilled
martial artist who deliberately puts up a false front, pretending to be
“slow” – mentally as well as physically – and to be quiet and passive,
can lure an aggressive, careless opponent into making a first move in
a careless manner that leads to a thorough beating. Such things have
been known to happen. This reaction – seeing weakness, and
pouncing on it – is deeply ingrained “alpha male” behavior.

If the opponent attempts to exploit a false opening, it is he who

becomes exposed.

“If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is

superior in strength, evade him.”

Against an opponent who is secure in defense, the best strategy may

well be to await the opponent’s attack. When the opponent leaves his

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

secure position to do battle, he may then be assaulted. However, if

the opponent is superior in strength to you, you are not obligated to
do him any favors and fight him on terms favorable to him; indeed,
much of Sun Tzu’s strategy is devoted to not fighting on terms
favorable to the enemy, but to fight on terms favorable to you. Thus,
an enemy superior in strength can be evaded.

As we can see, Sun Tzu constantly sees delivering value to his

stakeholders as the objective of his strategy. SunT zu does not seek
fame or fortune via courage that brings battlefield defeat. Every
thought and every action is devoted to fighting war in the most
efficient, effective manner possible, seeking to bring it to an end as
quicky as possible.

“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.

Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”

Another deeply ingrained alpha male behavior is to take advantage of

the weak. If an opponent is weak, he may be treated lightly and with
arrogance. Like a cat playing with a mouse, the man in a position of
advantage may seek to not only defeat his opponent, but to
thoroughly humiliate his enemy in every respect. This search for a
more satisfying victory leads directly to carelessness.

Humans naturally do a sort of triage when dealing with threats. If one

opponent seems to be weak, that opponent is left aside while the
measures are taken against the stronger opponent. (This is a strategy
made famous on the reality television series “Survivor.”) When the
only opponent on a field of battle seems weak, the tendency of an
already prideful man is to boast, “I have no enemy here! I am
peerless! This foe is no match of mine! I can defeat him any time I
wish!”

By the same token, a man who is attempting to behave in a rational

way, but who is prone to bursts of anger, can be provoked into highly
aggressive actions (as befit his core nature) if he is sufficiently

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

provoked. Not everyone with a temper can be lured in quite so easily,

but those that can be will frequently make careless mistakes.

“If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.”

In the late stages of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, commanders were

making decisions when having remained awake constantly over the
course of three days. Fatigue – individual and organizational – is one
of the leading causes of critical mistakes. Giving the enemy any
unnecessary chance to rest and recover his mental strength is
unwise. When able to deny the enemy rest, one should do so, for
fatigue only makes his job much harder.

“Attack him where he is unprepared; appear where you are

not expected.”

Now we get to the crux of the matter.

Someone learning “The Art of War” as a grouping of isolated

quotations and passages would be tempted to read this and believe
that it stands wholly on its own. It does not.

Your opponent is unprepared because you have deceived him.

He does not expect you because you have irritated him, made
him arrogant, and denied him the rest required for him to
regain his senses and reconsider his vulnerable position.

When engaged in warfare, every large deception you make is built on

every smaller deception you have already made. Having seduced the
opponent into deceiving himself as to your strength, disposition,
intention, activity, and location, you lead him around calmly and
effortlessly as if leading a donkey via a dangling carrot. You show your
opponent what he wishes to see, and he decides, purely by himself,
that it is so; in this way, you deceive without ever having spoken a
word to him, without ever having “lied” in the conventional sense. You
have assisted him in lying to himself. Thus, believing his own
overconfident conclusions, he is completely at your mercy.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Thus can superiority in numbers and other measurements of strength

be brought low, purely due to recognizing that an army is led by a
falliable human being.

Finally…

“These military devices, leading to victory, must not be

divulged beforehand.”

I summarize this passage with a simple quote: Do not tip your

hand.

Having entered through all this trouble to deceive one’s opponent, to

tip one’s hand and announce one’s tactics to the enemy via word,
deed, or spy, is not only fatal to deception, but ruinous because this
allows the enemy to develop successful countermeasures. One does
not have to lie to not tip one’s hand; the leader merely requires
discipline to keep his cards close to the vest rather than flaunt them
for all to see. Thus is secrecy preserved.

Thus is victory won where defeat would otherwise be certain. By the

same measure, thus is a crushing victory won obtained, routing the
enemy with less loss to one’s own side, rather than a narrow, hard-
fought victory that could have been obtained through brute force
alone.

This is how maximum value is delivered to stakeholders via the most

efficient use of resources possible.

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/

 Sun Tzu for the Modern Strategist, by Jeremiah Bourque

Afterword

This concludes the Free Sample Chapter. To express interest

in a full version of the eBook, please contact me and grace
my blogs with your patronage.

E-mail: jeremiahbourque@gmail.com
The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/
The Modern Strategist:
http://modernstrategist.wordpress.com/

Thank you for reading. Comments, critique, and discussion

of any kind are highly welcome.

By the way, this book evolved from an eight-session course

on the content of the book originally delivered via
eduFire.com using Adobe Connect Pro, PowerPoint
presentations, and my own charming voice. I thought you
might like to know.

Best wishes. – Jeremiah Bourque

The Sun Tzu Blog: http://suntzublog.wordpress.com/