Comparison: Position Perception
The Art of War, Chapter 7.3.1-9 You make war using a deceptive position.
This post continues our project explaining each stanza of Sun Tzu’s work. The English and Chinese are from my award-winning translation, The Art of War and The Ancient Chinese Revealed. Start here for the book’s opening lines.
Practical Strategy is a reader-supported publication. Become a free subscriber or paid subscriber for only $5.
The stanza discussed here begin Section Three of Chapter 7 of The Art of War. The general topic of this chapter is Armed Conflict. In this section, Sun Tzu defines the key to success in competition as “deception”. This idea was introduced in the first chapter of the book, but it is discussed here as an alternative to destructive conflict. Deception is too hostile a word for Sun Tzu’s idea, even though we use it in translation. His method is better described as “controlling the perceptions of others.”
The nineteenth century military strategist, Claus von Clausewitz’s, aphorism was, “War is the continuation of policy with other means.” Clausewitz’s thinking was strongly influenced by the Napoleonic era, where Napoleon conquered continental Europe in a series of famous battles. Clausewitz started his famous multi-volume work, On War, promoting conflict. He saw the key to winning as a trinity of “violent emotion, chance, and rational calculation.” Clausewitz knew the importance of information in making decisions but that good information was hard to come by. He coined the term, “the fog of war.”
Sun Tzu, however, saw “violent emotion” as the flaw in this method. The “fog of war,” often takes the form of self-deception and wishful thinking. Sun Tzu saw more objective “competitive intelligence” as the central weapon in our arsenal for winning in competition. Competition is a comparison. Sun Tzu looked more deeply into this idea. Over the long-term, success doesn’t depend on what we do as much as others judge what we do. This means controlling people’s perceptions of events, even when we cannot control the events themselves.
In this view, Napoleon’s battles were not important because they damaged enemy forces. They were important because of their effect on the choices others made about opposing Napoleon in battle. Relatively few are affected by the battle itself, but a great many are affected by the information about the battle. Even Clausewitz came to recognize this as the Napoleonic victories led to the Spanish and Russian campaigns of guerrilla warfare, in which conflict was systematically avoided. These wars replaced battles by moves based upon surprise, cunning, and the opposition of the local populace to French rule. Clausewitz recognized this in the last volumes of his work and began rewriting the first volume to account for it.
Sun Tzu saw the centrality of information in competition two thousand years before. He also saw that it was the key to avoiding the biggest cost in competition: destructive conflict.
In the indented sections below from The Art of War, we summarize each Chinese character with a single English word shown in < > brackets.
<Make> <war> <by> <means> <of> <deceive> <stand>
You make war using a deceptive position.
This reiterates the lesson about the importance of controlling perceptions in Chapter One. Since we use our position, once we have established it, as the centerpiece of our competitive efforts, we must manage how others see it. Positions are perceived in five dimensions, and they have two aspects: a place and a form. Here, with the Chinese character <stand>, Sun Tzu is emphasizing place, the place that people see us as holding in their lives.
<By> <this> <means> <then> <act>|
If you use deception, then you can move.
Whether we act in a way consistent with that place or in a way that surprises others, we must think about how our actions affect people’s perceptions. As we saw in the last article, when we are seeking conflict, our moves are easy for others to understand. The problems resulting from these conflict-seeking moves are also easy to predict. When we move into openings, our moves are impossible to predict. Our positions adapt to the larger environment, which no one controls, seeking opportunities to win supporters.
<By> <means> <of> <divide> <meet> <become> <transform> <is> <also>
Using deception, you can upset the enemy and change the situation.
A position avoiding conflict can divide our loyalties among different potential supporters. We can change those loyalties as the situation changes. We do not seek to threaten the positions of others but to entice them to work with us. The only “threats” we make are those of not working with those who seek to hurt our positions.
<Make> <this> <swift> <like> <wind>
You can move as quickly as the wind.
We can also move more quickly because we are moving into empty spaces, fulfilling unmet needs. Unlike an occupied position, an empty position is a vacuum. It seeks to be filled, helping us by sucking us in.
<This> <great> <like> <forest>
You can rise like the forest.
These positions seek growth through building more relationships. Our positions are not growing alone but as part of a forest. In time, the forest itself has its own power. The possibility of forests is destroyed by the fire of conflict.
<Invade> <plunder> <like> <fire>
You can invade and plunder like fire.
When we move into empty positions, the rewards of the new ground are claimed without opposition so we can afford to put it in production. However, when we invade occupied positions, we can immediately cla liquid resources, but the ground will oppose our using it for production, as the Russians and Spanish opposed the French.
<No> <act> <like> <mountain>
You can stay as motionless as a mountain.
If we do not invade use resources to invade the territories of others, we have more resources to develop and defend our own territories. Resources are limited. Resources wasted on conflict are better used in other ways.
<Disaster> <knowledge> <like> <clouds>
You can be as mysterious as the fog.
Progress through conflict, eventually ends in disaster. We cannot keep this knowledge secret as we can the knowledge about our use of openings. These disasters end up defining our positions in the minds of others.
<Act> <like> <thunder> <clap>
You can strike like sounding thunder.
Success in growth can, over time, be just as impressive as a win in conflict. .”
The nineteenth century military strategist, Clause von Clausewitz’s, aphorism was, “War is the continuation of policy with other means.” Clausewitz’s thinking was strongly influenced by the Napoleonic era, where Napoleon conquered continental Europe in a series of famous battles. Clausewitz started his famous multi-volume work, On War, promoting conflict. He saw the key to winning as a trinity of “violent emotion, chance, and rational calculation.” Clausewitz knew the importance of information in making decisions but that it was hard to come by. He coined the term, “the fog of war.”
Sun Tzu, however, saw “violent emotion” as the flaw in this instinctive method. The “fog of war,” often takes the form of self-deception and wishful thinking. Sun Tzu saw more objective “competitive intelligence” as the central weapon in our arsenal for winning in competition. Competition is a comparison. Sun Tzu looked more deeply into conflict. Over the long-term, success doesn’t depend on what we do as much as others judge what we do. This means controlling people’s perceptions of events, even when we cannot control the events themselves.
In this view, Napoleon’s battles were not important because they damaged enemy forces. They were important because of their effect on the choices others made about opposing Napoleon in battle. Relatively few are affected by the battle itself, but a great many are affected by the news of the battle. Even Clausewitz came to recognize this as the Napoleonic victories led to the Spanish and Russian campaigns of guerrilla warfare, in which conflict was systematically avoided. It was replaced by moves based upon surprise, cunning, and opposition of the local populace to French rule. Clausewitz recognized this in the last volumes of his work and began rewriting the first volume to account for it.
Sun Tzu saw the centrality of information in competition two thousand years ago. He also saw that it was the key to avoiding the biggest cost in competition: destructive conflict.
In the indented sections below from The Art of War, we summarize each Chinese character with a single English word shown in < > brackets.
<Make> <war> <by> <means> <of> <deceive> <stand>
You make war using a deceptive position.
This reiterates the lesson about the importance of controlling perceptions in chapter one. Since we use our position, once we have established it, as the centerpiece of our competitive efforts, we must manage how others see it. Positions are perceived in five dimensions, and they have two aspects: a place and a form. Here, with the Chinese character <stand>, Sun Tzu is emphasizing place, the place that people see us as holding in their lives.
<By> <this> <means> <then> <act>|
If you use deception, then you can move.
Whether we act in a way consistent with that place or in a way that surprises others, we must think about how our actions affect people’s perceptions. As we saw in the last article, when we are seeking conflict, our moves are easy for others to understand. The problems resulting from these conflict-seeking moves are also easy to predict. When we move into openings, our moves are impossible to predict. Our positions adapt to the larger environment, seeking opportunities to win supporters.
<By> <means> <of> <divide> <meet> <become> <transform> <is> <also>
Using deception, you can upset the enemy and change the situation.
A position avoiding conflict can divide our loyalties among different potential supporters. We can change those loyalties as the situation changes. We do not seek to threaten the positions of others but to entice them to work with us. The only “threats” we make are those of not working with those who seek conflict.
<Make> <this> <swift> <like> <wind>
You can move as quickly as the wind.
We can also move more quickly because we are moving into empty places, fulfilling unmet needs. Unlike an occupied position, an empty position is a vacuum. It seeks to be filled, helping us by sucking us in.
<This> <great> <like> <forest>
You can rise like the forest.
These positions do not look to destroy but seek growth through building more relationships. We are not growing alone but as part of a forest. In time, the forest itself has its own power.
<Invade> <plunder> <like> <fire>
You can invade and plunder like fire.
When we move into empty positions, the rewards of the new ground are put into production without opposition. However, when we invade occupied positions, we can immediately claim its liquid resources, but the ground will oppose our using it for production, as the Russians and Spanish opposed the French.
<No> <act> <like> <mountain>
You can stay as motionless as a mountain.
If we do not use up our resources to fight for the territories of others, we have more resources to develop and defend our own territories. Resources are limited. Resources wasted on conflict are better used in other ways.
<Disaster> <knowledge> <like> <clouds>
You can be as mysterious as the fog.
Progress through conflict, eventually ends in disaster. We cannot keep this knowledge a secret as we can our knowledge about the use of openings. These disasters end up defining our positions in the minds of others.
<Act> <like> <thunder> <clap>
You can strike like sounding thunder.
Success in growth can, is, over time, more impressive than winning any battle.