Comparisons 15: Speed
This is my fifteenth article on competition as comparison. This series lays the groundwork for a view of Sun Tzu that is more useful than my award-winning translation. Any translation misses so much because it cannot explain the ideas in any detail. These articles are my opinions, based upon over forty years of teaching these principles and having written forty books applying them to different areas of competition. The Art of War deserves deep study because of how deeply it can improve our lives.
In examining each line of the Chinese, we can see that each character has a depth of meaning that no simple translation can capture. Of course, much is in the symbolism and maps of meaning I explore in my Amazing Secrets book, but the everyday practical meaning also deserves exploring, especially in the way it is misinterpreted not only in other translations, but in the casual way most people read this work. For example, Sun Tzu is famous for writing:
Mastering speed is the essence of war.
The Art of War, Chapter 11, Section 2, Line 16.
This is an easy idea and one that everyone champions, especially in today’s fast-paced world. But this line appears in Chapter 11. This late chapter explores the responses to different situations. It is not the foundational rules that we have looked at so far.
In Chapter 2, he first introduces the concept of speed. He does it first, at the beginning of the chapter in talking about comparing the costs of speed (see this article). Speed consumes of our limited resources. Here, at the end of chapter one, he goes deeper by comparing the dangers of speed, the dangers of long campaigns, and how we manage speed.
The Danger of Speed
Sun Tzu starts this section with a warning.
<Make> <war> <hear> <careless> <speed>
The Art of War, Chapter 2, Section 1, Line 23.
This line counters the idea that we should always compete on the basis of speed. When we undertake competition (“make war”), we hear people promoting the idea of moving quickly. Why? Because it is easy to understand.
As H. L. Mencken said:
Every complex problem has a simple solution (pause for punchline) that doesn't work.
Speed is such a solution. Sun Tzu saw this differently. Using speed in the wrong situations is careless. “Care” means focusing on our missions, not just movement. Speed is the haste that makes waste. This returns us to the opening part of this chapter, the cost of speed. Speed consumes resources and energy. The better our current position, the more costly speed becomes.
Speed is especially dangerous when moving into new areas. An initial move into new territory must be seen as an exploration, an experiment. We don’t explore a new area too quickly when we don’t know where its pitfalls might be. As the ancient maps warned, hic sunt dracones, “here there be dragons.”
Sun Tzu’s preferred pace is a steady one of small steps. Small steps can be quick because they are not dangerous leaps. We glimpse the dragon before running into it. Like speed, leaps are possible in the right situations, but those situations are rare.
The Danger of Long Campaigns
Speed is immediately contrasted with the opposite danger, too little progress over time. This usually happen in long-campaigns when you must overcome numerous barriers to reach a goal. Going to college for an extended period of time is a good example of a long campaign.
<Have> <not> <seen> <skillful> <of> <long time> <also>.
The Art of War, Chapter 2, Section 1, Line 24.
While the problem with haste is a lack of care. The problem with spending too long is a lack of skill, specifically the skill of making claims, the most important part of making progress. A skillful strategy can make even a small series of steps pay. The lack of skill in a long campaign is that it never make even success pay. Experience in the real world of making a living is what teaches us about the importance of getting rewarded.
College is a good example here because it is not the real world. Borrowing insulates students from worrying about making money. The result is a negative viewpoint about using their skills to be of a service to others. An amazing number of college graduates get “educated” in areas where there are no jobs. This is true for half of those who get degrees in law. Many who do find the type of work for which they were educated discover that it doesn’t pay well, especially when compared with how much they have to pay to service their college educations. Many also discover that their book learning is of little practical use. Most lawyers learn the real business of law from their experiences after law school.
A lack of practical experience in the working world tends to inflate people’s opinions of their abilities and value, making it harder for them to accept that, without skills, they must start at the bottom.
Managing Speed
We will be competing for our entire lives. This means that we must manage (“husband”) our competitive strategy and our speed of progress.
<Husband> <war> <long time> <and yet> <nation> <advantage> <is>,
The Art of War, Chapter 2, Section 1, Line 25.
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