Middle Stages of Competition

I am back from the hospital and mostly better. This article was written before I was hospitalized so I am posting it now.

This post continues our project explaining each stanza of Sun Tzu’s work. The English translation and Chinese are from my award-winning book, The Art of War and The Ancient Chinese Revealed

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This article discusses the seventh, eighth and ninth stanzas of Section One of Chapter 11 of The Art of War. This chapter analyses the “nine grounds.” These “grounds” explain nine common competitive situations. These situations describe the progress of competitive contests that continue over time. These three stages develop as we expand our positions. These stanzas describe these situations so we can recognize them and respond appropriately.

Open

<I> <can> <by> <means> <of> <go> <forward>
You can use some terrain to advance easily.

This is the situation that develops when a new competitive area opens up where the best positions within it are unknown. We can move forward easily, making fast progress expanding our positions, but we do not know if the positions we are working on are the best..

<Others> <can> <by> <means> <of> <join> <is>
Others can advance along with you.

However, others can use these opportunities to advance as well,. This creates an area where no one is quite certain which competitor is on the best path.

<Become> <meeting> <ground>
This is open terrain.

A meeting of a group of competitors is always an opportunity for comparing them. In this situation, however. this comparison is premature because the judges are as uncertain of the best positions as the competitors.

Intersecting

<Various> <noblemen> <’s> <ground> <three> <belong>
Everyone shares access to a given area.

In this situation, a number of different competitors share access to the same rewards, but, as individuals or individual organizations, we do not have all the resources or skills needed to win these rewards.

<First> <arrive> <and> <yet> <obtain> <heaven> <below>
The first one to arrive there can gather a larger group than anyone else.

We want to be the first to recognize that we need allies. We want a head start on putting together a group with the necessary size or skills to win rewards in these areas.

<Become> <highway> <ground>
This is intersecting terrain.

These situations reward alliances that combine the skills and resources of several different competitors in order to produce the value needed by the territory.

Serious

<Enter> <men> <’s> <ground> <deeply>
You can penetrate deeply into hostile territory.

In some situations, we can win away many of our opponent’s supporters, establishing positions within what was once territory that they controlled. If we are successful, more and more of our expanded territory once belonged to others.

<Back> <city> <city> <state> <many> <is>
Then many hostile cities are behind you.

Success taking territory from others doesn’t erase them from the map. They are all around us working to take their pieces back.

This is dangerous terrain
<Become> <serious> <ground>

Progress becomes impossible if we must spend our resources defending against a large number of surrounding opponents.

Conclusion

These middle stage situations can arise in many competitive contests, but, as with early stage situations, we must know the appropriate responses if we want to get through them.