Sun Tzu taught a set of powerful methods for winning constuctively in competition. The Science of Strategy Institute's multiple award-winning work makes the strategy of The Art of War easier to use.
Sun Tzu's The Art of War sets out the rules for winning productively instead of destructively. Our Warrior's Rule Book makes these lessons easier to apply to your specific situation. This article is from its Creating Momentum section. New articles appear daily from our outline of topics.
"There are only a few flavors.
Yet you can always blend them.
You can never taste all the flavors of victory." Sun Tzu's The Art of War 5:2:17-19
"We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Constructive strategy requires innovating in a minimum of time. To this, we must quickly identify the separate components that shape the situation (7.3.1 Expected Elements). Only then can we see how those elements create certain expectation. However, this knowledge alone doesn't tell us how we can change those elements creatively.
In most of our education, we are trained to use systems, not create new systems. When we use standard systems, we operate within a controlled area (7.2 Standards First). We are comfortable with standars because we know what to expect. However, when we simply operate under standards, we are literally under the control of system. We are controlled by the those who developed those systems for their own purposes, even though we use those systems for our own benefit.
If we want to get more control over our lives, we must develop systems that we control. Whenever we operate in any competitive arena, we work outside of the limits of existing control. We have the opportunity to create new areas of control, but we can only do this by creating our own systems, procedures, and formulas. Controlling our own behavior is a good start, but real power comes from understanding the effect of our systems on others (2.3.4 Using Questions).
Developing new methods from scratch is both risky difficult (7.2.1 Proven Methods). Existing systems influence our expectations by making us think that we cannot step outside of them (7.2.2 Preparing Expectations). We are taught to treat existing processes as sacred. They are not sacred. They are simply productive. In competition, the value of innovating systems is that they create surprise and change momentum.
The following six rules explain the process for reordering elements for strategic advantage.
