Sun Tzu taught a set of powerful methods for winning constructively in competition. The Science of Strategy Institute's multiple award-winning work makes the strategy of The Art of War easier to use.
Read our daily article on Sun Tzu's Warrior's Rules to retrain your instinctive reactions to competitive situations. Learn all Sun Tzu's rules as we go through our publication schedule.
"You may have to move across marshes.
Move through them quickly without stopping."
Sun Tzu's The Art of War 9:1:15-16
Soft ground offers us little solid support. Sun Tzu's analogy for soft ground is marsh land. Soft terrain can seem appealing as an opportunity because no one holds a position on it, so it seems empty. However, it is open for a reason: it cannot support anyone over
time. These areas tend to swallow those that try to use them. They are characterized by uncertainty, a lack of solidity, and limited visibility. On this ground, we tend to get bogged down because the ground does not support a position. Their uncertainty is different from the normal limitations on our knowledge, known as "the fog of war." Here, what we are uncertain about is how well the ground will support us. We cannot get a good fix on our position.
If we choose our opportunities correctly, each position works as a stepping stone to the next. Even though we cannot hold a long-standing position of soft ground, we can use these positions as transitional position. We learn how to recognize and use their uncertainty as a shortcut from one longer term position to another. We can get a relative advantage on this ground, using our relatively better knowledge against our opposition. In moving through these uncertain situations, we must avoid straying from our path and losing the traction we need to maintain our progress. When we master the skills of dealing with opportunities on soft ground, our probability of success improves dramatically.
The rules for recognizing and utilizing soft forms of ground are below.
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