The Art of War: Warrior Rules - winning by comparing positions

Figure 1 - The Nine Skills Ba-gua: The eight sided figure illustrating the nine competitive skills taught by Sun Tzu.

Sun Tzu wrote his work based on the ancient traditions of Chinese science and philosophy. You will find The Art of War much easier to use if you understand the conceptual roots of his five elements and the nine skills that he teaches.

Sun Tzu defined competition as a process of comparison. Competition is unavoidable because everyone is always comparing the things around them. We must make caparisons in order to make choices. Comparisons are both intellectual, and physical. Opinion may differ about which horse is the fastest but a race settles the matter, at least for that day.

Sun Tzu taught that success in human society is not a matter of winning battles with others. He said that a general who fights a hundred battles and wins a hundred battles is not a great general. A great general is one who finds a winning position without fighting a single battle.

Sun Tzu' came to this view from simple economics. We make choices to get rewarded. Sun Tzu taught that wars of attrition where each competitor tries to destroy the other are poor investments. Since there can be only one winner, such contests are always based on misinformation since both parties initially think they can win. More often than not, wars of attrition too costly to generate rewards for either party. Even a short-term victory can be an illusion. Such contests weaken both parties. This opens the way for outside competitors to come in.

As an alternative to physical wars of attrition, Sun Tzu offered a new vision of competitive comparison. This vision is based on the concept of positioning. Positioning leverages the natural forces in our environment. Positioning establishes local situations where others prefer to work with you rather than against you. Positioning is an intellectual process of comparison that proceeds and seeks to eliminate any desire for a costly physical contest among potential rivals.

Competition is inherently messy, unpredictable, and beyond our ability to plan in the traditional sense. Our plans collide with the plans of others, creating conditions that no one can plan. Sun Tzu therefore developed methods that are opportunistic. Success depends on constantly adapting to others rather than trying to execute pre-planned steps.

Since these chaotic, competitive situations can seem almost overwhelmingly complex, Sun Tzu's work creates a series of simple mental models about how competition works. All these models start with and connect to the five simple elements that Sun Tzu introduces in the first section of his first chapter. The nine skills in his toolkit for advancing positions -- developing perspective, identifying opportunities, and so on--evolve out of these basic elements.

Sun Tzu taught that we see our competitive position too narrowly. Too often, we look at one element or another instead of a complete picture of a situation. To develop perspective, we must gather information in all five different areas that are defined by the five elements of positions.

These five basic elements are 1) philosophy (tao also known as "mission"), 2) heaven, tian, also known as "climate", 3) earth, di also known as "ground", 4) the leader , jiang, the commander, and 5) methods, fa, the systems and procedures by which we work. Sun Tzu defined these elements and all of the other parts of his system by their interrelationships. The various components and skills of positioning are parts of a machine. The way they work is defined by how they interact with each another.

Sun Tzu did not invent his system of five elements. He copied his system from the five classical elements in ancient Chinese science and philosophy. These traditional five elements were earth, water, fire, metal, and wood. He also copied the idea of defining them by their relationships. To illustrate the relationships among, the traditional elements, the ancient Chinese used diagrams--called yao --,which were originally used for divination. Sun Tzu developed the system described in the his book by adapting many of these classical diagrams to his own uses.

Figure 2 - The Elemental Compass: The basic diagram of the five elements in Chinese science.

The earliest diagram of the five traditional elements was the compass diagram. The element of "earth" was originally at its center. Water and fire were opposites, associated with the cold north and warm south respectively. Metal and fire were also opposites, related to the west and east.

Figure 3 - The Elemental Creation Diagram: Each of the five elements gives rise to another element.

Other diagrams were developed to illustrate how the elements worked together. The Creation Diagram shows how one elements generates another in a continuing cycle. Wood creates fire by burning. Fire creates earth by turning wood to ash. Earth creates metal by the refining of ore. Metal creates water by the condensation of water vapor on cool metal. Water creates wood by growing plants.

Figure 4 - The Elemental Destruction Diagram: Each of the five elements destroys or controls another element.

The elements also destroy or control each other in a different patterns. We see those relationships in the diagram also known as the Flying Star. Water puts out fire. Fire melts metal. Metal chops wood. Wood consumes earth. Earth soaks in water.

Over time, many other relationships were developed and the diagrams became more complicated. One of the most common diagram forms was and is the ba-gua. Ba gua means "eight ways." It extended the original compass diagram, allowing the connection of more elements. Its earliest form dates back almost 5,000 years, 2,500 years before Sun Tzu. It was the foundation of the I Ching (Yijing), also know as the Book of Changes. It is considered to be a symbol of good luck, and eight is the luckiest number.

Shown below are two versions of the ba-gua. First is the earlier "before heaven" version, which would have been known to Sun Tzu. It is still used in some branches of tai-chi, which makes sense because all forms of martial arts can be traced back to Sun Tzu's work. The second ba-gua is the "after heaven" diagram, with some of its layered associations, which is more familiar today and is used in many traditional Chinese sciences including feng shui.

Figure 5 - The "Before Heaven" Ba-Gua: The diagram extends the compass into eight directions.

Figure 6 - The "After Heaven" Ba-Gua: The diagram used to associate many elements and concepts.

Though we have no surviving examples of Sun Tzu's own yao, we can recreate them from the relationships described in his text. We show these yao as illustrations in every chapter of this work. For over a decade, the Science of Strategy Institute (SOSI) has been developing more and more advanced versions of these diagrams. This chapter begins with the SOSI's version of the Nine Skills Ba-gua, illustrating the process by which Sun Tzu describes strategic positions being advance. As we shall describe, this diagram is built from Sun Tzu's five elements and the four abilities that flows from these elements.

Sun Tzu describes the competitive environment as two opposite and yet complementary halves; tian , which literally means "heaven," and di, the earth. All competitors have a unique position in these two dimensions of time and space. On a deeper level, heaven represents the shifting climate of subjective opinions about that reality while the ground represents the more stable objective nature of that reality/. A position is neither subjective or objective, but a combination of both aspects of the environment.

Figure 7 - The Complementary Opposites of Heaven and Earth: They illustrate the environment for competition.

Tian (heaven) describes the general atmosphere of change. It is the realm of time and especially the future. We often discuss this concept as "climate," or "weather" in English. Climate arises from the forces of change. We can think of "heaven" as trends that change over time or the underlying forces that shape those trends. Weather, the cycle of the seasons, and human emotions are aspects of a changing climate.

Every competitive environment and situation has its own climate. The business climate, for example, consists of economic trends and business cycles. People's attitudes and emotions are a key component of all climate.

Di (earth) is both the location of the competitive contest and the resources for which we compete. Ground is the economic foundation of strategic positions. Unlike the climate, the ground offers stability. It is the realm of place and what persists over time, Each competitor controls their own piece of the ground and their ground position is the result of their past choices. In ancient Chinese, the terms translated as "ground," "situation" and "condition" are all the same.

Your strategic situation is grounded in a specific world of real conditions. Your competition with rivals is for the limited amount of tangible resources in the real world. Correctly choosing your ground means picking the best battlegrounds, where conditions favor your position. Unlike tian (heaven or climate), which is largely beyond our control, the most important aspect of the earth is that we must choose our ground. Choosing positions, moving to them, and utilizing them are the main focus of Sun Tzu's competitive methods.

Figure 8 - The Three Internal Elements: They defined the key aspects of a given competitor.

Climate and ground are the external elements defining competitive positions, but each competitive position has internal elements as well. These internal components are the mission, leadership, and methods. These three elements are a key part of how rivals are compared.

Jiang, the commander or general, is the person whose decisions choose the competitive direction. Leadership is the realm of individual action and character. A leader masters the strategy of competition so that he or she can make the right decisions quickly.

Fa , meaning "methods," defines the processes or skills by which a competitor operates Though Sun Tzu's methods can be used by a single person, methods are, by definition, the realm of group action. Commanders make decisions as individuals, but it is the effect of those decisions upon the group that makes the organization effective.

Methods are the techniques of group organization. Our success depends upon working with other people. Methods are the ways in which we interact with others. Generally, all of Sun Tzu's techniques can be described as competitive methods, those that work within competitive environments. These methods are the complementary opposite of productive methods, those that work within controlled environments. The literal translation of Sun Tzu's book title, Bing-Fa, is competitive methods.

Binding, surrounding, and underlying the other four components is the fifth element, the concept of tao , which is the philosophy or mission that defines the position. In ancient Chinese, the term literally means "way" or "path." Tao is the guiding principles that provide direction for a competitor. In business, we call this a company mission or purpose. A mission defines the goals and values at the core of a strategic position.

Sun Tzu teaches that the a strong, clear core philosophy provides a competitor with unity or completeness (quan). Its philosophy also provides the competitor's focus on its specific position. This is why tao is shown at the center of the four-pointed star that diagrams a competitive position in Sun Tzu's system.

To create success, this mission or values must be shared. The mission holds the competitive organization together and defines its relationship with the outside world. It is the shared, higher goal of an organization. A clear, valuable mission unites members with their organization and allows one organization to work with others.

This five-element model is the basis for understanding the rest of Sun Tzu's competitive methods. At the Science of Strategy Institute, we refer to these methods as the Nine Skills. The core skill is Positioning, which is the ability to see competition as a comparison of positions defined by the five elements. Positioning require a cycle of four conceptual abilities that Sun Tzu breaks down into eight practical skills, according to the patterns of the ba-gua. The conceptual abilities are described in the Chinese text as knowing (zhi ), foreseeing (jian ), moving (hang ), and forming (xing ). To make them a little easier to understand and remember in English, we describe the four-step process for advancing a position as listen, aim, move, and claim. These skills are best understood by their relationship to the five elements of a competitive position.

Figure 9 - The Four Primary Abilities: Each ability flows from one element to another.

Above, the four conceptual abilities taught by Sun Tzu form a loop that we call the Progress Cycle. The process it describes is reiterative, repeated in every aspect of Sun Tzu's system. On the right side of the loop, we start with the leadership abilities, which involved decision-making. Individual leaders (jiang) need the abilities of knowing (zhi) and foreseeing (jian). On the left side of the loop, we have to two abilities of methods. These are the abilities we use to execute our decisions. They are moving (hang) and forming (xing).

Knowing (zhi) comes from understanding conditions on the ground (di). This knowledge is the starting point for the entire process. In a larger sense, Sun Tzu's strategy seeks to replace the physical costs of competition with better knowledge. We get this knowledge only from listening to others. The conceptual ability of knowing requires two practical skills, Developing Perspective and Identifying Opportunities. Knowing leads to foreseeing.

Foreseeing (jian) is the vision of the leader looking into the future. In Sun Tzu's system, this requires observing the climate--that is, the trends over time. We must see how things are changing and how we can leverage the trends of the future. This conceptual ability requires two practical skills in decision-making, Leveraging Probability and Minimizing Mistakes. The first chooses opportunities with the highest probability of success, while the second selects actions with the lowest potential risks. Foreseeing leads to moving.

Moving (hang) means investing in action. In Chinese, the character can be translated either as "to march" or "to act" Execution requires the proper timing, coming from climate (tian), but mostly it is a matter of being trained in the proper methods (fa) of organization. .Completing a move in a competitive environment requires two practical skills, Situation Response and Creating Momentum. Moving leads to forming.

Forming (xing). is the conceptual ability to use a new position after completing a move. In our English translation, we often translate the Chinese character for "form" as "position" because Sun Tzu uses it to describe the entire process as well as the end result. To use a position, we need two practical skills, Claiming Rewards and Understanding Vulnerabilities. Forming leads back to knowing since each new position gives us a new perspective with which to develop more knowledge.

In Sun Tzu's system, these four abilities create an endless cycle. Knowing leads to foreseeing. Foreseeing necessitates moving. Moving ends in forming. Forming reinforces knowing. The leadership skills, knowing and foreseeing, are mental skills. The method skills, moving and forming, are material skills. The cycle is also an economic one, with foreseeing and moving representing the cost part of the cycle and forming and knowing the reward part of the cycle.

These four abilities are a key secret of the text. Although Sun Tzu discusses them extensively, he never lists them together as he does the five elements. As eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture, four is an unlucky number, So when discussed together, only three abilities are usually listed. The fourth ability is always hidden often by combining two abilities together. For example, knowing (zhi) is often combined with foresight (jian) as analysis (gai).

The four external abilities, as with many of Sun Tzu's concepts, are also frequently referenced through metaphors. Knowing is referred to as sound. Thunder, music, and drums are all metaphors for knowing. This is because of its connection to listening. Foresight is described as vision. Colors, lightning, and so on are metaphors for foresight. Moving is marching, that is, using your feet, which is the basis for the Chinese character used. Forming is variously described as "arm" activities: gathering food, building, eating, digging, and so on. These all use pictographs involving the human hand, so generally, they are seen as handiwork.

In addition to this external abilities, Sun Tzu also describes two internal abilities that arise from a clear mission or philosophy (tao)/ These two abilities are uniting (quan ) and focusing (zhuan ).

Figure 10 - Organizational Unity (Quan): Mission connects a leader's decisions with the organization's methods.

Quan means literally "complete." An organization is only complete if it has a clear mission that unites its leader and methods. A clear mission brings the decisions of the leader back to the shared goals of the organization. It also makes sure that the methods of the organization are consistent with its value. Together, these two aspects of unity hold the organization together. Unity creates cohesive groups that can acts as a single unit.

Figure 11 - Position Focus (Zhuan): The core of mission concentrates our resources at a specific time and place.

Zhuan means "to concentrate" both in the sense of making something denser and in the sense of paying close attention. The focus of zhuan concentrates the resources of an organization at a specific time and place. Sun /Tzu teaches that the smaller the area of concentration, that is, the better the focus, the more successful the effort. Again, this ties everything to mission.

As we have said, it is better to think of all of Sun Tzu concepts in terms of how they related to the various elements of the system. Focusing on the words that we use in English translation can be very misleading because no English words--or Chinese words, for that matter--carry all the implications taught by Sun Tzu's formulas. A good example is the character, gui, which is translated as "deception" in the text. This does not mean lying as much as it means controlling perceptions. This goes back to the idea that positions are both subjective and objective in nature, consisting of both heaven and earth. It is always easier for us to leverage the subjective perception of a situation than it is the objective reality of conditions.

Sun Tzu did not explain these aspects of his system because his contemporaries understood the importance of these interconnections. Instead, his work was written to explain the differences between his elements and those of traditional Chinese science. Without having that context in mind, the modern reader--and many modern translators--are lost as to Sun Tzu's meaning.

Sun Tzu also did not explain the nine practical skills he teaches as a modern work of non-fiction might. He does not take each skill in turn and explain it in detail with examples. Instead, he starts with his most basic concepts, the five key elements, and then addresses progressively more complex and detailed ideas arising from them. Along the way, Sun Tzu corrects the most common misunderstandings and mistakes that people made in pursuing competitive success using other philosophies. In doing so, he uses analogies, metaphors, and historical references familiar to those of his time but always lost on modern readers. We wrote this book to give the modern reader more insight into the construction of the work and how to its ideas in a practical way.

If you are interested in a learning Sun Tzu's principles in more detail and in an even more practical way, we refer you to the 232 article in our on-line Sun Tzu's Warrior's Rule Book. Each of its articles focuses on one principle used in applying Sun Tzu's methods. It explains that principles as a set of step-by-step rules. Each rule is illustrated by it application to a specific competitive challenge.

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