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

3. Responses and Execution > 2. Situation Response >2. Identify Situation

Where are you encountering this situation in the process of making your move or exploring your opportunity?

1. I encountered this situation at the beginning of making my move before or right after encountering competition .
   6.3.1 Early-Stage Situations

   6.3.1 Early-Stage Situations

   "Your first actions should deny victory to the enemy.
   You pay attention to your enemy to find the way to win." Sun Tzu's Art of War 4:1:23

   Situation: 

   Sun Tzu taught that there are three common situations that arise when we begin to explore an opportunity. These situations represent our most likely initial discoveries when exploring a new area. We might assume the entire campaign will assume the character of its earliest stages, but this perspective is simply wrong. Sun Tzu taught that the initial classes of conditions are the most temporary. Reacting inappropriately to these three situations and the campaign simply ends in failure. However, reacting correctly usually means that the current campaign stage evolves into a new situation.

2. I encountered this situation at the middle of making my move as the direction of competition has become clear.
   6.3.2 Middle-Stage Situations

   6.3.2 Middle-Stage Situations

   "Learn from the history of successful battles.
   Victory goes to those who make winning easy." Sun Tzu's The Art of War 4:3:11-12

   Situation: 

   Sun Tzu's Warrior's Rules teach us that more is not just more but often different. This is especially true of the progress in a campaign. People often expect campaigns to continue as they began, but they never do. Situations do not just repeat themselves. They evolve over time. This means what works at the beginning of a campaign will stop working. Different situations require different responses. Certain situations arise as we become more deeply committed to an opportunity.

3. I encountered this situation at near the end of completing my move.
   6.3.3 Late-Stage Situations

   6.3.3 Late-Stage Situations

   "Avoid the enemy’s high spirits.
   Strike when his men are lazy and want to go home.
   This is how you master energy."
   Sun Tzu's The Art of War, 7:5:7-9

   Situation: 

   These final situations are the most difficult challenges the we face in the course of a campaign. They are the riskiest, with the highest probability of loss. We would prefer to conclude our campaigns without passing through these stages. Unfortunately, experience teaches that few things of value are won easily.