"The art of war is to win without bloodshed or the use of force.
(Otherwise) the minimum necessary use of violence."
Part I) Self-Directed Warfare 1) Declare War on Your Enemies
In 401 BC Xenophon led Greek mercenaries into Persian territory.
When their leader died and they had nothing more to fight for, surrounded by the enemy,
they had to become a concentrated force fighting their way back home.
The soldiers' spirit was crushed.
They had weak morale and started fighting eachother.
Xenophon united them, thus defeating the inner enemy.
Focusing on survival, the prospect of getting home alive to family and friends made them
persevere.
You cannot swing a sword without knowing what to hit with it.
It's you against the world and it's you against yourself.
Fight your inner demons.
Do not let your mind, your emotions and your ego control you.
Know yourself and external enemies won't be able to harm you.
You can stand up against anyone (mental fortitude).
2) Do Not Fight the Last War Miyamoto Musashi is one of history's most
dangerous Samurais, because he used to switch up his fighting pattern, changing his tactics
regularly to keep his opponents guessing and on the defensive.
The nervousness and paranoia this inflicted on his rivals made them easy targets.
What has worked in the past, may not work again.
Forget the past.
Adapt to current times, ever-changing, ever-evolving.
George Bernard Shaw said "The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes
my measurements anew each time he sees me.
The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them."
3) Amidst the Turmoil of Events, Do Not Lose Your Presence of Mind
Lord Nelson disobeyed his hysterical commander in the battle at Copenhagen in 1801, keeping
a calm head in a most hectic situation.
By disregarding his commander's authority and seeing the battlefield for what it was
Lord Nelson defeated the Danish navy.
You have to stay alert, when everyone else is in uproar.
Do not be intimidated by chaos.
Do not panic.
You seek out the conflict reacting swiftly, when the opportunity presents itself.
4) Create a Sense of Urgency and Desperation Fyodor Dostoevsky knew his days were numbered.
Facing his execution he made use of his time by creating each of his works as if they were
his last, because they very well could've been.
Once you come face to face with death, you eliminate life's non-essentials.
You overcome trivialities we foolishly care about every day taking our lives for granted.
Dostoevsky's work is exceptional, because he was restless.
He did not seek comfort.
You cannot wait for the right time.
You are never fully prepared to start.
"Tu fui ego eris."
As you are, I was.
As I am, you will be.
(A gravestone inscription reminding you that death is unavoidable)
Part II) Organizational (Team) Warfare 5) Avoid The Snare of Groupthink
General George Marshall taught his philosophies on leadership to a handful of protégés he'd
put into authoritative positions with high risk responsibilities.
One of these men was Dwight Eisenhower.
The General could rely on his subordinates, as they held the same beliefs and ran their
positions according to his vision.
You want a chain of command you can rely on.
You are the General, but you cannot have your head everywhere.
Put remote systems and loyal leaders into place that will guarantee the desired outcome.
Use them to balance your weaknesses with their strengths and ensure they always keep you
up to date.
In any case, be careful not to give up too much of your own authority and leverage.
6) Segment Your Forces In 1805 Napoleon Bonaparte faced an attack
by Austrian troops led by Karl Mack, upon which Napoleon divided his troops and sent
them into battle with specific instructions of surrounding the enemy.
The French units were free to move, flexible and quick.
The Austrian troops surrendered.
This is the opposite of Concentrating Your Forces, hence it's on you to know, when to
unite and when to divide your army.
Slow, but strong or fast and precise.
7) Transform Your War into a Crusade 281 BC Hannibal arranged competitive war games
to demonstrate how far his men would go to join the upcoming fight, to show what they
were made of.
This is a lesson in leadership.
Managing men well means 1) leading by example.
You use the effects of emotion by emphasizing that you are 2) fighting for a noble cause
and that "God is on your side."
It's 3) all about the team, its spirit, the collective energy and 4) the achievement of
the mission ahead.
You 5) punish and reward behavior accordingly.
You 6) bond together through each action and 7) get rid of the black sheep, who disrupt
your leadership.
Part III) Defensive Warfare 8) Pick Your Battles
Winston Churchill said "You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones
at every dog that barks."
Now the trick is in discerning which dogs not only bark, but also bite.
You'd be surprised how few of them actually do and even fewer ever get the opportunity.
Control your ego and ignore the insignificant rest.
Do not let pride worsen your situation.
Some battles you cannot win.
Never start them in the first place.
Know your limits.
Some battles you can win, but at too high a cost.
A Pyrrhic victory will ruin you.
Make your battles worth your time and resources.
Why would you fight a battle with grim odds, when you don't have to?
Your energy is limited.
Don't waste it.
9) Turn the Tables In the 1944 Democratic Presidential race,
the Republican party slandered Franklin Roosevelt, but he did not respond until they attacked
his dog.
Roosevelt humiliated his opponent by defending his pet friend and exposing their desperate
move for what it was.
Roosevelt was not easily irritated.
He let his opponents make the first move, waiting and biding his time.
This way he could analyze their strategy and attack his rivals's weaknesses.
In history defenders are more often victorious, than attackers.
We humans do not like aggressors.
We don't like bullies.
We have a heart for the victims of such attacks, even when they lay the bait and provoke it.
Stay calm and turn the situation into your favor.
10) Create a Threatening Presence 1862 Stonewall Jackson put on a dominant act
intimidating George McClellan during the American Civil War by pointing to all of his opponents'
flaws.
Build the reputation of being a force of nature, a force to be reckoned with.
Unpredictability, madness, sudden and bold aggression is terrifiying.
Plant a seed of doubt in your opponent's mind and feed his paranoia.
Make them believe they cannot win and they will retreat.
To scare them means to break them.
But be careful.
Your opponent may call your bluff, if you're unwilling to back up your words with action.
Don't merely bark.
11) Trade Space for Time In the beginning of the Chinese Civil War
Mao Tse-tung's communists were forced to retreat.
Had the national party fought them at that time, they would have won.
But the communists took the opportunity and gathered support by uniting the peasantry,
defeating the nationalists in 1949 with a decided advantage.
This is similar to the Surrender Tactic.
Napoleon Bonaparte said "Space we can recover, time never."
You grant your opponent a small win in order to take up more space, grow your leverage
and weaken the enemy before battle.
Frustrate them by fighting on your terms.
This is classic Sun Tzu's Art of War material.
The enemy gives you chase you retreat.
The enemy retreats you pursue.
It's all about the advantage that determines the end result.
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