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.
Accelerating change affects more and more of the world. When we are trying to select the best opportunities, change creates a problem. Decision-making depends on good information. Good information is easier to get in stable environments because information is so quickly outdated in fast-changing situations. However, opportunity also depends on change. Faster-changing situations create more opportunities than stable ones. As change increases past a certain point, good information about the future becomes impossible to get. Environments that create the most opportunities are, by definition, the same ones on which we have the worst information.
Even though our information about fast-changing situations is relatively poor, in these situations, we actually need less information. Only one factor is important, especially when considering high-probability opportunities. This factor is the direction of change, the direction of the currents of change. In situations dominated by change, a high-probability opportunity is supported by the direction of change. Our judgments can safely focus on that single issue.
The following six rules define the ways in which we use opportunities on fluid ground.
Sun Tzu calls it a "fire strike," but we refer to it as a "fire storm," a vulnerability to a change in climate. These crises are serious enough and common enough to warrant an entire section of Sun Tzu's Rule Book (9.0 Understanding...
2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu wrote about the tension inherent between military and civilian authorities. The recent resignation...
Gary filed with the State of Washington's Secretary of State on June 7th, 2010 to run for State Representative in District 32. He is opposing the incumbent, Ruth Kagi. Though Gary is fiscally and culturally conservative, he has always maintained his political independence because of his work...
We cannot buy position. Resource such as money comes from a position. We cannot purchase victory through conflict because it is too costly (3.1.3 Conflict Cost). The most recent demonstration of this fact was Blanche Lincoln success in the Arkansas...
