A Strategist Who Says Something Odd
There is a book that teaches how to win a war. And its most famous lesson is a strange one. “The best victory is the one you never fight.”
Sun Tzu was a Chinese strategist 2,500 years ago. He watched a great many wars. And he arrived at one conclusion.
不戰而屈人之兵, 善之善者也
bu zhan er qu ren zhi bing, shan zhi shan zhe ye
To make the enemy’s army yield without fighting is the best of the best. (The Art of War, Attack by Stratagem, translated directly)
Is a Hundred Wins Out of a Hundred the Top?
People say a hundred wins out of a hundred is the highest thing. Sun Tzu thought otherwise. Fight a hundred times and you are wounded a hundred times, even winning.
Soldiers tire, food runs out, the state’s storehouses empty. Meanwhile another enemy is growing stronger. The winning side is losing too.
The Order He Ranked Victories In
Sun Tzu said that victories come in grades.
- Attack the plan. Break what the enemy intends. The highest method.
- Attack the alliances. Cut away who stands with them.
- Attack the army. Fight their soldiers.
- Attack the walled city. The worst method of all.
To attack a city you must prepare for months. Build ladders and wagons, raise mounds of earth. And all that time, lives disappear under the wall.
The Idea of a Whole Victory
What Sun Tzu really wanted was quan sheng, a whole victory. Not smashing the enemy, but winning with them left intact. Because anything you get by breaking it is already half ruined.
Take it whole and you can use it whole. So the finest commander wins outside the battlefield first.
Today, What to Ask Before a Fight
This lesson gets used off the battlefield more often than on it. Before you collide with someone, ask Sun Tzu’s three questions.
- If I win this, what do I actually get?
- Is there a way to get the same thing without fighting?
- Will the version of me that wins be stronger than the one standing here?
If you cannot answer all three, it is not time to fight yet.