El Arte de la Guerra: La estrategia fuera de la guerra

THE ART OF WAR

The art of war is ruled by five factors that have to be taken in notice in order to know the position we have on the field.

And the factors are:

1. The Moral Law (commitment from the treat to the leader)

2. Heaven (the time that passes by)

3. Earth ( the odds of success)

4. The Commander (the values that the leader has to have)

5. Method and discipline (the organization and maintenance of the team and environment)

So that a “war” can be a guaranteed win the leader has to know and understand de definition of this 5 factors, otherwise it’s a guaranteed lose.

So, when trying to figure out you status against the rival, you need to ask yourself a few simple but very useful set of questions such as:

 Which of the two is more committed with the Moral law?

 Which of the two leaders has most ability?

 With whom lie the advantages of Heaven and Earth?

 On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?

 Which team is stronger?

 On which side are leaders and team members more highly trained?

 In which team is there the greater constancy both in reward and penalty?

Sun Tzu gives us many advices that can be summarized in:

 Appear to be vulnerable in the eyes of your opponent

 Act when least expected

 Fool your rival by making them think you lack of abilities, make them feel confident and let their ego go up so they bring down their guard.

 Calculate every single move you make and forecast the outcomes.

 Supreme excellence consists in breaking the rival’s resistance without fighting.

 Control your temper and not to be impulsive.

We know that there are five essentials for victory:

 He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

 He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

 He will win whose team is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.

 He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the rival unprepared.

 He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an rival that is already defeated.

Working with a large team under your command is nowise different from working with a small one: it is merely a question of establish signs and signals.

You can be sure of succeeding in your acts if you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.

By discovering the rival’s dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our

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