b.孫子兵法 (計篇第一) (Chapter 1 - 4) (Part 5)

始 計 篇 第 一

孫 子 曰 ： 兵 者 ， 國 之 大 事 ， 死 生 之 地 ， 存 亡 之 道， 不 可 不 察 也 。

　 　 故 經 之 以 五 事 ， 校 之 以 計 ， 而 索 其 情 ， 一 曰 道 ，二 曰 天 ， 三 曰 地 ， 四 曰 將 ， 五 曰 法 。
　 　 道 者 ， 令 民 與 上 同 意 ， 可 與 之 死 ， 可 與 之 生 ， 而 不 畏 危 也 。 天 者， 陰 陽 ， 寒 暑 ， 時 制 也 。 地 者 ， 遠 近 ， 險 易 ， 廣 狹 ，死 生 也 。 將 者 ，智 ， 信 ， 仁 ， 勇 ， 嚴 也 。 法 者 ， 曲 制 ， 官 道 ， 主 用 也。 凡 此 五 者 ， 將 莫 不 聞 ， 知 之 者 勝 ， 不 知 者 不 勝 。

　 　 故 校 之 以 計 ， 而 索 其 情 。 曰 ： 主 孰 有 道 ， 將 孰 有 能 ， 天 地 孰 得 ，法 令 孰 行 ， 兵 眾 孰 強 ， 士 卒 孰 練 ， 賞 罰 孰 明 ， 吾 以 此 知 勝 負 矣 。 將 聽 吾 計 ， 用 之 必 勝 ， 留 之 ； 將 不 聽 吾 計 ， 用 之 必 敗 ， 去 之 。

　 　 計 利 以 聽 ， 乃 為 之 勢 ， 以 佐 其 外 ； 勢 者 ， 因 利 而 制 權 也 。

　 　 兵 者 ， 詭 道 也 。 故 能 而 示 之 不 能 ， 用 而 示 之 不 用， 近 而 示 之 遠 ，遠 而 示 之 近 。 利 而 誘 之 ， 亂 而 取 之 ， 實 而 備 之 ， 強 而 避 之 ， 怒 而 撓 之， 卑 而 驕 之 ， 佚 而 勞 之 ， 親 而 離 之 。 攻 其 無 備 ， 出 其 不 意 ， 此 兵 家 之勝 ， 不 可 先 傳 也 。

　 　 夫 未 戰 而 廟 算 勝 者 ， 得 算 多 也 ； 未 戰 而 廟 算 不 勝 者 ， 得 算 少 也 ；多 算 勝 ， 少 算 不 勝 ， 而 況 於 無 算 乎 ？ 吾 以 此 觀 之 ， 勝負 見 矣 。

Some translation suggested:
"Heaven signifies night and day, winter and summer, times and seasons. Ground comprises far and near; danger and secured; open and narrow; the chances of life and death."

The second common factor SunTzu is 天 - the Heaven.

The factors within the Heaven cannot be dictated by the warrior. SunTzu respected this. He recognised that regardless of how powerful a warrior we try to be, we can never fight the Heaven factors. These factors maybe random or have a fixed pattern. They come and go like wind. Some times they favour the warrior, most other times  they favour the enemies, the deeply entrenched.

Those who have not watched the show - The Longest Day. Please watch it. The Allied forces invaded in the worst weather and on the most impossible beach, Normandy. In exchange, the Germans did not even believe it, not even mobilize their panzer tanks  to counter the attack. Any retaliations from the Germans within the first 24 hours of landing. The Allied landing would have failed and we all will be speaking Deutsch or Japanese. The world would have been very different from now. Luckily, the Allied Forces has won the battle and bought with them at least 100-200 years dominion over the world. This is only good news for the first 100 years, after that the Allied is no different from Germans or Japanese during war. They simply have not enough to feed themselves.

In business terms, never choose a Heaven timing or element that the enemies expects. Choose the worst possibilities. This was how I started, as at that time, no one dares to venture into the business alone. I did it during the worst recession. The factors of production were unusually cheap and that gave me time to establish my base. When the recession was finally over, I was also already established. At the same time, the high cost of start-up created a beautiful barrier of entry for me and warded off many of the young start-ups. That again gave me time to play with the established players. Bit by bit, I encroached the established players and worn them down. Some weaker established players were removed from their games. My ranking has improved steadily over the years.

The third common factor SunTzu is 地 - the Ground.

The factors within the Ground can be dictated by the warrior. He suggested that there is always a path that makes the ground of engagement easier.

During the Normandy landing, the Allied forces, instead of choosing the simplest path of leaving from Dover, cross the narrowest part of the English channel and land in Calais during the beautiful month of stormless month of May, chose instead to invade in Jun (the worst month where the channel is so stormy that I vomited during the entire journey, the waves were more than 6 storeys high during my short trip to Paris in Jul) and land in cliff-infested Normandy.

In business terms, we are free to choose the ground elements to engage our enemies. Always choose the elements that the enemies wouldn't believe we will engage them in. That way, we will always maintain a surprise approach for the enemies.

Like the business trade type I chose, I chose the business type where no established players dare to tread, as it was the hardest and the smallest pie. The established players were complacent on the easier and bigger pies. So I sneaked in and do all the small and hard pies. Once established, my forte cannot be invaded as it was hard and little profit (but I was nimble and willing to take smaller fees), I then started to invade their juicy pies. Little by little, their fat pies are now reduced by me and some established players closed their doors and sired their entire pies to me.

The first chapter in SunTzu's Art of War is key to his entire life-experience. Mastering this chapter alone would have helped gain great inroads into our business conquest. Be Pleasantly Surprised !!!