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 。
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:
"Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near."
"Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."
"If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him."
"If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant."
"If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them."
"Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."
"These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand."
SunTzu ranked this into the first chapter. Other than the most important last statement in the first chapter, this is one of the most important contributions of SunTzu. The message is very clear here: Essentially in war, one must never be predictable nor give one's enemy rest.
SunTzu had already summarized the actions well. I shall not dwell into it.
In business terms, I have not done this well in the past. That is because to execute SunTzu's statements, one needs absolute strength. To be able to pretend to be weak, one already must be strong. To be able to attack when enemy is unprepared, one already must be well-prepared for attack. To be able to irritate the enemy of choleric temper, one already must be prepared for engagement. In another words, if one wishes to exercise any of the options suggested by SunTzu, one must be of great strength. Only with strength can one do proper battles and execute appropriate battle plans at a moment's notice.
If one does not currently have great strength, lie low all the time. Never be quick to anger. Patience is the only vocabulary in one's dictionary. Stay low and grow one's strength. Time is an easy factor to have.
Some suggested that this is of cunning and deceit value. My answer is NO. In world war II, the allied forces have to plan loads of misinformation and deception before they can land on Normandy was because the relative strength of Allied forces versus the Germans was inferior or at most parity. To attack the well-entrenched Germans in defence, one needs more than parity (3-to-1) to even hope for success. That's why the Germans were full of themselves that the Allied even if landed will have a hard time driving towards Berlin. That one lucky strike on Normandy had brought about a massive defeat for the Germans. Deceit in this case was a good servant for that one-time chance for the Allied. If the same conditions of war were to repeat themselves elsewhere, I am sure the enemy will be less likely to be fooled.
During that battle, the outcome could go either way. One can't do the same for business. In business, one does battles every day. Each battle draws its own outcome. One can never hope to use deceit or disinformation all the time to pass the day.
The strategy of not-giving-enemy-rest by SunTzu is well-founded on established principle of human nature. All gals know this principle well, but guys are hopeless in this appreciation. Do you not recall the last courtship with your gal friend? During the initial encounters, the gal will always create "problems" for the guy. No matter how hard the guy tries to please the gal by buying her valuable gifts, the gal will only be happy for a very brief period. Thereafter, she will still give him hell by asking: Why are you late? Why didn't you call? Where were you last night? Why didn't you volunteer to pick me up after my gals-night-out? Plenty of useless questions centred around needlessness, but yet the guy will have to answer her earnestly all the time. Some guys called her aptly a "drama-queen". When she is finally satisfied with his answer or gift, recalled that the truce period is at most 2 weeks to a month, the gal would then on some silly pretext throw another horrific tantrum by saying that the guy didn’t love her enough and the whole cycle repeats.
This type of not-giving-him-rest engagement is very effective for the gal. There are two desirable outcomes: one is to test if the guy likes her enough to continue humoring her (i.e., after the fucking, there is no chucking), and two is train the guy to obey her and satisfy her whims. This exercise however cannot continue if the gal is not going to give a little in herself, like letting the guy kiss her occasionally, touch her sporadically and so on. The end result is one of absolute obedience and perfectly dog-trained.
The same principle must be applied to business enemies. I was not able to fully engage my enemies this way and gave them absolutely no rest, as I was not absolutely strong then. But, I noticed that whenever I attack their turf, they had no time to engage in mine. The good news is my turf always remains untouched while potentially I have a chance to share his pie by attacking. Over some time, their pies were effectively shared, while keeping most of my pies intact. This way, growing within the market structure although slow, steady and stable, it was very effective ground gaining. Attacks from enemies on my turf after a while were non-existent as smaller players fear to incur my wrath. They were simply too busy dealing with their falling shares within their own turfs.
To summarize: Once one has acquired sufficient strength, one must always be engaging the enemies by attacking their turfs. Initially the enemies can defend their turfs quite effectively; but after a while, I will also learn the dos and don’ts of how to gain market share within their turfs, the game will tip in my favour. Since gaining their market share is by using my spares, these attacks give my enemies no rest and when the time is right, i.e., during deep freezes, they will fall off immediately, granting me their entire pies. I have done this often enough to make this into an exact science.
Deep freezes are frequent and fun to deal with if one is strong. Deep freezes injure me deeply, but deliver mortal blows to my weaker enemies. Whenever I improves my rank, the guy that I outranked is always my next immediate target of interest. The guy has become weaker than me in relative terms. How sweet!
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