Monday 30 December 2013

b.孫子兵法 (謀攻篇第三) (Chapter 3 - 4) (Part 20)

The last part is here:   孫子兵法 (謀攻篇第三) (Chapter 3 - 3) (Part 19)

謀攻篇

孫子曰:凡用兵之法,全國為上,破國次之﹔全軍為上,破軍次之﹔ 全旅為上,破旅次之﹔全卒為上,破卒次之﹔全伍為上,破伍次之。 是故百戰百勝,非善之善也﹔不戰而屈人之兵,善之善者也。
           故上兵伐謀,其次伐交,其次伐兵,其下攻城。攻城之法為不得已。 修櫓轒轀、具器械、三月而後成,距闉,又三月而後已。將不勝其忿 ,而蟻附之,殺士三分之一,而城不拔者,此攻之災也。故善用兵者 ,屈人之兵而非戰也。拔人之城而非攻也,破人之國而非久也,必以 全爭于天下,故兵不頓,而利可全,此謀攻之法也。
          故用兵之法,十則圍之,五則攻之,倍則分之,敵則能戰之,少則能逃之,不若則能避之。故小敵之堅,大敵之擒也。
          夫將者,國之輔也。輔周則國必強,輔隙則國必弱。
          故君之所以患于軍者三:不知軍之不可以進而謂之進,不知軍之不可 以退而謂之退,是為縻軍﹔不知三軍之事,而同三軍之政者,則軍士惑矣﹔不知三軍之權,而同三軍之任,則軍士疑矣。三軍既惑且疑, 則諸侯之難至矣,是謂亂軍引勝。
          故知勝有五:知可以戰與不可以戰者勝,識眾寡之用者勝,上下同欲 者勝,以虞待不虞者勝,將能而君不御者勝。此五者,知勝之道也。
          故曰:知己知彼,百戰不貽﹔不知彼而知己,一勝一負﹔不知彼不知 己,每戰必貽。

Let's continue ...

          故君之所以患于軍者三:不知軍之不可以進而謂之進,不知軍之不可 以退而謂之退,是為縻軍﹔不知三軍之事,而同三軍之政者,則軍士 惑矣﹔不知三軍之權,而同三軍之任,則軍士疑矣。三軍既惑且疑, 則諸侯之難至矣,是謂亂軍引勝。

Some translation suggested: 
There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:
(1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army. 
(2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds.
(3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.
But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.
Moran:   故君之所以患於軍者三 Truly, there are three ways in which a sovereign can be an affliction upon his army:
不知三軍之不可以進而謂之進,:   (1) To be unaware that the three armies will be unable to advance and yet order them to go forward,
不知三軍之不可以退而謂之退,是為縻軍﹔:   or to be unaware that the three armies will be unable to retreat and yet order them to do so, is called hamstringing the army.
不知三軍之事,而同三軍之政者,則軍士惑矣﹔:   (2) To not know the inner workings of the three armies and yet personally take on the administration of the entire enterprise is to contrive the chaos of the armies and of their officers. PEM: According to the regulations of the Zhou Dynasty, the "Son of Heaven" (the king at this time but later called the emperor), was permitted to have six armies, while each duke or leader of a subsidiary feudal domain was permitted to have three armies. The regulation strength of each army was 10,000 soldiers.
不知三軍之權,而同三軍之任,則軍士疑矣。:   (3) To not know the balances of power within the three armies and yet hold responsibility for all of them is to cause the armies and their officers to lose confidence. PEM: The king gets involved and disrupts what his general staff has been trying to get done.
三軍既惑且疑,則諸侯之難至矣,是謂亂軍引勝。:   When the three armies fall into chaos and lose confidence, then disaster will come upon one from the lords (i.e., the subsidiary power centers within or near to one's own nation. A typical example would be that of the feudal domains that fought for dominancy in Japan). This is called throwing one's own army into chaos and drawing nigh the victory [of one's opponents].

Let's discuss:

故君之所以患於軍者三﹕ Therefore, there are three ways in which a sovereign can be an affliction upon his army:
不知三軍之不可以進而謂之進,:   (1) Not know that the three armies cannot advance, but choose to advance,
不知三軍之不可以退而謂之退,是為縻軍﹔:   or not know that the three armies cannot retreat, but choose to retreat and hamstring the army.
不知三軍之事,而同三軍之政者,則軍士惑矣﹔:   (2) Not know the inner workings of the three armies and yet personally take on the administration of the entire enterprise is to confuse the armies and of their officers.
不知三軍之權,而同三軍之任,則軍士疑矣。:   (3) Not know the balances of power within the three armies and yet hold responsibility for all of them is to cause suspicions among the armies and their officers.
三軍既惑且疑,則諸侯之難至矣,是謂亂軍引勝。:   When the three armies are confused and suspicious, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.

Applying these principles in business, SunTzu suggested that the business owner has 3 trouble issues at hand, (1) if he does not know when to advance or retreat and thus created a hamstring-ed business, (2) if he takes all matters of the business personally, not knowing his exact appropriate authority (micro-management) and thus created a confused business structure, and (3) if he does not recognize the different levels of authority within the business structure and thus, created a suspicious organization. If the created business organization is confused and suspicious, the competition will rise up and steal a simple victory.

Essentially, SunTzu concluded that in a business structure, similar to that of a warring state, must have well-considered direction, proper structure and power delegation, i.e., no matter how small the business structure, clear direction and organization is key to surviving the business game.

The lesson learnt here is no matter how tiny the business planner is, to be good and strong, one must be very organized and very disciplined. Only then will the business planner grow from strength to strength. Only then, will the business planner will see the light of the day.

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